Persuasive Essay On Euthanasia

Doctors are whom people delegate their lives to when there is something wrong with their health. Death is perhaps the most personal, intimate event of any time. One may believe suffering towards the end of death should be avoided with Euthanasia. Various sources disapprove of the legalization of euthanasia. I believe that all people deserve the right to die in natural timing.

Euthanasia has been legalized in a few states, such as: California, Colorado, Oregon, and Vermont, but considering that murder is a felony and suicide is a common law crime, which are both highly punishable, the legalization of euthanasia is illogical. Supporters of the legalization compare euthanasia to putting down pets. However, there are many more advancements and alternatives in medicine for humans than there are for animals. This could be because humans are “more valuable” to society and humans are meant to live

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.”.

Euthanasia is a long, smooth-sounding word, and it conceals its danger as long, smooth words do, but the danger is there, nevertheless, said by Pearl S.Buck. Euthanasia is a word of Greek origin that means easy death.However, is death just a simple task or is it a decision made from pain? Most people would agree that euthanasia is just used to avoid physical pain.Thus euthanasia should be illegal in Nevada. The three main reasons for this are: how depression often affects the decision, how guilt contributes to this decision, lastly a potential chance for fraud.

Voluntary or assisted euthanasia is a complex issue that is often “not fully understood by clinicians” (Ersek, 2004). Currently four states have legalized voluntary and assisted euthanasia for the terminally ill, granted that a predetermined criteria has been meet. While other states that have not legalized euthanasia offer patients the option

With active euthanasia, lethal substances are used to end the patient’s life. Euthanasia has been an issue for a long time now due to religious, moral, ethical, and compassionate arguments. Out of all the 50 states in America, euthanasia is only legal in California, Colorado, Oregon, Vermont, and Montana, however, the state of Montana is fighting to legalize it. The first known anti-euthanasia law was passed in 1828 in the state of New York. Other states had followed New York passing similar laws. After the American Civil War, however, many advocates started promoting euthanasia, and the support for euthanasia began to rise at the beginning of the 1900s. Euthanasia societies started emerging in the USA in 1938. In the 1994 election, Oregon’s Death with Dignity Act was passed with a 51% of voters in favor. At first, the law had been delayed due to the ruling of Judge Michael Hogan making it unconstitutional. The ruling had been reserved due to The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and then the injunction had been lifted in October of 1997 thanks to the U.S. Supreme Court. A 29 year-old women by the name of Brittany Maynard moved down to Oregon because of its Death with Dignity

There continues to be a lack of consensus in regards to the legalization and implication of euthanasia. The Euthanasia Society of America was founded in 1938 to help educate people on why this process should be legalized (Wells 1284). Through the society, ordinary citizens could learn about all the advantages and disadvantages. The society tries to educate the ill on all of the options that they have in regards to the end of life treatment. Also when medicine can no longer help someone the person should have the right to end their life and alleviate their pain (Diaconescu 474). It should be up to the patient to decide if they are ready to die or if they want to put up a fight to survive. However, if the patient is in a coma or brain dead, family members and doctors should look at the advanced directives that the patient has given. In some cases, patients do not want to be kept alive if a machine is breathing for them (Meisel and Cerminara 2859). The patient should be able to have a choice in the quality of life that they want to live. Another argument is that people believe that church and state should be separate in hospitals as well. Patients do not want doctors being influenced by their religious beliefs when practicing medicine (Sharp, Carr, and Macdonald 275). The legalization of euthanasia shows to have many benefits for the families and patients that are suffering. Also with

Taking the word euthanasia literally means “a good death” (Cavan 7). The definition of euthanasia is “the act of killing or permitting the death of sick or injured individuals (Cavan 12). The topic of euthanasia has become a very large debate ethically and legally. Only 3 states in the U.S. have made euthanasia legal since 2004 (Issitt and Newton). A man by the name of Dr. Jack Kevorkian also known as “Dr. Death” assisted in over one hundred and thirty euthanasia cases. He was eventually charged with second degree murder and out in prison (Pearson). The Ancient Greeks used methods like euthanasia before we ever did. They allowed any suicides to happen. The only thing was the doctors could not give out deadly poison to citizens (Doubissin). These doctors also took what is know as the hippocratic oath. This says that a doctor will not give nor suggest harmful medicines to patients (Pearson). Many people believe assisted suicide is acceptable in cases of terminal illness, but it is morally wrong and considered murder.

There have been organizations supporting the legalization of voluntary euthanasia in Britain and in the US for years now. They have had some public support but were unable to achieve the goal of legalizing voluntary euthanasia in either nation. In England a society, called “The Voluntary Euthanasia Society” was founded to make voluntary euthanasia legal for an adult that is suffering. The first group that was formed in the US that was for the legalization of euthanasia was the Hemlock Society. This societie’s purpose was to support the decision of a person to die and to offer support when a person is ready to die. The only way the society would support a person was if the person believed in euthanasia for a certain amount of time before requesting to die. “On May 5, 1998, the Voluntary Euthanasia Research Foundation announced its establishment. Its purpose is to make available up-to-date information on developments in technology and methods for those seeking voluntary euthanasia” (Fox 134).

There are few states that euthanasia is considered legal and humane. Those states include only Oregon and Washington. These states do not have statutes criminalizing euthanasia. Nine states consider euthanasia a criminal act through common law. These states include Alabama, Idaho, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, South Carolina, Vermont, West Virginia. These states completely disagree with euthanasia and all that it has to offer. There are also 34 states that have statutes completely criminalizing the act. Those 34 states include Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, and Wisconsin. Euthanasia is a complicated mess in few states. These states aren’t too clear on their feelings about the subject. In Ohio, euthanasia is not considered a crime but is not practiced by physicians. In Virginia there isn’t a statute criminalizing euthanasia, there isn’t a clear case on it

Years before euthanasia could be compared to someone having a good death, a very easy way out to die. Or if someone had a hugely traumatic event such as a car crash, they could take this route as painfully as possible. However, now the term euthanasia fits into the category of something head on causing one’s death if they’re sick or dying. This “something” “[consists of] such actions as the taking of lethal amounts of medication, the administration of poisonous gases, pills or intravenous solutions, or overt killing acts such as suffo-euthanasia” (Eileen Flynn, Issues In Medical Ethics). Euthanasia is legal in the entire country of the Netherlands currently, but yet to be in the United Startes. Euthanasia is the most reputable choice when done right, euthanasia is ethical under conditioned circumstances, this would not lead to involuntary killing plus abuses in the future, and Americans can learn from a tragic past where this has gone wrong.

Euthanasia, an extremely controversial topic, has been occurring for centuries. “Until the time of Hippocrates, physicians had two duties: one to cure and, if that was not possible, a duty to kill” (Global). During this time, physicians did not have the technology to perform the necessary medical procedures as physicians do today. Physicians did not have a wide variety of medicine or equipment to treat patients. In ancient times, euthanasia was tolerated because there were not many ways for a physician to help their patient. In fact, there was a vast amount of support towards euthanasia (Stefoff). “Euthanasia has been used as a label for “mercy killings,” but there have been times when it was used

According the Merriam-Webster dictionary, Euthanasia is “the act or practice of killing or permitting the death of hopelessly sick or injured individuals (such as persons or domestic animals) in a relatively painless way for reasons of mercy. This procedure seems appealing to the many people around the world who suffer from terminal illnesses. In the minds of these people euthanasia or doctor-assisted suicide seems like the only escape. As stated in a journal, “My friend now believes that the only humane act would be to end her mother’s suffering. ‘Whats she is going through is cruel,’ she said. ‘She has no life.’” (Wheatley). This shows how sometimes people think that ending their life would be the only way

Euthanasia is the process of peacefully ending the life of a terminally-ill person. This process should be legalised for people who have been suffering in pain for extensive periods of time. If a person wants to end their life with family and friends, they should be allowed to, rather then perhaps dying suddenly with no-one around. The issue of Euthanasia has been around for almost a century, when in 1906 the American state of Ohio drafted a bill allowing the legal suicide of terminally-ill patients. Whilst this bill was ultimately unsuccessful, it paved the way for many societies and legislation to be introduced, including a Worldwide Euthanasia

The debate over the use of euthanasia is ever growing. This is due to the fact of constant increases in medical advances. Medical advances are growing the number of medicines one can be given before palliative care is an option. The main concern of the debate is whether trying new treatments and medicines are necessary before palliative care is given. Two articles will be analyzed using the Aristotelian method. Both articles are valid, but the New York Times article written by Haider Javed Warraich offers a complete perspective using all three persuasive appeals compared to the article written by Terry Pratchett for The Guardian, which the majority is written on emotion.