Euthanasia In Australia

Euthanasia is the practice of purposefully ending someone’s life in order to relieve their pain and/or suffering. Euthanasia is legal in many countries including Belgium, France, India, Japan, and few states

Although euthanasia is a complex and controversial subject, under certain conditions people should have the right to decide to end their own lives. Is euthanasia murder or mercy? We need to understand what Mercy, Murder and Euthanasia are before we can form any opinion.

When we hear the phrase voluntary euthanasia people generally think of one of two things: the active termination of life at the patient's or the Nazi extermination program of murder. Many people have beliefs about whether euthanasia is right or wrong, often without being able to define it clearly. Some people take an extreme view, while many fall somewhere between the two camps. The derivation means gentle and easy death coming from the Greek words, eu - thanatos. Euthanasia was formerly called "mercy killing," euthanasia means intentionally making someone die, rather than allowing that person to die naturally. Put bluntly, euthanasia means killing in the name of compassion.

Euthanasia, or voluntary assisted suicide, has been the subject of much moral, religious, philosophical, legal and human rights debate in Australia. Euthanasia is defined as the intentional act of terminating one’s life, who is suffering from an incurable illness or a terminal disease. This act requires explicit consent from the person who wishes to die and it must also be done out of concern and compassion for that person who is suffering. Several legislative attempts have been made to legalise euthanasia in parts of Australia. However, at the present time, it remains unlawful. With Euthanasia being illegal all across Australia it has forced our citizens overseas to unregulated medical centres in hope of having access to a

Aside from the example that I stated above those patients with a severe disease like cancer is often be allowed to choose their time of death. This is because cancer is the most common cause of death of many people, particularly in Australia. Based on the public opinion almost three-quarters of the population in Australia are in favor of practicing euthanasia in their country and it can be only done if requested by terminally ill patient who is experiencing unrelievable suffering.

In this chapter the author describe the issue of euthanasia and the issue of end of life practice in Australia. Euthanasia is refers to a practice being done intentionally to end the life of the people who are suffering from illness in order to relieve the pain and suffering. The main ideas in this chapter are about the arguments in life or death issue and the debate happening about what is right or wrong in euthanasia. Although some other countries already accept this practice of ending life, euthanasia in Australia is still illegal and the federal government continues the debate about the issue. It was found that majority of the Australian are already accept and support the legal option of ending life for those people who are suffering from

In the same survey however only 33% of 387 doctors agreed with legalising euthanasia. (9) This surprised me as I have often heard in the media the view that the medical profession in Australia is supportive of euthanasia. It

The American support of active euthanasia has been seen in national organizations and polls. In a nation-wide Gallup poll in April, results showed that a majority of seventy five percent of all Americans allowing doctors to end the lives of the terminally ill (Van Biema 60). In fact, studies show that one fifth of all doctors have actively helped to end a patient 's life (Van Biema 61). Now imagine how many other doctors passively helped to end the life of a patient, or how many doctors did not take the

Today I am here to talk about the controversial issue of euthanasia. This year, the Greens party has planned to introduce a ‘Rights of the Terminally Ill’ bill into state parliament. This has raised the issue of whether or not euthanasia should be legalised in Australia. Euthanasia is the practice of ending a person’s life in order to release them from an incurable disease or intolerable suffering. There are two types of euthanasia: voluntary and involuntary. Voluntary euthanasia occurs upon request and involuntary euthanasia refers to ending the life of a person who is not mentally competent, such as a comatose patient, or hastening the death of someone who

The word euthanasia originates from Greek; eu meaning good/well and thanatosis meaning death. In other words, it means “Good Death, Gentle and Easy Death, and also known as mercy killing.” (A General History) In the old times there are different cases where euthanasia was practice towards incurable patients, mentally and physically ill persons, children and adults with disabilities, and many more, this practice was regarded as a way to protect the society from unnecessary burden, or as a way to 'save ' the person from the burden of existence. Today, many diseases have no cure, they cause suffering for the individual and suffering for the family. People should have the right to die if they are suffering from incurable diseases, therefore, euthanasia should be legalized. There are three main reasons as to why euthanasia should be acceptable.

Euthanasia ties into the right to be helped. Euthanasia helps the terminally ill patients by relieving extreme pain; it helps them by letting them move on. Euthanasia is the kindest, most needed most efficient solution. If the help a sick patient wants is a lethal injection by a physician for the purpose of causing immediate death then that patient should have the freedom and right to get that kind of help. Another article reads;

Euthanasia also called mercy killing is defined as the act of putting someone to die painlessly or allowing them to die. It is a power of life and death. A doctors method of ending a life to prevent intolerable suffering. For example a person suffering from an incurable disease being taken off life support and allowed to pass away. Murder on the other hand can be defined as the act of violence against another human being. For example a man being shot and killed. The victim dies at a time which is forced by the killer whose sole purpose is to harm. This man did not decide to die or had no part in his death he was murdered. Unlike murder Euthanasia was not meant to be an act of violence. Modern technology has allowed doctors to keep a

Euthanasia, also known as mercy killing is a practice of ending a life to release an individual from an incurable disease or intolerable suffering. Euthanasia has been accepted both legally and morally in various forms in many societies but not in all. “In ancient Greece and Rome it was permissible in some situations to help others die. For example, the Greek writer Plutarch mentioned that in Sparta infanticide was practiced on children who lacked "health and vigor." Both Socrates and Plato sanctioned forms of euthanasia in certain cases. Voluntary euthanasia for the elderly was an approved custom in several ancient societies.” With the rise of organized religion, euthanasia became morally and ethically abhorrent. Christianity,

Have you ever imagined one of your loved ones suffering from a painful illness? Have you ever wanted that person to die and rest in peace? This is called Euthanasia, which means the termination of a patient’s life who is suffering from excruciating pain and a terminal disease. Euthanasia came from the Greek for good (“eu”) and death (“thanatos”) “good death”(Sklansky, 200, p.5). there are more than four types of euthanasia such as active euthanasia which means that death is caused directly by another person by giving the patient a poisonous injection. Passive euthanasia refers to the withdrawal of treatment that keeps the patient alive. Voluntary euthanasia means that the patient requests assisted suicide, while involuntary euthanasia means that it is done against the patient’s will. Euthanasia started in both the Roman empire and Greece. In ancient Rome, euthanasia was considered a crime and was taken as murder. In general, Greece accepted euthanasia for patients who are suffering from extreme pain. Plato wrote “Mentally and physically ill persons should be left to death, they do not have the right to live”(http:www.life.org.nz/euthanasia/abouteuthanasia/history-euthanasia1/.) Sir Thomas More was the first prominent Christian to mention on euthanasia in his book

People have the right to medical care, but pain and suffering for a person has to be one of the toughest things in life to deal with. In the health care world, few topics create a debate as heated as euthanasia. Euthanasia comes from the Greek word meaning good death. Euthanasia is the practice of ending the life of a person either by lethal injection or the suspension of medical treatment. Most religious beliefs say that God is the only one that has the right to decide the termination of any life. Euthanasia should be a person’s right of choice legally and ethically. People are faced with choices on a daily basis throughout their lives. Having the choice of euthanasia allows a quick, humane, and painless way to end pain and suffering.