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Ethical issues surrounding euthanasia
Ethical issues surrounding euthanasia
Ethical issues surrounding euthanasia
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There are so many opinions and thoughts about this particular topic, euthanasia. For those of you who do not know what euthanasia is when a person voluntarily wants to end their lives due to an incurable disease. They decide whether or not it is worth the suffering they have to go through everyday, or they can stick it out until they pass. It is an ongoing debate in the United States, to whether this should be legal or illegal. If it is inhumane or humane. It never stops, people are always going to give their own opinions on this. As many issues on this come from family members, doctors, to nurses. It all determines whether or not their family respects that person’s wishes or not. This can lead to overwhelming stress for that patient, because they are stuck in the middle with, should I do what I want or what they want. If that family doesn’t agree then they are spending valuable time arguing, instead of spending quality time with the patient throughout their days they have left. They all have their own opinions all the way to an medical expert for a family member, on how someone should die, the way they should die, or just the …show more content…
Because not all states have legalized euthanasia. Except for the following that are legal according to the Procon website, “states (CA, CO, OR, VT, and WA) and DC legalized physician-assisted suicide via legislation.” Which makes it hard for the person making the decision to do with euthanasia. It makes it hard because a person might have to travel hundreds of miles away depending on where they live, also be very costly for that person, but also for the whole family. It can also be hard for them when they want to maybe be at home or be in their state when they pass. Would you be uncomfortable in a state where you have no idea where you are at? Even if a person did not care what state they had to go to, still in the back of their mind, they know it wouldn’t be the same as they were at
In all cases in the United States we start by looking at our Nation 's history, lawful customs, and practices. In pretty much every western democracy it is a wrongdoing to support a suicide. The States ' aided suicide bans are not advancements. Rather, they are longstanding outflows of the States ' dedication to the insurance and protection of all human life. Besides, the dominant part of States in this nation have laws forcing criminal punishments on one who aids an alternate to carry out suicide. “Though deeply rooted, the State 's ' assisted-suicide bans have in recent years been reexamined and, generally, reaffirmed. Because of advances in medicine and technology, Americans today are increasingly likely to die in institutions, from chronic illnesses(http://law2.umkc.edu).” So why would you let these people live out a inevitable death in a hospital bed suffering when we have the technology and resources to take them out of their pain and suffering. It is morally incorrect and wrong to force someone to live out a life they don 't want to live. However in recent years the States have took the initiative to solve this problem. Recently five states have voted to legalize physician assisted suicide in their state them including Denver, New Mexico, Montana, Oregon and Washington. A recent case that involved physician assisted suicide was Baxter vs Montana where someone with Leukemia
There are only three states that allow physician-assisted suicide: Washington, Oregon, and Montana. Oregon became the first by enacting the Death with Dignity Act which allows terminally-ill patients to end their lives through the voluntary self-administration of lethal medications, expressly prescribed by a physician for that purpose. (Oregon.gov) In November of 2008 Washington became the second and in December of the same year Montana agreed and became the third. A poll was given to Oregon physicians in 1999, nurses, and social workers in 2001. The majority of physicians 51% supported the death with dignity act, 48% of nurses were in favor, and 72% of social workers were in support. (Miller) These polls clearly show that the majority of voters are in support of Physician assisted suicide.
The Hippocratic Oath states that “I will give no deadly medicine to any one if asked, nor suggest any such counsel”. Euthanasia is where someone intentionally kills a person whose life is felt not to be worth living. It is definitely a controversial topic with many opinions on whether or not it should be legalized.
The topic of euthanasia and assisted suicide is very controversial. People who support euthanasia say that it is someone 's right to end their own life in the case of a terminal illness. Those in favor of this right consider the quality of life of the people suffering and say it is their life and, therefore, it is their decision. The people against euthanasia argue that the laws are in place to protect people from corrupt doctors. Some of the people who disagree with assisted suicide come from a religious background and say that it is against God’s plan to end one 's life. In between these two extreme beliefs there are some people who support assisted suicide to a certain degree and some people who agree on certain terms and not on others.
This topic usually not a friendly dinner conversation (Suicide, Euthanasia, and Assisted Suicide). Assisted suicide is continued to be a debatable topic among Americans today. Whether death is a legal right or something that people should let nature take care of is still being decided. Although the topic of assisted suicide is not completely illegal in the United States, four states have legalized it in the past years. The states that are legalized are Montana, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington (Euthanasia Should be Legalized). Euthanasia can help terminally ill patients of sound and mind end their suffering and expensive medical bills. Many individuals think it is their right as a human to control their destiny (Assisted Suicide). Ending one’s life may also be hard for family and friends to accept as well as being against many peoples beliefs. Every person’s life is sacred no matter the defects or faults, and they should be treated as so.
There are places where patients receive Euthanasia, and although the people in the vegetative state cannot see, the peace is something that you don’t need to see to feel it. Also, Euthanasia will save money to the family, as reported by The New York State Department of Health, “Under any new system of health care delivery, as at present, it will be far less costly to give a lethal injection than to care for a patient throughout the dying process." Besides, there is no reason to keep a person alive if there is not a possibility of recover it would only affect the economy. As stated by the Medical Billing Advocates of America, “as many people have seen, the final cost associated with life support can be an enormous burden once that loved one has passed away.” Contrasting the cost of Euthanasia with the cost of keeping someone alive, the results show a considerable difference of spend that if possible should be avoided. Nevertheless, there are cases where it is worthy to spend all this money, for example, if there is hope of a recovery, the family will never consider any amount of money too much for a second chance in their relative
The issues in the euthanasia debate usually revolve around patients who are terminally ill and/or suffering intractable pain. The patient must fully think about every aspect of what euthanasia would involve. I think that once a patient is seeking to end his or her life due to illness; they must have a will in place and also note the reason why they want to end their life. Euthanasia does raises lots of worrying ethical dilemmas like in what condition euthanasia can be justify, is there any ethical difference among killing someone and letting them die, is there any right to end the life of an individual who is suffering from serious
As patients come closer to the end of their lives, certain organs stop performing as well as they use to. People are unable to do simple tasks like putting on clothes, going to the restroom without assistance, eat on our own, and sometimes even breathe without the help of a machine. Needing to depend on someone for everything suddenly brings feelings of helplessness much like an infant feels. It is easy to see why some patients with terminal illnesses would seek any type of relief from this hardship, even if that relief is suicide. Euthanasia or assisted suicide is where a physician would give a patient an aid in dying. “Assisted suicide is a controversial medical and ethical issue based on the question of whether, in certain situations, Medical practioners should be allowed to help patients actively determine the time and circumstances of their death” (Lee). “Arguments for and against assisted suicide (sometimes called the “right to die” debate) are complicated by the fact that they come from very many different points of view: medical issues, ethical issues, legal issues, religious issues, and social issues all play a part in shaping people’s opinions on the subject” (Lee). Euthanasia should not be legalized because it is considered murder, it goes against physicians’ Hippocratic Oath, violates the Controlled
Should humans be allowed to play the role of God? Legalizing Euthanasia would do exactly that. The ability to play with people’s lives should not be handed out under a legal/ and or medical disguise. Euthanasia is a practice that is unethical and immoral and it should be internationally forbidden and prohibited.
California now became the sixth, following Oregon, Montana, New Mexico, Vermont, and Washington. In California, the physician assisted suicide decision has evoked reactions from the proponents and opponents, resulting in many pros and cons to this movement. When there is a legislative issue, both sides always argue over those perspectives. Proponents argue that it is the right of a person who is in pain to die. Supporters think that they have control over their lives, where they can die at any moment they want.
“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)
Euthanasia is given to nearly-dead patients for the purpose of alleviating suffering. Many doctors however, do not want to violate their Hippocratic Oath as well as encroach on their religious beliefs. Often these patients accept euthanasia due to a lack of judgment coming from the pain of the illness and the physiological effects of the medication. Doctors are hesitant towards administrating it due to the combination of religious beliefs and ethical and legal baggage that euthanasia brings along. Hopefully more people will begin to see why euthanasia is not justifiable.
Some people might think that it’s immoral to kill someone without natural cause. The goal for Euthanasia is to provide a person a way to relieve extreme pain or when a person life is just going downhill for them. This also help’s free up medical funds to help other people. In other cases it could be a freedom of choice if the patients wants to end their life without going through anymore suffering. A lot of argument is over if Euthanasia devalues life or if it is against human moral to take another life. While a person decisions does play a role in this, most of the time it will be a physician choice to see if the patient should live or
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.
Euthanasia is very controversial topic in the world today. Euthanasia, by definition, is the act of killing someone painlessly ,especially someone suffering from an incurable illness. Many people find euthanasia morally wrong, but others find people have control over thier own bodies and have a right to die. A solution to this problem is to have the patient consent to euthansia and have legal documentation of the consent.