Euthanasia Essay

An often-overlooked topic that is starting to come more to light, is Euthanasia, and should it be legal? There have been plenty of arguments and political debates about euthanasia and its occurrences in society. According to Demetra M. Pappas he says many different things about this topic. First, he states a supreme court case and says, “State supreme courts are split in their treatment of physician-assisted suicide, The Michigan Supreme Court, in response to Kevorkian’s activities and in response to the very first civil challenge regarding assisted suicide, determined that assisted suicide was illegal.”. Then he also points out “On the other hand, the Montana Supreme Court, perhaps with the hind-sight visual benefits of the Oregon and Washington State experiences, as well as the U.S. Supreme Court positions in 1997 and 2006, ruled that as a matter of state constitutional law, physician-assisted suicide should be permitted.”.

A major problem that is facing our society today is the legalization of assisted suicide or as it is also known, euthanasia. Euthanasia is the act of putting a person to death painlessly, or allowing a person to die by withholding medical treatment in cases of incurable diseases. Assisted suicide has been legalized in five out of the fifty United States and legal in over eight different countries. Euthanasia is done when a physician administers a lethal dose of pain killing medication, while assisted suicide is when the physician leaves a syringe that is filled for the patient to inject themselves when they are ready. Euthanasia has been common in the world for centuries, throughout several cultures and regions, in the twentieth century a group

Euthanasia remains highly controversial in the U.S. because even a state such as Oregon which upholds the Death with Dignity Act “passed by a margin of 51% to 49% as stated by the Oregon Health Authority. Thus, even though Niles suggested that Oregon supports euthanasia, the Death with Dignity Act seemingly remains controversial because almost half of the population in Oregon is against Euthanasia, and there are stakeholders who still challenge its implementation. In the context of this paper, euthanasia refers to an instance in which “the physician would act directly, for instance by giving a lethal injection, to end the patient’s life” (Niles 254). Clearly, euthanasia remains illegal in most parts of the country, and this is because it is a contentious moral and legal issue according to Haberman. There are numerous arguments which support and oppose euthanasia. Even so, the benefits of euthanasia outnumber its detriments. This implies that euthanasia should be legalized across the remaining states in the U.S. The legalization of euthanasia would have economic, ethical/moral, legal, and personal benefits.

If these alternative means to euthanasia eventually result in death anyway, why then should we force an individual to suffer unnecessarily rather than provide them the choice? Autonomy, or the right to self-govern is one of the major foundations of human rights in the United States and is therefore fundamental in decision-making in health care. It is the leading contributing factor in the legalization of euthanasia in countries such as Belgium, and the Netherlands (Karlsson et al., Dying cancer patients’ own opinions on euthanasia 35).

Medical ethics take on a important role in determining societies’ response to pain, treatment and the decision to survive or abandon. Particularly, the Hippocratic Oath was one of the ancient efforts to make an ethical system. It maintains to be used as one of the key basis given as to why physicians should not aid a patient to die. In the United State, Opponents of physician assisted suicide and euthanasia organized nonreligious groups and organizations such as the American Hospital Association, the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization, and the American Medical Association (Foley & Herbert, 2004, p. 3). One of the reasons to disagree is that physician assisted suicide and euthanasia infringes the

The Hemlock Society was formed by Dereck Humphry in 1980 and now has over 27,000 members. This Society works to change legislation in favor of euthanasia while offering support for person’s contemplating euthanasia. They also produce publications about euthanasia subjects in order to better educate the public (18.) The second organization, the Euthanasia Society of America, was formed in the 1930’s and is dedicated to bring euthanasia cases out into the public eye (16.) A man by the name of Dr. Kevorkian is unrelated to the Euthanasia Society of America but also strived to bring euthanasia issues into the public. He has assisted in over 100 deaths through euthanasia to terminally ill patients. One of his patients, Thomas Youk suffered from a very severe and painful case of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. He found Dr. Kevorkian who helped him peacefully pass away and end his long time suffering. Kevorkian has also shown a way that euthanasia patients can also benefit those who are ill but do not want to choose euthanasia. After the death of a

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

This article addresses the democratic, professional and legal issues surrounding the negative effects of legalizing euthanasia. This article is a reliable source because it is written by a well-educated professor. It also includes references that provide evidence

“Support for physician euthanasia in the U.S. increased 37 percent in 1947 to 53 percent in the early 1970s and leveled off around 1990, with two-thirds of people in the U.S. supporting the practice” (Reuters). There are other parts of the world where the legalization of euthanasia is increasing. To give one example, in Western Europe the support of euthanasia is increasing dramatically. Also, in Western Europe, euthanasia is mainly used in cases involving people who are diagnosed with cancer and older people. On the other hand, in California, where euthanasia is legal, the patients must have a terminal illness in which they are expected to die within six months. This is the reason why physicians that prescribe medications to hasten death, cannot be

In the Ancient World, specifically Greece, Rome, and Egypt, society believed that if a person had no interest in continuing their life, then society had no bond to force them to continue it. Even in the 1930s there were organizations that aided in awareness and legalization of voluntary and assisted suicide (the Hemlock Society, the Voluntary Euthanasia Society). The issue became media frenzy in the late 1990s with the efforts of Dr. Jack Kevorkian and others and continues to be contentious (Fridstein, 10).

Although, euthanasia was widely discussed in the eighteenth century (the era of enlightenment), this controversial topic only gained national publicity in the year 1915 when Dr. Haiselden refused to perform a lifesaving surgery on a deformed child, leading to the child’s death (Doug, 2013). The morality of Dr. Haiselden’s action became scrutinized, as America asked, Is it moral for someone to let another die through actions or lack thereof. There are differences of opinion concerning the morality of euthanasia; however, I conclude that physician-assisted suicide of the terminally ill is morally acceptable because not only is it permissible to kill terminally ill patients but also the goals of medicine recommend euthanasia.

Euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide are actions that hit at the core of what it means to be human - the moral and ethical actions that make us who we are, or who we ought to be. Euthanasia, a subject that is so well known in the twenty-first century, is subject to many discussions about ethical permissibility which date back to as far as ancient Greece and Rome , where euthanasia was practiced rather frequently. It was not until the Hippocratic School removed it from medical practice. Euthanasia in itself raises many ethical dilemmas – such as, is it ethical for a doctor to assist a terminally ill patient in ending his life? Under what circumstances, if any, is euthanasia considered ethically appropriate? More so, euthanasia raises

One of the biggest and most controversial topics throughout society today is the act of euthanasia in humans. In the medical field, euthanasia is commonly known as assisted suicide that is essentially for terminally ill patients only. When thinking about euthanasia, Americans tend to relate it towards the rights for animals, but in this specific example I will focus on the controversial topic of legalization on behalf of people who are professionally diagnosed with a life-threatening diseases. This will not include minorities under the age of eighteen or the elderly over the age of sixty. Thus when looking at the data in today’s society, euthanasia is clearly defined as taking action of ending a person’s

Euthanasia is defined as, "The act or practice of putting to death painlessly a person suffering from an incurable disease." Euthanasia can be traced back as far back as the ancient Greek and Roman civilizations. It was sometimes allowed in these civilizations to help others die. Voluntary euthanasia was approved in these ancient societies. Today, the practice of euthanasia causes great controversy. Both pro-life groups and right-to-die groups present arguments for their different sides. Pro-life groups make arguments and present fears against euthanasia. I contend that the case for the right to die is the stronger argument.

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.