Presently, many cases of euthanasia had occurred around the world. Many a time we will stop and ask whether the person has anymore hope to live as a normal person. At the end it is left to the court to decide whether the people live or die. But why does the patient or the guardian choose euthanasia when they can live a longer time with their loved ones. Some might ask whether it is worth to see your loved ones suffering, wouldn’t it be better to end the suffering? To answer this question we must know what euthanasia means. According to Fergusson(1992) euthanasia which comes from the Greek word ‘eu-thanatos’ which means “well death” or “good death”(Fergusson, A. 1992). Besides that according to the oxford dictionary sixth edition (1986) the definition of euthanasia is to” bring about gentle death especially in the case of incurable and painful disease”. According to the Journal of the Americans Medical Association (as cited in BBC,n.d) there are more than one way of defining good death(BBC,n.d). This means that good death is define according to one personal view of euthanasia or when he is in a situation that is critical to his health. Some people want to die a death that involves less pain. According to BBC(n.d) voluntary euthanasia happens when voluntary death is define as the request for mercy killing is done (BBC,n.d). According to BBC(n.d) non-voluntary euthanasia happens when the patient is unconscious(BBC,n.d).
There are two concepts of euthanasia. One is “active” and the other “passive euthanasia”. As BBC (n.d) pointed out active euthanasia is define as when there is an intentional action that causes the patient to die(BBC,n.d). This means an act to kill the patient instantly, whereas passive euthanasia accordi...
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Ostler,G & Swannell,J.(1986) The Little Oxford Dictionary. Oxford university
Gibb,Frances.(2009,June 3). Debbie Purdy takes assisted suicide case to the house of lords. The Times. Retrieve from http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/law/article6414255.ece
House of lords,(2004) Assisted Dying for the Terminally Ill Bill[PDF Document]. Retrieved from http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld200304/ldbills/017/2004017.pdf
Politics.uk.co (2005,Jun 25) .Euthanasia . Politics.uk.co. retrieved from http://www.politics.co.uk/briefings-guides/issue-briefs/health/euthanasia-$366667.htm
The UK Statue Law database(n,d) Suicide Act 1961
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WHO,(n.d).Palliative care .World Health organization. Retrieved from http://www.who.int/cancer/palliative/definition/en/
Euthanasia is put into two categories: Passive and Active. In Passive Euthanasia, doctors will i...
Anyone can be diagnosed with a terminal illness. It doesn’t matter how healthy you are, who you are, or what you do. Some terminal illnesses you can prevent by avoiding unhealthy habits, eating healthily, exercising regularly and keeping up with vaccinations. However some terminally ill people cannot be helped, their diseases cannot be cured and the only thing possible to help them, besides providing pain relieving medication, is to make them as comfortable as possible while enduring their condition. Many times the pharmaceuticals do not provide the desired pain escape, and cause patients to seek immediate relief in methods such as euthanasia. Euthanasia is the practice of deliberately ending a life in order to alleviate pain and suffering, but is deemed controversial because many various religions believe that their creators are the only ones that should decide when their life’s journey should reach its end. Euthanasia is performed by medical doctors or physicians and is the administration of a fatal dose of a suitable drug to the patient on his or her express request. Although the majority of American states oppose euthanasia, the practice would result in more good as opposed to harm. The patient who is receiving the euthanizing medication would be able to proactively choose their pursuit of happiness, alleviate themselves from all of the built up pain and suffering, relieve the burden they may feel they are upon their family, and die with dignity, which is the most ethical option for vegetative state and terminally ill patients. Euthanasia should remain an alternative to living a slow and painful life for those who are terminally ill, in a vegetative state or would like to end their life with dignity. In addition, t...
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)
There are two types of euthanasia: passive and active. Passive or voluntary euthanasia refers to withholding life saving treatments or medical technology to prolong life. For example, a patient has the right to refuse medical treatment. They also have the right to refuse resuscitation if they are in need to be placed on life support. Active or involuntary euthanasia refers to providing the means for someone to take their life or assisting with taking their life (“Euthanasia” Discovering).
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
Only people who have witnessed or experienced a terminal illness know how much it impacts a person’s life and their families. According to the Cancer Facts and Figures, in 2015, there was an estimate of 1,658,370 people who were diagnosed with cancer and 589,430 of those diagnosed with cancer had died (American Cancer Society). Medication evolves every day, yet there is little to do for cancer patients. They can go through various treatments, such as chemotherapy and radiation therapy, however some patients these treatments are unbearable. In four states, physician assisted suicide is legal, many other states are debating on the issue at hand. States that have not legalized assisted suicide is due to it being considered murder and can result in imprisonment and doctor license revoked. There has been recent debates involving whether or not physician assisted suicide should be legalized because it is considered murder. Legalizing assisted suicide does not only provide an option to terminally ill patients, but gives others an option. Although some argue that physician assisted suicide should not be legalized, proponents argue that physician assisted suicide should allow options for the patients that are not suffering.
“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”.
Active Euthanasia involves causing the death of a person through direct action, in response. to a request from that person. Involuntary Euthanasia is used to describe the killing of a person. who has not explicitly requested aid in dying. This is most often done to patients who are in a... ...
While active euthanasia involves the deliberate ending of a patient’s life, passive euthanasia occurs when a necessary treatment process is simply not performed by med...
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
Some say that with passive euthanasia the doctor does not actually know whether the patient will die and so stopping treatment is okay because it lets nature take its course. The patient is dying from a natural cause which is what makes passive euthanasia okay. Daniel Callahan, author of the article “Vital Distinctions, Mortal Questions: Debating Euthanasia and Health Care Costs”, argues that there is a distinction between passive and active euthanasia. He claims the difference between the two is what is causing the death. In terms of active euthanasia, the action of the doctor is what is physically causing the death of the patient, however, in the case of passive euthanasia allowing someone to die from a disease that is incurable is letting the disease act as the cause of death instead of the doctor. In this example, the cause of the death is different, therefore active and passive euthanasia are different. Thomas Fuchs, author of “The Notion of Killing” also agrees that there is a distinction between the two types of euthanasia. Fuchs states that the difference between killing and letting die is on the level of causality, in terms of the biological dimensions. Killing is described as an external impact on an organism, by another, causing the death of the organism. Letting die in described as the means in giving way to the ongoing process of self-disintegration. In active euthanasia, the doctor becomes the cause of death where in passive euthanasia the doctor allows the patient to succumb to their own death, and is not considered
“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 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.
Dougherty, Charles J. & Co. “Legalizing Euthanasia Would Harm Society.” Euthanasia- Opposing Viewpoints. Ed.
Smith, M. (2002, October 24). THE RODRIGUEZ CASE: A REVIEW OF THE SUPREME COURT OF CANADA DECISION ON ASSISTED SUICIDE.Government of Canada . Retrieved December 26, 2010, from dsp-psd.pwgsc.gc.ca/Collection-R/LoPBdP/BP/bp349-e.htm#B. Section 12(txt)