Essay On Euthanasia

1685 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Religion and euthanasia

Section A – Investigation and Research 1. Define Euthanasia: a) Euthanasia refers to the painless and deliberate killing of an individual who is suffering from an incurable and painful disease or are in a permanent coma. There are two types of euthanasia, compulsory and voluntary. Compulsory Euthanasia refers to when other people decide when a person’s life will end. Voluntary Euthanasia is when the individual him/her self decide when to die. Outline the reasons for and against euthanasia b) Euthanasia is perceived by society in both positive and negative ways. Arguments for Euthanasia include, patients have the right to choose when they believe they are ready to die. It also allows them the right to ‘die with dignity’ rather then forcing them to live their life suffering a painful illness. It also introduced the idea that euthanasia can’t be taken advantage of, as it will be protected and controlled by government legislations. Arguments against Euthanasia include that instead of euthanasia there are alternative treatments available such as palliative care and hospices. It also suggests that to remove or minimise symptoms you do not have to kill the patient, and with todays advances in technology and medicine nearly all pain can be relieved. There is also the hazard and risk that by giving the doctors the power to decide if the patient’s life is not worth living, this may lead them from voluntary euthanasia to involuntary euthanasia. Similarly the notion that patients have the right to die imposes the doctor the duty to kill therefore restricting the independence of the doctor’s decision. 2. Briefly outline the history of the euthanasia debate in Australia. Assess the influence of Christianity as a ... ... middle of paper ... ... time to die emphasising the fact that we should let events follow its natural course instead of taking it into our own hands. The image of a humans body being a temple shows individuals that they must cherish their bodies and sustain themselves as they are made in the image of God, 1 Corinthians 3:16-17 “Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. For God's temple is holy, and you are that temple.” The bible shows that regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, Christians are seen to be the children of God and thus are all equally valuable, Ecclesiastes 7:17 “Be not overly wicked, neither be a fool. Why should you die before your time?” Therefore majority of Christians oppose the idea of Euthanasia solely based on their morals and ethics which have been derived from the Bible.

Show More
Related

  • Bonnie Steinbock The Morality Of Euthanasia

    1590 Words  | 4 Pages

    In this essay, I will discuss whether euthanasia is morally permissible or not. Euthanasia is the intention of ending life due to inevitable pain and suffering. The word euthanasia comes from the Greek words “eu,” which means good, and “thanatosis, which means death. There are two types of euthanasia, active and passive. Active euthanasia is when medical professionals deliberately do something that causes the patient to die, such as giving lethal injections. Passive euthanasia is when a patient dies because the medical professionals do not do anything to keep them alive or they stop doing something that was keeping them alive. Some pros of euthanasia is the freedom to decide your destiny, ending the pain, and to die with dignity. Some cons

    Read More

  • Euthanasia and Frankenstein

    1448 Words  | 3 Pages

    Euthanasia comes from the Greek word that means “good death” (“Euthanasia” literally). In general, euthanasia refers to causing the death of someone to end their pain and suffering, oftentimes in cases of terminal illness. Some people call these “mercy killings”. There are two types of euthanasia: passive and active. Passive or voluntary euthanasia refers to withholding life-saving treatments or medical technology to prolong life.

    Read More

  • Euthanasia Essay: Assisted Suicide

    925 Words  | 2 Pages

    In her paper entitled "Euthanasia," Phillipa Foot notes that euthanasia should be thought of as "inducing or otherwise opting for death for the sake of the one who is to die" (MI, 8). In Moral Matters, Jan Narveson argues, successfully I think, that given moral grounds for suicide, voluntary euthanasia is morally acceptable (at least, in principle). Daniel Callahan, on the other hand, in his "When Self-Determination Runs Amok," counters that the traditional pro-(active) euthanasia arguments concerning self-determination, the distinction between killing and allowing to die, and the skepticism about harmful consequences for society, are flawed. I do not think Callahan's reasoning establishes that euthanasia is indeed morally wrong and legally impossible, and I will attempt to show that.

    Read More

  • The Pros And Cons Of Euthanasia

    1205 Words  | 3 Pages

    Euthanasia is defined as the act of killing someone who is terminally ill or those who are seriously injured in a reasonably painless way for reasons of compassion (Diaconescu). There are two types of administering euthanasia, which are Active and Passive euthanasia. Active euthanasia is when the medical professionals or another person intentionally does something that causes the patient to die. An example of active euthanasia is killing a patient using lethal injection. Passive euthanasia is when the patient dies because the medical professionals don't do or stops doing something to extend the patient’s life or when they stop doing something that is keeping the patient alive. An example of passive euthanasia are turning off life support machines, disconnecting fe...

    Read More

  • Euthanasia Essay

    1118 Words  | 3 Pages

    The term Euthanasia is derived from Greek, meaning good death. Taken in its common usage however, euthanasia refers to the termination of a person’s life, to end their suffering, usually from an incurable or terminal condition. It is for this reason that euthanasia was also coined the name “mercy killing”. Another type of euthanasia is Active Euthanasia refers to the deliberate act, usually through the intentional administration of lethal drugs, to end an incurably or terminally ill patient’s life. ("The Ethics of Euthanasia.") The earliest recorded date of euthanasia is dated back to 5th century B.C.-1st Century B.C. In ancient Greece and Rome, before the coming of Christianity, attitudes towards active euthanasia and suicide tended to be

    Read More

  • Free Euthanasia Essay

    842 Words  | 2 Pages

    Euthanasia can be defined as the following: “the intentional killing by act or omission of a dependent human being for his or her alleged benefit.” The key word here, obviously, is “intentional.” If the death is not intentional, it is not an act of euthanasia. Euthanasia can be voluntary as well as non-voluntary. The most recent case we have heard of in the news dealing with euthanasia is the Terri Schiavo case. In Schiavo’s case, the fact that the doctors took out her feeding tube was a non-voluntary form of euthanasia. Rather than having her own consent, her husband made the decision, making it non-voluntary. Her husband believed it was the best choice for her because she was in a vegetated state for over fifteen years. (Hentoff) But many people do not agree with his decision. They argue against legalizing euthanasia in itself.

    Read More

  • Controversy and Ethics: The Euthanasia Debate

    2830 Words  | 6 Pages

    Our modern world is full of diseases that are often incurable, making people’s life a living torment, stealing the sense of living and encouraging a person to give up on everything. Even though the medical advances that are offered today are being developed to save a patient’s life or relieve their pain they fail to do so. There is a controversy between two groups those who believe euthanasia should be allowed and those who strongly believe it should be prohibited. Those against euthanasia see a doctor who performs it as a murderer, their believe’s foundation is that there is nobody else other than god who should end a life. ““eu” means good and “thanathous” means death” (Boudreau, et al. 2) Physicians should be allowed by law to prescribe

    Read More

  • Argumentative Essay On Euthanasia

    1823 Words  | 4 Pages

    On United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, It is suggested that “As Catholic leaders and moral teachers, we believe that life is the most basic gift of a loving God- a gift over which we have stewardship but not absolute dominion.” They also suggest that the God will always offer them with bearable experience and an end shows distrust and disrespect to the God. All these opinions points out the disagreement of Catholics in euthanasia. It is a fact that in some parts of the world the religion plays a big part in the society. Therefore allowing euthanasia is obviously a measure to destruct religious beliefs so that we should ban it for the religious side. Yet there is a significant and growing percentage of non-Christians and liberal Christians in North America who do not accept these arguments, the number of opponents compared to that of people holding the previous point is still

    Read More

  • Essay On Institutionalization Of Euthanasia

    1002 Words  | 3 Pages

    One of the strongest arguments against euthanasia comes from Stephen Potts who states “I object to the institutionalization of euthanasia. Because the risks of such institutionalization are so grave as to outweigh the very real suffering of those who might benefit from it” (Potts, p. 587; emphasis mine). Potts’s main point of this statement is that the risks that come with legalizing euthanasia to the society as whole outweigh the suffering of an individual. Potts gives nine reasons for his argument that he calls the “Risks of Institutionalization”. I will debate two of the nine arguments Potts gives. The first argument I will debate is the “Reduced pressure to improve curative or symptomatic treatment”. In this argument Potts states “Some

    Read More

  • Euthanasia

    916 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary defines euthanasia as the act or practice of killing someone who is very sick or injured in order to prevent any more suffering. That sounds a little harsh, does it not? Here is the definition, restated with some different words, the intentional action of a licensed medical professional, to kill someone who is very sick or injured in order to prevent any more suffering. While the first definition may not seem so bad, the second one is distinctly harsher.

    Read More

  • The Slippery Slope of Euthanasia

    1061 Words  | 3 Pages

    The debate on whether voluntary euthanasia should be legalized has been a controversial topic. Euthanasia is defined as ‘a deliberate intervention undertaken with the express intention of ending a life, to relieve intractable suffering’ [1]. Voluntary euthanasia refers to the patients who understand the terms in the consent and sign up under consciousness, while involuntary euthanasia is performed against patient's wishes and some people may regard it as a murder [1].

    Read More

  • The Pros and Cons of Euthanasia

    1265 Words  | 3 Pages

    “Euthanasia is defined as a deliberate act undertaken by one person with the intention of ending life of another person to relieve that person's suffering and where the act is the cause of death.”(Gupta, Bhatnagar and Mishra) Some define it as mercy killing. Euthanasia may be voluntary, non voluntary and involuntary. When terminally ill patient consented to end his or her life, it is called voluntary euthanasia. Non voluntary euthanasia occurs when the suffering person never consented nor requested to end a life. These patients are incompetent to decide because they are either minor, in a comatose stage or have mental conditions. Involuntary euthanasia is conducted when it is against the will of the patient (Gupta, Bhatnagar, Mishra). Euthanasia can be either passive or active. Passive euthanasia means life-sustaining treatments are withheld and nothing is done to keep the patient alive. Active euthanasia occurs when a physician do something by giving drugs or substances that ends a patient’s life. (Medical News Today)

    Read More

  • The Benefits Of Euthanasia

    2000 Words  | 4 Pages

    Doctors prefer to never have to euthanize a patient. It is a contradiction of everything they have been taught for a doctor to euthanize someone, because a doctor’s job is to do everything in their power to keep the patient alive, not assist them in suicide. The majority of doctors who specialize in palliative care, a field focused on quality of life for patients with severe and terminal illnesses, think legalizing assisted suicide is very unnecessary. This is due to the fact that if patients do not kill themselves, they will end up dying on a ventilator in the hospital under the best possible care available, with people around them trying to keep them as comfortable as possible. Legalized euthanasia everywhere has been compared to going down a slippery slope. Officials believe that it could be done over excessively and the fear of assisted suicide numbers rising greatly is a great fear. This is why euthanasia is such a controversial subject worldwide. But, even though it is a very controversial subject, euthanasia is humane. Every doctor also has a say in whether or not they choose to euthanize a patient or not, leaving only the doctors who are willing to do this type of practice, for euthanizing patients. Medicine and drugs prescribed by a doctor for pain or suffering can not always help a person to the extent they desire, even with the help of doctors

    Read More

  • The Bible and Euthanasia

    603 Words  | 2 Pages

    The organisation supports the 'right to choose', and believes that we as individuals should be able to decide when and how to die. It believes that euthanasia is humane as it prevents a dying person from losing their dignity through suffering and it can also be a relief to families who experience anguish and distress by watching their relative suffering. Many Christians believe that euthanasia is wrong, as life is a gift given by God and only he should take it. They believe that birth and death are controlled by God, and they should be respected. Death sho... ...

    Read More

  • Euthanasia Essay

    2318 Words  | 5 Pages

    Euthanasia is ending the life of a person deliberately to relieve their pain. It usually happens when a person is terminally ill or is suffering from a lot of pain and there is no other option to relieve the pain.

    Read More

More about Essay On Euthanasia

Open Document