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Euthanasi Euthanasia And Euthanasia

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Across the world, especially in the United States, there has been an increase in debates related to the topic of assisted suicide, also known as euthanasia. Many people, specifically in America, consider euthanasia as murder and against their ideals. In contrast, many specialists and other countries, as in Netherlands, believe that the idea of assisted suicide is a gesture of mercy towards terminally ill patients.
Perhaps in order to construct an apt viewpoint on euthanasia, one must be knowledgeable on the background of euthanasia, along with having a clear understanding of some of the underlying terms. Euthanasia is a term “derived from the Greek word “euthanatos”, meaning simply a good death” (Perri, 1996). This word is vulnerable to the various interpretations of all people; therefore, many people fall short when it comes to understanding the two distinct types of euthanasia. These two unique types are known as active and passive euthanasia. Active euthanasia is described as being “the deliberate ending of a person’s life with the intent of reducing that person’s suffering” (Perri, 1996). For instance, active euthanasia can be as simple as injecting a patient with a harmful toxin. On the other hand passive euthanasia is typically defined as the “withdrawing of medical treatment with the intention of causing the patient 's death” ("Types of euthanasia," 2001). Now an example of passive euthanasia is simply when a patient is perishing and the doctor chooses not to

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