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Euthanasia Paper

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Euthanasia:
Is it moral?

The term euthanasia comes from ancient Greek and it means “easy death” (Merriam-Webster Dictionary). Compared to the ancient times in which this word originated, it seems much harder in today’s society to achieve this epitome of a good death. In the ancient times, people died due to diseases that doctors could not cure, and their lives were ended earlier because it was considered cruel to watch a person die a slow and painful death. Today, thanks to the great advancement of technology, more and more diseases are becoming easier to cure and create a better living environment for the person affected. However, there are still many patients who have incurable diseases and disorders that disallow them to have a …show more content…

Another important question that is repeatedly debated about with euthanasia is does it devalue human life? When putting the arguments for the affirmative and the negative side by side, one would see that euthanasia does in fact devalue life. It deteriorates society’s respect for life because people could in theory pretend to be extremely sick and then have a doctor legally kill them. With the acceptance of euthanasia, society also accepts that some lives, as in those who would be candidates for euthanasia, are values less so than others, or the healthy and strong people in the world. As said earlier, there are two types of euthanasia; involuntary and voluntary. With the acceptance of voluntary euthanasia, there would be a slippery slope that would undoubtedly lead to involuntary euthanasia and the slaying of people who are considered to be objectionable. Then there is also the true thought that euthanasia may not actually be in the patient’s best interests. The patient could ask for euthanasia too prematurely, and if they are killed and the doctor realizes something could have been done, the blame would be placed on that doctor.
Additionally, how would the government’s role in euthanasia play out? Does the government have the right to tell people who are deemed

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