Argumentative Essay On Euthanasia

Voluntary euthanasia is when a person make a conscious decision to end their and ask for help to use this. Euthanasia itself means an intentional termination of their life by others because the person is incurable or is in an irreversible coma. This topic became one of the most controversial topics in the world. Some argue whether voluntary euthanasia morally acceptable. However, others believe that we are playing with God since God create human alive and by taking our own life if like disrespect God.

Dr. Jack Kevorkian more commonly known as Dr. Death is greatly known for his opinion that euthanasia should be legalized and his work with patients seeking help. He was very important in showing euthanasia and voicing his opinion on the subject so the public could not ignore the importance of the matter. Dr. Kevorkian was said to have been involved with 130 suicides by patients who wanted to end their own lives (Nicol and Wylie 17). He had two machines he used to help the patients, one an injection and the other a mask, however both machines were operated by the patient and although Dr. Kevorkian was taken to court many times for these he was not convicted because the patient was in control. He was very careful as to not actually commit the act himself until he was contacted by Thomas Youk, a young with Lou Gheric’s disease; Lou Gheric’s disease is when the muscle stop working and eventually the patient chokes to death. Tom’s condition prevented him from actually operating the machines and therefore Dr. Kevorkian decided that he would operate the machine himself because he cared greatly about all his patients and could not let Tom live in his constant fear (Nicol and Wylie 11). Dr. Kevorkian taped Tom’s wishes and then himself hooking up the machine and pushing the button to inject the drugs. He then proceed to

(http://www.save.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=home.viewPage&page_id=705D5DF4-055B-F1EC-3F66462866FCB4E6),suicide is rated as the 10th leading cause of death in the US, including victims of all ages. Assisted suicide is said to endanger the weak and vulnerable, Corrupt the practice of medicine and the doctor-patient relationship, Compromise family and intergenerational commitments, and betray the human dignity and equality before the law, by Dr.Ryan T Anderson, PhD, in his article found in the www.heritage.org site. Many people come up with the thought

“The value of the patient’s life does not depend on the patient’s subjective appreciation of it” (Social Conservatives). The debate over legalizing physician-assisted suicide in the United Sates has never been a simple one. Legalizing this practice diminishes compassionate treatment of pain because while palliative care is still available, assisted suicide encourages the elimination of patients themselves rather than of their suffering (Social Conservatives). Do not give one person the liberty to take the life of another (Procon.org). Although some advocates for assisted suicide argue that patients should be allowed a death with dignity, assisted suicide should not be legalized because all lives are valuable and legalizing this act will create

The term euthanasia is derived from the Greek words “eu” and “thanatos” which translate to “good death”. Euthanasia is also known as “mercy killing”. Ancient societies allowed the death of many babies who were born with birth defects. Also, elder people would starve themselves to death. In the military, soldiers were allowed to shoot a partner if he or she were seriously injured. In the nineteenth century, the use of anesthetics and painkillers made euthanasia less painful because before that, people would commit suicide using violent and uncertain methods. Euthanasia has been practiced for centuries, however, it became more of an issue throughout the twentieth century. Euthanasia is a controversial topic because some people believe that causing the death of another person is not ethical, but others think that euthanasia is a way to help relieve people from suffering.

The right-to-die movement became popular in the 1990s, with Jack Kevorkian, a.k.a. Dr. Death, at the forefront of the crusade for the legalization of deliberate intervention of a patient’s existence. The doctor seemed to be obsessed with the idea of medical experimentation on condemned criminals. It was after he read an article that detailed the “mandated execution, by means of medical experimentation, of condemned criminals in ancient Alexandria” that this idea was implanted into his consciousness (DeCesare 12). Possibly as a consequence, the controversial article sparked in Kevorkian a self-imposed mission: to aid patients in dying. Over the course of eight years, Dr. Death assisted in more than one hundred suicides, the most famous of which was Thomas Youk’s (DeCesare 3).

Many groups have come together against euthanasia stating no one should “play God”. Even today these groups and protest. Other groups who are pro euthanasia also come together and try to get euthanasia legalized in all states. Euthanasia is legalized in Washington, Oregon, Vermont, and Bernalillo County, New Mexico. Many have questioned this practice. It is a battle of ethics versus personal choice. Assisted Suicide is serious issue in today’s society. It

.Debates about the ethics of euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide date from ancient Greece and Rome. In the 4th Century BC, the Hippocratic Oath was written by Hippocrates, the father of medicine. Euthanasia comes from the Greek words, Eu (good) and Thanatosis (death) and it means "Good Death, "Gentle and Easy Death." This word has come to be used for "mercy killing." In this sense euthanasia means the active death of the patient, or, inactive in the case of dehydration and starvation.The first recorded use of the word euthanasia was by Suetonius, a Roman historian, in his De Vita Caesarum--Divus Augustus (The Lives of the Caesars--The Deified Augustus) to describe the death of Augustus Caesar.

Dr. Jack Kevorkian is an Armenian-American pathologist who served in the Army in the Korean War. He was also known as Doctor Death. Dr. Kevorkian once stated “My aim in helping the patient was not to cause death. My aim was to end suffering. It’s got to be decriminalized.”

When imagining assisted suicide, people often envision blood, knives, overdosing, or depression. Nonetheless, suicide is not always expressed through goriness. In fact, it raises awareness towards one of the biggest debates of our generation, the legalism of euthanasia. Euthanasia, the Greek word for “good death,” is the permitting of suicide when experiencing physical suffering. As the definition indicates, this course of death is peaceful and by choice. If desired, affected patients should be able to use euthanasia, for it can relieve pain, prevent overcrowding in hospitals, and support religion and beliefs.

Assisted suicide is a medically induced suicide for critically ill patients. Also known as euthanasia, it’s something that’s been around since the 500 B.C. back then it was legal and ethical to disregard of human life. In this current day and age the debate about whether or euthanasia is ethical or legal is heated. Most people will say that assisted suicide is basically enabling doctors to be murderers and in some courts they are tried as that. However assisted suicide isn’t an illegal murder, it’s a safe way to help someone who is suffering. While most view assisted suicide as a way of profiting off of diseased patients lives, more and more patients and their families are using euthanasia as a way to find the light at the end of the tunnel.

Euthanasia is a very controversial and sensitive topic because of the ethical, legal, and moral issues of it. In the United States alone, it is illegal almost everywhere, however; it’s legal in Colorado, Vermont, Montana, Washington D.C., Oregon, Washington, and California. But, what exactly is euthanasia? Euthanasia can be categorized in three different ways; voluntary euthanasia, non-voluntary euthanasia, and involuntary euthanasia. Voluntary euthanasia is when a patient agrees to receive assistance to end his or her own life, which is legal in some places around the globe. Non-voluntary euthanasia occurs when the consent of the patient is not available. For example, if an individual is in a coma or vegetative state, they are physically incapable of giving consent. Involuntary euthanasia happens when an individual decides to end a patient's life without asking for consent, or doing it against the patient’s will. This can also be considered murder. Initiating euthanasia can be in the forms of, but not limited to, injections, drugs, Nitschke’s suicide pill, and dehydration, all of which vary in pain. In addition, it is estimated that we spend approximately 20-30% of insurance money to the terminally ill. Despite being seen as ethically wrong, the legalization of voluntary euthanasia can be beneficial and great around the world, because it prevents gory and horrific deaths, can be the key for terminally ill people to avoid agonizing and intense pain, and it can

    America’s founding fathers declared that every person had certain inalienable rights they are born with and cannot be separated from. They listed citizens’ rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Today's government must decide if a right to life equates to a right to death.

Most adults diagnosed with cancer undergo years of treatment in attempts to cure that cancer. However, sometimes these treatments may not work, or the cancer is found too late in a patient to be stopped, and a patient’s cancer can be determined terminal, which means that the cancer can not be cured and will lead to death. If cancer is determined terminal, end-of-life care can be administered patients to control lasting pains, including shortness of breath, nausea, and constipation. However, this treatment does not cure the cancer, and will not prevent death in a terminally ill cancer patient. In some cases, patients decide that receiving end-of-life treatment is not worth it if the treatment does not prevent death. Terminally ill cancer patients may also continue to experience unbearable suffering, despite end-of-life treatments, as it is not always effective. These factors may push some terminally ill cancer patients to request to be actively euthanized. Active euthanasia is the merciful ending of a patient’s life through a single act, such as an injection. Terminally ill cancer patients should have the right to determine if they are actively euthanized. However, only patients who consider their suffering unbearable should have the right to be euthanized.

Voluntary euthanasia, or physician-assisted suicide, has been a controversial issue for many years. It usually involves ending a patient’s life early to relieve their illness. Most of the controversy stemmed from personal values like ethics or religion. The euthanasia debate puts a huge emphasis on what doctors should do for their patients and how much a person’s life is worth. Supporters of euthanasia primarily focus on cost and pain alleviation. Opponents of euthanasia tend to focus on morality. Whether euthanasia is legal or not could significantly affect future generations’ attitudes about death. Euthanasia should be legalized nationally because it helps patients that could be in unimaginable pain, offers more options for more people, and it is relatively inexpensive compared to the alternatives.