Argumentative Essay: The Wrongfulness Of Euthanasia

When discussing the topic of euthanasia, one usually has strong feelings one way or the other. The discussion often results in heated debates due to the controversial nature of the topic. Euthanasia is defined in our text as having “roots in the Greek language meaning good death”. This definition is seen as paradoxical as death is the end of life, which people do not see as a good thing. So how can death be good? Is taking a life acceptable practice or considered murder? I view it as the latter. In the following paragraphs I will review two readings from our text that looks at this very issue. I will summarize their arguments and subjectively dissect their ability to persuade or dissuade me to their views by using logical reasoning.

Being in nursing school and the healing profession, I must logically believe in the good of medicine. Technology is opening the doors to so many things that were not possible years ago. Like the author states, by legalizing euthanasia one may be more inclined to “to give up” versus allowing time to further diagnosis or wait for medical advances, which logically, is not a good approach. From a nature perspective, I was persuaded by the argument that the human body is designed to heal itself. The concrete example of “when we are cut, our capillaries seal shut, our blood clots, and fibrogen is produced to start the healing process” was a very effective tool to reinforce the argument of how humans are designed to survive. The flaw in the arguments, for me, was the attempt to rationalize that if people used euthanasia more, physicians/nurses would become numb and try less “to save patients”. I don’t believe this to be logical as physicians and nurses at their core are savers and sustainers of life. They are taught not to be bias and seek all medical possibilities and make recommendations in attempts to preserve