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Although euthanasia is a complex and controversial subject, under certain conditions people should have the right to decide to end their own lives. Is euthanasia murder or mercy? We need to understand what Mercy, Murder and Euthanasia are before we can form any opinion. (Oxford dictionary) Mercy / (say mersee) Compassionate or kindly forbearance shown towards: an offender, an enemy, or other person in one's power; compassion, pity, or benevolence. Murder / (say merduh) Unlawful killing of a human being by an act done: with intention to kill or to inflict grievous bodily harm. To kill or slaughter, inhumanly or barbarously. Euthanasia is such a controversial word that it creates many discussions and even arguments. This has gone on since well before the first legal case of euthanasia had even happened and will continue for a long time to come. The Oxford dictionary defines Euthanasia as (1) Painless, peaceful death (2) The deliberate putting to death painlessly of a person suffering from an incurable disease: also called mercy killing. That seems simple enough as it is worded but there are different degrees of Euthanasia these are: Passive (voluntary/non-voluntary) Euthanasia- This is where life sustaining treatment is either withheld or withdrawn, in order to bring about a quick and/or painless end or because continuing treatment may be unduly burdensome and/or medically futile. Double Effect: This term is used to deny responsibility of an unforeseen death when medication is used to control pain and suffering but where the quantity of medication is the actual cause of death. Medical/Physician Assisted Suicide: This is where a Doctor provides medication to a patient under their supervision to hasten his or her d... ... middle of paper ... ...st be drawn to decide what Euthanasia is and what is not. Is it Mercy or Murder? These groups don’t seem to know, can you make that decision? The right to life organisations believe in the right to live and therefore will always see euthanasia as a killing. The many people who chose relief from the any illnesses will always look at euthanasia as a peaceful end to their suffering live. The Australian laws continue at this time to see euthanasia as a murder thus making it a crime and these crimes are punishable in the courts the same way as any other murder. The euthanasia debate will continue for many years to come. Euthanasia touches some of the deepest feelings in human beings. It is the power over life and death, and responsibilities no one wishes to take or have to be taken. This of course leads to the natural ultimatum, that it is the patient's own choice.
Euthanasia is put into two categories: Passive and Active. In Passive Euthanasia, doctors will i...
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)
Euthanasia comes from the Greek word that means “good death” (“Euthanasia” Literary). 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 this “mercy killings.”
Euthanasia has always been defined as easy and gentle death especially in cases of painful and incurable illness. It has also been referred to as mercy killing of those considered hopelessly ill, incapacitated or injured patients. It is a matter of life and death. To medical practitioners the dilemma remains: prolong
Physician assisted suicide - the ending of a terminally ill patient’s life with the assistance of a physician who will normally supply a drug for the patient to take.
* Euthanasia: traditionally, an easy, painless death. Now used to mean "mercy killing," "assisted suicide," or "involuntary euthanasia."
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.
Euthanasia is an unnatural way to die. It is assisted suicide. ¨Shouldn’t it be called murder?¨ No because it’s the person’s way to decide if they want to die, but doctors should have regulations. They shouldn’t be euthanized if they are just depressed. They should use it if it is an incurable disease and the person is in a lot of pain and suffering. To be honest, it is illegal for a reason. If it was legal in all 50 states there would be alot of euthanizations in the united states. Its unnatural because doctors prescribe medicine for you to die. And instead of living
The word “dignity” is used used when arguing both sides of this topic. Supporters of euthanasia think that it is the right of the person suffering to end their own life with dignity. The Euthanasia Society of America was started in 1939 when this issue became popular (Behuniak). This was started as a way to start advocating for people to
Physician assisted suicide is defined as; a physician providing medications or medical assistance to a patient with the understanding that the patient intends to use them to commit suicide (Manning, 1998).
Physician-assisted suicide refers to the physician acting indirectly in the death of the patient -- providing the means for death.
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.
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
Euthanasia is a sensitive topic and its sensitivity brings the world to a division. The two sides are those who support the issue and those who are not in favour. The side that supports the idea can argue that...
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.