The ethical and moral debate on Euthanasia has been going on for years. The ultimate question: Should Euthanasia be legalized or not? In my opinion, the practice of Euthanasia can be great and should be legalized. I believe that what Dr. Kevorkian and his practice was doing was the right thing.
Before moving forward, it is very important, appropriate, and necessary to say that religion should never play a part in the argument of Euthanasia especially dealing with it from a legal point of view. Not to bash on any one’s religion but there are so many different religions in this world, who is to say theirs is the right one. Not everyone is religious so why should we follow their “practices” especially when it comes to this very delicate topic about people choosing to end their life. Of course, for an individual to follow their own religion in a personal situation or personal opinion on Euthanasia is absolutely more than acceptable but when it is comes to handling it with the whole society, religion simply cannot play a bigger role than a personal opinion.
Since Euthanasia comes in several different forms, I am choosing to discuss about assisted suicide because this form of Euthanasia is the most relevant one to Dr. Kevorkian’s practices and was used for the majority of his cases. Assisted suicide is the suicide of a patient suffering from an incurable disease, effected by the taking of a lethal drugs provided by a doctor for this purpose. If a terminal- ill patient is suffering throughout their remaining time spent on Earth, shouldn’t they have the freedom to have an option that allows them to end their life in a peaceful way that is over watched by a professional medical personnel such as a doctor or a nurse? However, let’s tak...
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...dled his patient’s cases very morally and ethically right.
Euthanasia is a delicate debate over moral, ethical, legal issues that has been going on for years. I honestly think, Euthanasia can be a good practice and should be legal. In my opinion, Dr. Kevorkian and his practice was performing a great service to those who were terminally ill and suffering greatly.
Works Cited
Trent, M. A., & Singer, p. (2005). Changing Ethics In Life and Death Decision Making. Ethics in the 21st Century (). New York: Pearson Longman
Section Four: Physician-Assisted Suicide And Capital Punishment: What Role Should Physicians Play?. (n.d.). PCRM.org. Retrieved May 11, 2014, from http://www.pcrm.org/search/?cid=2595
ProCon.org. (2014, April 17). State-by-State Guide to Physician-Assisted Suicide. Retrieved from http://euthanasia.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=000132
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.
Euthanasia dates back to the first century B.C. with the ancient Romans and Greeks. Euthanasia received its meaning from the Greek word euthanatos meaning good or well death. The idea of euthanasia came before Christianity and the value of individual human rights. In first century B.C. the Greeks and Romans had a “widespread support for voluntary death as opposed to prolonged agony, and physicians complied by often giving their patients the poisons they requested” (Dowbiggin). It was not until thirteenth century B.C. when Christianity was in full swing. The upbringing of Christianity placed euthanasia under the spot light. Many strict followers of Christianity and Judaism believed that human life is a responsibility of God; not to be put in the hands of a doctor. It was not until mid-seventeenth century when reformation of the church began. Reformation brought upo...
Dr. Jack Kevorkian (also called “Dr. Death”) achieved notoriety and a prison sentence by assisting terminally ill people in committing suicide. He provided them with a specially designed machine that allowed them to push a button and release a fetal dose of anesthesia into their bloodstream. (Ruggiero, 2015, p. 181-182) A man that went to medical school for becoming a doctor, took his Hippocratic oath, lead a campaign of assisting terminally ill patients to their death by physician assisted suicide. The question that is to be raised is this: As a doctor are you trying to end their suffering and give them a rightful death, is it that you are just killing people in very vulnerable states in the name that it is moral to
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.
Although Dr. Jack Kevorkian was ultimately incarcerated for murder, his practices of euthanasia sparked interest in the idea of physician-assisted death. The general consensus of the public was his actions were malpractice due to the possibility of his patients not actually wanting to die. Assisted suicide arose from the remnant of Dr. Kevorkian’s infamy. In 1994, Oregon passed a law called Death with Dignity, which legalized assisted suicide. Although many people found the law to be a social breakthrough, the implications that have arisen exemplify how assisted suicide is too complex to be legalized.
Nobody wants to experience this great hardship, watching someone you love turn into almost nothing. I believe the concept of euthanasia should be legalized because of the pain and suffering to both the patient and the family, the cost of medications and treatments, and lastly because of the decline of quality of life for the individual.
Euthanasia has many different meanings. Some consider euthanasia as meaning a gentle and easy passing, the good death of another, or mercy killing (Lane, 1). Others consider it to mean an intentional termination of life, by another, at the explicit request of the individual. This implies that the act would be initiated by the person who wishes to terminate his/her life, or some define it as to include both the voluntary and the involuntary termination of life (Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance, 1). Euthanasia is discussed in many places besides a hospital or doctor’s office. It is also discussed in churches, philosophy classes, taverns, street corners, homes, medical societies, nursing classes, hospices, journals, and legislative assemblies (Lane, 2).
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.
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 sounds like it’s a solution for someone who has no other choice. Ethical debates on the issue are both religious and legal. The religious view is that the Catholic religion believes that life is a gift from God; assisting or committing suicide violates God’s dominion. The Catholic view explains that human life is borrowed, that human’s have no power in living it or ending it (John J. Paris and Michael P. Moreland). Euthanasia is a debate among most religious groups, but more of a debate among the Catholic Church (Daniel Jussim the Right to Die Issue). The legal battles are a different matter. The law requires that there must be clean and convincing evidence that euthanasia is desired by the patient. The states need to consider the competence of the patient’s in order to protect the patient from themselves or from other family
In the end Euthanasia is not something that should be frowned upon or looked at as a crime. Instead, it should be looked upon as a final act of respect for the human being who lived his life well and now knows that it is time to set his life to an end.
With that definition in mind, I fervently believe that it is acceptable to conduct euthanasia given a certain set of conditions are met. Life as we know it, has been idealized as one in which a person is mobile, physically and mentally healthy, economically stable and with the ability to freely interact with others. But most of Dr. Kevorkian’s patients were unable to do just that. They battled with illnesses ranging from Lou Gehrig’s to Alzheimer’s disease, conditions which permanently and drastically alter the lives of the people who suffer from them. What makes euthanasia even more acceptable is the fact that in Doctor Kevorkian’s case, the patients came to him, asking that he helps them take their own lives. There were no other motives nor incentives aside from the suffering they endured day in and day out, making their future look grim. Physicians should therefore take a more proactive stance when it comes to their patients, helping them see the options available, and supporting their wishes even if those wishes include euthanasia. Furthermore, they must advocate to whomever necessary, so as to legalize the practice of euthanasia or physician assisted suicides, so they may be conducted by trained medical professionals, in settings which may help the patient feel more at ease. We allow people to buy firearms, thus giving them the ability to
... greater pain and anguish for longer periods of time than my father did, I believe euthanasia is the only compassionate form of relief we can provide. I believe it is morally important to allow an individual to die with respect for his or her dignity, while respecting his or her autonomy. Because of these reasons, euthanasia is morally justified when administered under strict controls.
Euthanasia had become a big debate in our society and the world. Many people ask, what is Euthanasia? “Euthanasia is a deliberate intervention or omission with the express intention of hastening or ending and individual’s life, to relieve intractable pain or suffering” (Sanders & Chaloner, 2007, p. 41). Thus the meaning of euthanasia is having the right to die if you are terminally ill, suffering and/or suffering a great amount of pain. Many people do not agree with the use of euthanasia, but if humans can put down animals why cannot we use euthanasia on humans? Back in ancient Greek and Roman times, the word euthanasia meant “good death”. Also it was allowed because many people did not live to long ages. When the times began to change so did people’s views on euthanasia, due to the new religion of Judeo-Christian Belief. Because life and death were giving to us by God, euthanasia goes against his wishes. If they practice in the act of euthanasia because of their beliefs they would be committing a sin and end up going to hell. (Yip,2009,p.1)
Euthanasia, according to the dictionary, means the killing of a person who is suffering from an incurable disease. Lately, it had been a huge debate over whether euthanasia should be legalized or not. Personally, I believe that euthanasia should be legalized if it is voluntary. I have three reasons for my argument.