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The ethical implications of euthanasia
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Ending the life of a critically ill person by lethal injection is known as Euthanasia or “mercy-killing”. The Greek word Euthanasia’s meaning is good death, “eu” meaning good, and “thanasia”, meaning death.( B.A. Robinson) The right of death by lethal injection should be the choice of the person whom wants this process done, not the doctors or the society, in which this is called immoral. When only having so long to live and having to live that small amount of time in severe pain there should be an option for the patient to choose Euthanasia. This option would help those who are in sound mind and only have a small pain filled time left on the earth, to be free from the pain that the illness is causing them. The Gallup Organization in the United States revealed that 75percent of the United States population is in favor of this practice of Euthanasia. (Abhijit Naik) The states that have provisions for Euthanasia in their judicial system include Oregon, Washington, Montana, and Texas. (Naik) Religion and race have a major role in the opinion on wither Euthanasia should be allowed or banned from certain states or even the Untied Stated as a whole. The other 25 percent of the population is against Euthanasia and think that the choice to die is only Gods decision. Out of the millions of people that attend church weekly, only about thirty-three percent of them think that Euthanasia is morally acceptable. While forty-eight percent of people who attend church near weekly feel that Euthanasia is acceptable. (Author Unknown) The Bible states, “Thou shall not murder” (Exodus 20:12-15) with this in mind numerous people consider the performance of Euthanasia manslaughter, even though the person who is desiring to be Euthanized insists that... ... middle of paper ... ...n America. Euthanasia can be beneficial in certain circumstances, as well as harmful if used incorrect. When wanting to use Euthanasia it has to be kept in mind that in a dire situations should the person, whom wishing to have Euthanasia preformed, get the procces that will end their life. Works Cited Abhijit Naik “Euthanasia Laws” Buzzle.com, 2000-2010 http://www.buzzle.com/articles/euthanasia-laws.html B.A. Robinson “Jack Kevorkian” Answer Corporation, 1997-2011 http://www.religioustolerance.org/euth1.htm N/A “Euthanasia and Religion” Religion Facts, 2004-2010 http://www.religionfacts.com/euthanasia/index.htm Pregnant Pause “Types of Euthanasia” 2001 http://www.pregnantpause.org/euth/types.htm N/A “The Thanatron” Frontline, WBGH Educational Foundation, 1995-2011 http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/kevorkian/aboutk/thanatronblurb.html
The word Euthanasia comes from the Greek and means “good death” (http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/hp.asp) and in the range of this paper, it will be called physician assisted suicide or “active” euthanasia. The definition of “active” euthanasia is ending one’s life yourself or with aid of a doctor. It can be done in various different ways; however, the most common form is with a combination of drugs, usually given by a physician. ( http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/hp.asp) The reason Physician Assisted Suicide (or PAS) is an important issue in this country and around the world is that there are many people out there suffering from debilitating, incurable and intensely painful diseases that would like to end their lives with dignity and without suffering. (Leo & Lein, 2010, The Value of a Planned Death)
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
Euthanasia - Pro and Con & nbsp; Abstract & nbsp; This paper will define Euthanasia and assisted suicide. Euthanasia is often confused with and associated with assisted suicide, definitions of the two are. required. Two perspectives shall be presented in this paper. The first perspective favor euthanasia or the "right to die," the second perspective. favor antieuthanasia, or the "right to live". Each perspective shall. endeavor to clarify the legal, moral and ethical ramifications or aspects of euthanasia. & nbsp; Thesis Statement & nbsp; Euthanasia, also mercy killing, is the practice of ending a life so as to.
Is society playing the role of God or is the world so wrapped up in their lives that God no longer matters? Euthanasia has been around since the ancient Romans and Greeks and has been a highly debated subject just as it is today. In history and in arguments stated today is that “people are the created and not the Creator” (Gula 26). There are many things that society can argue about the subject of euthanasia but the main debate is that euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide is wrong. Society gets euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide confused because they both have to do with physicians tending to the patient’s death. Society is either for or against euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide. It is debated throughout history, within the church, and even within the medical profession; however euthanasia is wrong.
Death is something almost everyone fears, but the people that aren’t afraid are the ones suffering from terminal disease and other life-threatening illness. Euthanasia and physician assisted suicide are very serious topics in the medical community, as supporters to legalization argue that it’s the right of the person to live or die, while on the other side opponents argue legalizing it me1ans that doctors will have the ability to kill patients and that the government approves it. Euthanasia is legal in multiple countries including Netherlands, Switzerland, and Canada. Physician assisted suicide is legal in a lot of countries including; Germany, Japan, and Switzerland. Euthanasia is widely conversed in the world and has been since it was first
“Michael Manning, MD, in his 1998 book Euthanasia and Physician-Assisted Suicide: Killing or Caring?, traced the history of the word euthanasia: ‘The term euthanasia.originally meant only 'good death,'but in modern society it has come to mean a death free of any anxiety and pain, often brought about through the use of medication.” It seems there has always been some confusion and questions from our society about the legal and moral questions regarding the new science of euthanasia. “Most recently, it has come to mean'mercy killing' — deliberately putting an end to someone’s life in order to spare the individual’s suffering.’” I would like to emphasize the words “to spare the individual’s suffering”.
The ethical debate regarding euthanasia dates back to ancient Greece and Rome. It was the Hippocratic School (c. 400B.C.) that eliminated the practice of euthanasia and assisted suicide from medical practice. Euthanasia in itself raises many ethical dilemmas – such as, is it ethical for a doctor to assist a terminally ill patient in ending his life? Under what circumstances, if any, is euthanasia considered ethically appropriate for a doctor? More so, euthanasia raises the argument of the different ideas that people have about the value of the human experience.
Euthanasia is the act of ending a person’s life through lethal injection or through the removement of treatment. Euthanasia comes from the Greek word meaning “good death.” When a death ends peacefully, it is recognized as a good death. In modern society, euthanasia has come to mean a death free of any pain and anxiety brought on through the use of medication; this can also be called mercy killing, deliberately ending someone’s life in order to end an individual’s suffering. Anything that would ease human suffering is good. Euthanasia eases human suffering. Therefore, euthanasia is good. Because active euthanasia is considered as suicide or murder, it is a very controversial issue and therefore, illegal in most places. Although there are always
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
The voluntary active euthanasia is legitimately moral. It is morally right for a person to seek euthanasia because it is their freedom or autonomy to control their own lives. It ends the suffering of the patient without harming other people. Furthermore, it prevents the person to suffer by giving him/her lethal injection or medication that prevents a person to die slowly with pain. On the other hand, the arguments against euthanasia are not sound. A thorough assessment will protect patient who request euthanasia for the benefits of others. A patient who seek for euthanasia does not use him/herself as means, but as ends to respect his/her own humanity. Furthermore, God as a benevolent will not allow a person to suffer which endorse the purpose of euthanasia – to end suffering. Therefore, voluntary active euthanasia should be legalized in the United States.
Our values, opinions and beliefs depend on what culture, religion and the society we come from. People who are against view euthanasia as murder and that we must respect the value of life. Those who are in favor of euthanasia believe that doing such act eliminates the patient’s pain and suffering. Also, the right to die allows the person to die with dignity. Euthanasia may involve taking a human’s life, but not all forms of killing are wrong nor consider as murder. It depends on the underlying reasons and intentions. If you value a person’s life and the cause of death is for the patient’s benefit and not one’s personal interest, then euthanasia is permissible.
Should opting out of life be an option for those who are sick or hurt people? With euthanasia, that is something now available for terminally ill patients. “The definition of euthanasia is the painless killing of a patient suffering from an incurable and painful disease or in an irreversible coma, or the intentional termination of life or the intentional interruption of procedures intended to prolong life by a physician” (Oxford Illustrated Companion to Medicine). Other names it is known by is mercy killing, or assisted suicide. It is also referred to as quietus, meaning death or something that causes death, but is very rarely called that (Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia). Euthanasia is illegal in most countries and almost every state
More than likely, a good majority of people have heard about euthanasia at least once in their existence. For those out there who have been living under a rock their entire lives, euthanasia “is generally understood to mean the bringing about of a good death – ‘mercy killing’, where one person, ‘A’, ends the life of another person, ‘B’, for the sake of ‘B’.” (Kuhse 294). There are people who believe this is a completely logical scenario that should be allowed, and there are others that oppose this view. For the purpose of this essay, I will be defending those who are for euthanasia. My thesis, just by looking at this issue from a logical standpoint, is that if someone is suffering, I believe they should be allowed the right to end their lives, either by their own consent or by someone with the proper authority to make the decision. No living being should leave this world in suffering. To go about obtaining my thesis, I will first present my opponents view on the issue. I will then provide a Utilitarian argument for euthanasia, and a Kantian argument for euthanasia. Both arguments will have an objection from my opponent, which will be followed by a counter-objection from my standpoint.
Euthanasia has been an ongoing debate for many years. Everyone has an opinion on why euthanasia should or should not be allowed but, it is as simple as having the choice to die with dignity. If a patient wishes to end his or her life before a disease takes away their quality of life, then the patient should have the option of euthanasia. Although, American society considers euthanasia to be morally wrong euthanasia should be considered respecting a loved one’s wishes. To understand euthanasia, it is important to know the rights humans have at the end of life, that there are acts of passive euthanasia already in practice, and the beneficial aspects.
In the following essay, I argue that euthanasia is not morally acceptable because it always involves killing, and undermines intrinsic value of human being. The moral basis on which euthanasia defends its position is contradictory and arbitrary in that its moral values represented in such terms as ‘mercy killing’, ‘dying with dignity’, ‘good death’ and ‘right for self-determination’ fail to justify taking one’s life.