The Evolution of Euthanasia
This essay will investigate the evolution of the practice of euthanasia in the one country that has promoted it steadfastly for some years. The surprising result of my studies for this essay is the revelation that the Netherlands' practice of euthanasia has become so liberalized that it is no longer recognizable as the same program that was originally legislated.
Euthanasia in the Netherlands has gone from requiring terminal illness to no physical illness at all, from physical suffering to depression only, from conscious patients to unconscious, from those who can consent to those who cannot, and from being a measure of last resort to one of early intervention. Although respect for patient autonomy is the main ethical argument in favor of euthanasia, power has passed almost exclusively into doctors' hands. Patient autonomy has been subverted by the unprecedented rights given by the courts to doctors to decide the fate of patients.
The public era of euthanasia in the Netherlands began in 1973, [1] when two significant events occurred. A government commission reported that the ban on active euthanasia should remain, and a doctor, after admitting killing her sick mother who wanted to die, was found guilty, and given a suspended sentence. Evidence was tendered that she had only done what was already commonly, though unofficially, done by many doctors. The court announced several conditions which, in its view, would justify the active killing of a patient.
In 1981 and 1983, two courts reached similar conclusions.
A State Commission on Euthanasia decided in 1982, [2] that 'a doctor who terminates the life of a patient at the latter's expressed and serious desir...
... middle of paper ...
...t of The Remmelink Report and the van der Maas Study in Euthanasia, in Euthanasia, Clinical Practice and the Law. Ed Gormally L. The Linacre Centre 1994. p 219-240.
12. Id. p 230.
13. Pijnenborg L, van der Maas PJ, van Delden JJM, Looman CWN. Life terminating acts without explicit request of patient. Lancet 1993; 341: 1196-1199.
14. Van Delden JJM, Pijnenborg L, van der Maas PJ. The Remmelink Report; Two Years Later. Hastings Cent Rep 1993; Nov/Dec 24-27.
15. Fenigsen R. The Netherlands; New Regulations Concerning Euthanasia. Issues Law Med 1993; 9: 167-171.
16. Id. p 170.
17. van der Wal G, van der Maas PJ, Bosma JM, Onwuteaka-Philipsen BD, Willems DL et al. Evaluation of the Notification Procedure for Physician-Assisted Death in the Netherlands. New Eng J Med. 1996; 335: 1706-1711.
18. Mark Ludlow. Canberra Times. 17 November 1996.
According to Gamliel (2012), euthanasia refers to actions or omissions that result in the death of a person who is already gravely ill. Techniques of active euthanasia range fro...
Euthanasia is a word derived from Greek that has the etymological meaning of an easy death through the alleviation of pain (Moreno, 1995). Through the course of history, the signification of the term has changed and evolved in many different definitions. A useful definition of euthanasia on which we will base this essay, is named ‘mercy killing’, which signifies deliberately putting an end to someone’s life to avoid further suffering, as stated by Michael Manning in 1998. The euthanasia debate possesses a strong significance in our modern society. A discussion conducted by both scholars and politicians is going on whether physicians have the right to hasten the death of an individual by the administration of poison. In this essay
The right to assisted suicide is a significant topic that concerns people all over the United States. The debates go back and forth about whether a dying patient has the right to die with the assistance of a physician. Some are against it because of religious and moral reasons. Others are for it because of their compassion and respect for the dying. Physicians are also divided on the issue. They differ where they place the line that separates relief from dying--and killing. For many the main concern with assisted suicide lies with the competence of the terminally ill. Many terminally ill patients who are in the final stages of their lives have requested doctors to aid them in exercising active euthanasia. It is sad to realize that these people are in great agony and that to them the only hope of bringing that agony to a halt is through assisted suicide.When people see the word euthanasia, they see the meaning of the word in two different lights. Euthanasia for some carries a negative connotation; it is the same as murder. For others, however, euthanasia is the act of putting someone to death painlessly, or allowing a person suffering from an incurable and painful disease or condition to die by withholding extreme medical measures. But after studying both sides of the issue, a compassionate individual must conclude that competent terminal patients should be given the right to assisted suicide in order to end their suffering, reduce the damaging financial effects of hospital care on their families, and preserve the individual right of people to determine their own fate.
Chaucer lived in a time of great flux. His world was not only different from the world of his parents and grandparents; it was different from the one that he grew up in himself. The Black Plague had decimated the population and created voids in the labor force. The 100 Year’s War was ongoing and required countless men and resources to continue. Traditions, customs and rituals were questioned as society changed. The divisions within social strata were blurring and the organization of Europe was changing. Because of this enormous change on all fronts, no one had the ability to predict what would come in the future. It was this context in which Chaucer wrote The Canterbury Tales, so it’s no wonder why he wrote his poem about a group of people who are in a transitory phase, a pilgrimage, which is completely different from their day to day existences. The three pillars or estates of society, the nobility, the Catholic Church and the peasants were changing and competing for a stronger foundation within society. Chaucer took the opportunity to comment on all of the estates in his poem, especially the Church. His keen insight allowed him to differentiate between the rules and the actors within Catholicism, and it appears that he was able to see the virtue of religion as well as the corruption within it.
In the Wife of Bath’s portrait she is described as heavy, bluff woman that is industrious, a talented weaver, her five husbands and her pilgrimages to Jerusalem. There is some reference to her potential promiscuity in youth but it is glossed over.
One of the most interesting and widely interpreted characters in The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer is the Wife of Bath. She has had five different husbands and openly admits to marrying the majority of them for their money. The wife appears to be more outspoken and independent than most women of medieval times, and has therefore been thought to symbolize the cause of feminism; some even refer to her as the first actual feminist character in literature. Readers and scholars probably argue in favor of this idea because in The Canterbury Tales, she uniquely gives her own insight and opinions on how relations between men and women should be carried out. Also, the meaning of her tale is that virtually all women want to be granted control over themselves and their relationship with their husbands, which seems to convince people that the Wife of Bath should be viewed as some sort of revolutionary feminist of her time. This idea, however, is incorrect. The truth is that the Wife of Bath, or Alisoun, merely confirms negative stereotypes of women; she is deceitful, promiscuous, and clandestine. She does very little that is actually empowering or revolutionary for women, but instead tries to empower herself by using her body to gain control over her various husbands. The Wife of Bath is insecure, cynical towards men in general, and ultimately, a confirmation of misogynistic stereotypes of women.
It goes without saying that involuntary euthanasia, with the exception of a few scattered legal systems (Netherlands, Oregon), is illegal as it should be. The concepts of voluntary and non-voluntary are something that Peter Singer profoundly deliberates in his book, Prac...
Legalization of euthanasia would also place us on a ‘slippery slope’. The ‘slippery slope’ argument, proposed by Walker [2], stated that if euthanasia is legalized, more immoral actions would be permitted and those actions might not be able to keep under control. One example is that involuntary euthanasia would start to happen after the euthanasia has been legalized. The Netherlands has legalized the euthanasia twelve years ago. This law at first...
In 2001 the Dutch legalized euthanasia. In the beginning euthanasia was only permitted for people who were suffering unbearable pain and who were able to make the decision rationally. But things started to get out of hand when a group called Life-Ending Clinic opened. They were providing the service for people who had not been approved for euthanasia from their doctors. They accepted people with chronic depression and early stages of dementia. This issue has become alarming and is an example of the slippery-slope argument that religious groups and people opposed to euthanasia debate. (“The Dutch Debate Doctor-Assisted Suicide for Depression,”
The characters are on a pilgrimage which is a clear indicator that the text is of religious genre. The Catholic Church, at the time, was losing many followers due to the Black Death and their lack of faith in the importance of the church. The Summoner and the Pardoner, who both represent the Catholic Church, are both described as greedy, corrupt, and abusive. This is a direct correlation to how Chaucer and many others felt about the Catholic Church during this period. The Monk and the Prioress are not described as being corrupt like the Summoner and the Pardoner; however they are described as falling short of what is considered ideal for people of their position. They both are described as being in a depressed state. Also bot...
According to the religious characters described in the General Prologue of The Canterbury Tales, the Church does not do enough to cleanse itself from attracting such figures. They all violate the demanding lifestyle of what they should be but they still manage to hold their positions in the structure of the Church. Chaucer develops an ardent attack on the degeneration and corruption of the medieval church. He covertly exposes the evils attacking the very foundation of Christianity. In doing so, he also shows how the society that almost completely relied on the Church for adherence, was extremely fragile and could imminently destruct because of the disorganization caused by the corruption.
Feuding kills Romeo and Juliet; they are dead by a dim hatred of two families because who knows that what is this hate for? Nothing. It seems just an ancient feud. From the death of Romeo and Juliet, do you think that they are really separated and the feud destroy their love. No, the feud just kills them but cannot destroy their love. They are dead but they are still happy because they are the winners; the winners of the feuding and they just leave this world at ease mood and they are now forever together. Probably that Shakespeare wants us to understand what cause such these deaths and the feuding leads to nothing good, it just make life worse and it's ones who live with hatred have to pay a high price. That's what two families lose; they lose their only children by their absurd feuding.
As the reader goes through the Canterbury Tales, it is seen that Chaucer shows the complex attitude of dishonesty and appreciation towards not just the Friar, Monk and the Prioress, but towards all the other characters displayed. Chaucer showed a sense of appreciation through each the Monk, Prioress, and the Friar when he talked about the importance of elegance and having the nicest things. Each one of these members of clergy had to have everything from the nicest clothes down to the best gold buckle on their shoe. While analyzing that, Chaucer also seemed to portray the sense of dishonesty that these members of clergy had. Each one broke the rules of their lifestyle in a way that Chaucer seemed to describe as corrupt.
Robert Matz; Daniel P. Sudmasy; Edward D. Pallegrino. "Euthanasia: Morals and Ethics." Archives of Internal Medicine 1999: p1815 Aug. 9, 1999 .
This essay will discuss the arguments both for and against euthanasia, with careful consideration given to all aspects related to the debate. Perhaps the most well known arguments in the euthanasia debate are that of the sanctity of life, of which holds palpable religious connotations which will be further discussed; the ending of suffering or 'low quality of life'; and the respect for patient autonomy (Huxtable & Campbell, 2003). In terms of extremities of the euthanasia debate spectrum, the Church of England (2000) have published a document greatly opposing euthanasia, whilst on the other hand, Otlowski (1997) has thoroughly researched and published an analysis of the law with the ultimate aim of ensuring euthanasia as a legal option.