Understanding Euthanasia: Mercy Killing Explained

Euthanasia is a painless peaceful death. Euthanasia is defined as the deliberate putting to death of a person suffering from a painful, incurable disease(New Standard Encyclopedia Dictionary). People use other terms to describe euthanasia: mercy killing, assisted suicide, and physician assisted suicide. Euthanasia can be unresponsive, (inactive) or active. Unresponsive euthanasia occurs when an incurably ill person refuses life sustaining medical support. Active euthanasia happens when another person deliberately causes the death of a terminally ill person, such as when someone gives a terminally ill person a lethal injection. Euthanasia can also be voluntary or involuntary. Voluntary euthanasia occurs with the consent of the dying person, while involuntary euthanasia happens when the dying person doesn’t give their consent.

The right to die term used in the support of euthanasia started in the 1970s. It describes the rights of those that are terminally ill or those that are seriously injured. It started in the 1970s with the case of Karen Ann

Euthanasia sounds like it’s a solution for someone who has no other choice. Ethical debates on the issue are both religious and legal. The religious view is that the Catholic religion believes that life is a gift from God; assisting or committing suicide violates God’s dominion. The Catholic view explains that human life is borrowed, that human’s have no power in living it or ending it (John J. Paris and Michael P. Moreland). Euthanasia is a debate among most religious groups, but more of a debate among the Catholic Church (Daniel Jussim the Right to Die Issue). The legal battles are a different matter. The law requires that there must be clean and convincing evidence that euthanasia is desired by the patient. The states need to consider the competence of the patient’s in order to protect the patient from themselves or from other family