Euthanasia And The Right Of Life And Euthanasia

According to the American Medical Association (1996), physician-assisted suicide (PAS) occurs when a physician facilitates a patient’s death by providing either the means or the information necessary to aid in the patient performing the life-ending act. PAS has had a long and controversial history dating back to the ancient Greeks and Romans. They believed that there was no reason to prolong life if continued pain and suffering was the only prognosis. The term euthanasia, in fact, stems from the Greek meaning "a good death". It was not until Hippocrates and his Hippocratic Oath, cautioning against deadly medicine towards patients, that a different view was seen.

Euthanasia is the practice of ending the life of an individual for the purposes of relieving pain and suffering. Over the years, there has been a big debate about its merits and demerits, and the debate is not about to end anytime soon. However, no matter what side of the debate one supports, it is important to consider a few facts. One, the prolonged stay in hospital is bound to raise medical costs. Two, some medical complications bring suffering and pain to the patient without any possibility of getting back to one 's normal activities of daily living. However, ending the life of a person intentionally may be treated as a serious crime in some jurisdictions. Given these facts, it is evident that making a decision about euthanasia is bound to be a challenging task. Although not everyone might agree, euthanasia is a necessary procedure that relieves the pain and suffering of the patient and rids the family and the government of expensive medical costs that would not necessary improve the life of the patient.

defined as the mode or act of inducing death painlessly or as a relief for pain. Although there

“When we talk about euthanasia we are talking about a death understood as a good or happy event for the one who dies” (Foot 2002 [1972]:34).

Voluntary Euthanasia has been considered a controversial topic for many decades. The idea of committing an act that involves the taking of human life is not one that many people would care to discuss openly. The main argument is that a person who has been diagnosed with an incurable illness and is in extreme pain and their ability to move has been limited, while that person still has control over their destiney should they be allowed take their own life (Bowie, R.2001). The worldwide debate weather one should be allowed to end a life is still one of the biggest ethical issues. The attempt to providing the rights of the individual is in conflict with the moral values of society. Voluntary Euthanasia has been highly rejected by many religious and pro-life institutions.

The act of killing could be viewed in many different ways. The proper definition of kill is to put an end to something. Abortion is called to attention as the procedure deals with the act of removing a fetus which will ultimately be the end to that. Euthanasia is the process in which a joint decision is made by the individual and/or the family to bring an end to the any pain caused by a disease.

The controversy of euthanasia and assisted suicide are moral issues, legal issues, and economical issues. People who are pro euthanasia believe that people should be able to die sooner rather than later to maintain their dignity. There are many aspects when determining when someone’s illness and suffering are prolonged. Pro euthanasians also believe that they should legally be able to determine time of death. Courts have varied opinions on the criteria for allowing euthanasia and assisted suicide, which can be relaxed with time. Medical professionals are also put in a circumstance to make a decision that is unwanted. Society argues that allowing people to determine time of death can affect someone’s financial obligation among other things.

One of the greatest miracles in life, is life itself, but where is life there’s death. So as unexpected as life is shall death be the same, or can we choose on how we leave this earth. Over the years, the laws and ethical consternation regarding the debatable subject of euthanasia and assisted suicide, have been questioned frequently by society. Though the question may never be answered between euthanasia and assisted suicide being right or wrong, the fact of the matter is that people are still choosing their fate.

‘There are many opinions in which death is hidden in a western contemporary society and viewed with anxiety and discomfort’ (Bryan, L 2007).We are living in an aging population, therefore death is going to become an even bigger social issue as we get older. Depending on where you are in the world, deaths can have a negative and unwanted experience, especially in the Western society when science dominates people’s beliefs. A bad death would be categorised by someone dying young, or a result of a terminal illness in which people have struggled with their whole lives.

The United States Declaration of Independence states "Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" (1776) as being three natural rights that every human being is entitled of having. For decades euthanasia has been a controversial topic, both between the common people and expert

Death has occurred all over the nation. It also has a huge impact on the American culture. IT came apart from the German word Deao which means the process, act, condition of dying. Many of people are involved in this process called a funeral which is a celebration of life to honor those who had a huge part in our livelihood.

The term Euthanasia is derived from the Greek words, Eu (good) and Thanatosis (death) meaning a very gentle and easy death. The definition of euthanasia has now come down to “the act or practice of killing or permitting the death of hopelessly sick or injured individuals (as persons or domestic animals) in a relatively painless way for reasons of mercy.” Therefore, this term can be also called “mercy killing”. In this sense euthanasia means the active or inactive death of a patient. This form of “easy death” for hopeless and suffering patients has been around since ancient ages as, Mesopotamia strictly forbade euthanasia following the sixth commandment “thou shall not kill”, India practiced it by drowning incurable patients in the Ganges

Pro-life groups contend that if we allow any type of euthanasia, sooner or later, we would begin killing off not only the terminally ill, but also the handicapped, the poor, the elderly and anyone else who becomes troublesome. The view that we should not make a decision because it could lead to other less prudent decisions later is not a reasonable foundation for setting policies, unless later decisions are definite, and are absolutely wrong. I would hope that the virtue of society would lead us to know where to draw the line between going far enough and going too far. At the present time, it is not clear if where the line is drawn now is where it should be drawn. 5. Euthanasia is killing. Most people believe that there are circumstances when killing is allowed, such as self-defense. The only question is whether or not the killing is justified under the circumstances. In the case of self-defense, killing is justified. The same is true of euthanasia. 6. People who request euthanasia may be requesting it because they are depressed and they may change their minds. I believe that psychological evaluation will detect the mental condition of a patient, and depression, if it exists, can be treated. Patients can be given

Euthanasia is the practice of ending an individual's life in order to relieve them from an incurable disease or unbearable suffering. The term euthanasia is derived from the Greek word for "good death" and originally referred to as “intentional killing” ( Patelarou, Vardavas, Fioraki, Alegakis, Dafermou, & Ntzilepi, 2009). Euthanasia is a controversial topic which has raised a great deal of debate globally. Although euthanasia has received great exposure in the professional media, there are some sticky points that lack clarity and need to be addressed. Euthanasia is a divisive topic, and different interpretations of its meaning, depend on whether the person supports it or not. While a few societies have accepted euthanasia, there are

Euthanasia, which is also referred to as mercy killing, is the act of ending someone’s life either passively or actively, usually for the purpose of relieving pain and suffering. “All forms of euthanasia require an intention to accelerate death in order to benefit patients experiencing a poor quality of life” (Sayers, 2005). It is a highly controversial subject that often leaves a person with mixed emotions and beliefs. Opinions regarding this topic hinge on the health and mental state of the victim as well as method of death. It raises legal issues as well as the issue of morals and ethics. Euthanasia is divided into two different categories, passive euthanasia and active euthanasia. “There are unavoidable uncertainties in both active and