Persuasive Essay On Euthanasia

Today, there is a large debate over the situation and consequences of euthanasia. Euthanasia is the act of ending a human’s life by lethal injection or the stoppage of medication, or medical treatment. It has been denied by most of today’s population and is illegal in the fifty states of the United States. Usually, those who undergo this treatment have a disease or an “unbearable” pain somewhere in the body or the mind. Since there are ways, other than ending life, to stop pain caused by illness or depression, euthanasia is immoral, a disgrace to humanity, according to the Hippocratic Oath, and should be illegal throughout the United States.

Additionally, the term “euthanasia” does not mean the same thing as assisted suicide. Often people confuse these processes when they differ immensely. Despite this, they remain similar in their resulting death of a human life through the help of a physician. Euthanasia is the direct killing of a patient by a physician by means of lethal injection and it is completely controlled by the doctor. On the other hand, patients in assisted suicide have full control over the process that leads to their death. For this reason, procedures of these sorts must be eliminated as medical treatments and should not be authorized. Consequently, physician assisted suicide has been proven to lead to euthanasia in some cases. Assisted suicide should become illegal in all fifty states of the United States of America because it raises religious concern, endorses legalized murder, puts vulnerable people at risk of abuse, and

Physician-assisted suicide and voluntary euthanasia is still under scrutiny for a number of reasons. “In spring, 1996, the Ninth and Second Circuits were the first circuit courts in the country to find a constitutional prohibition against laws which make physician-assisted suicide a crime” (Martyn & Bourguignon, 1997). New York was one of the states that followed this prohibition. Eventually, The Ninth and Second Circuit, “allow physician-assisted suicide while attempting to protect individuals from unacceptable harms, such as involuntary euthanasia” (Martyn & Bourguignon, 1997). An assumption can be made, that euthanasia involves a licensed physician to play an active role in this partaking, and it’s where the patient prepares to die at.

For multiple years, the debate on physician assisted suicide has prevailed. Physician assisted suicide is the death of a terminally ill patient, who wants to die on their own terms with the administration of a doctor. This is different than euthanasia because physician assisted suicide is backed by a controlling legal authority (“Physician…”). Some debaters are uncomfortable with the morality issues that arise with doctors killing patients or physician assisted suicide being abused. Others focus on the pain people who are terminally ill suffer from and the control physician assisted suicide gives them. Overall, the right to live or die should not be up to the government. Physician assisted suicide is legal in six states within the United States. Specific regulations are already practiced in five of those six states. Legalizing physician assisted suicide nationally would solve any regulation issue. Physician-assisted suicide should be legal nationwide with strict regulations in order to offer the freedom that the United States stands for.

Physician-assisted suicide is “often defined by its supporters as helping an individual who is suffering to die with dignity. It is often considered the merciful thing to do” (all.org). It is currently legal in six states, including California as of October 2015. I, as well as seven out of every ten Americans, believe that legalization of assisted suicide should be nationwide (Ross, “Dying Dutch: Euthanasia Spreads across Europe”). Patients all over the country experience life-threatening illness that is often coupled with excruciating pain, physical and emotional. Legalizing assisted suicide provides patients with the option to end their lives with dignity and peace. This also allows patients to no longer feel like a burden on family, friends,

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.”.

In our society today, many terminally ill struggle with pain and fight through their disease. No methods have been discovered to cure these poor people. Everyday, he or she wish for relief on their significant unrelenting pain, but the only method right now is to end their lives. There are two methods that many terminally ill look to that are familiarized by our society, physician assisted suicide and voluntary active euthanasia. Physician assisted suicide is when the patient is prescribed lethal medicine by the doctor to commit suicide. While, voluntary active euthanasia is when a physician takes an active role in the action of killing the patient. There is often debate on whether or not any of these actions should be legalized in all states. Physician assisted suicide is legal in Oregon, California, Montana, Vermont, and Washington. Voluntary active euthanasia is illegal throughout the country. In my opinion, I believe that both voluntary active euthanasia and physician assisted suicide should be legal in every state.

In our society today, many terminally ill people struggle with pain and fight through their diseases. No methods have been discovered to cure these poor people, but, everyday, he or she wishes for relief on their significant, unrelenting pain. Also, the only alternative method right now is to end their lives. There are two methods that many terminally ill people look to that are familiarized by our society: physician assisted suicide and voluntary active euthanasia. Physician assisted suicide is when the patient is prescribed lethal medicine by the doctor to commit suicide. Meanwhile, voluntary active euthanasia is when a physician takes an active role in the act of killing the patient. There is often debate on whether or not any of these actions should be legalized in all states. Physician assisted suicide is legal in Oregon, California, Montana, Vermont, and Washington. Voluntary active euthanasia is illegal throughout the country. In my opinion, I believe that both voluntary active euthanasia and physician assisted suicide should be legal in every state.

Euthanasia or physician assisted suicide, is the painless killing of a patient, suffering from a painful or incurable disease, like cancer, or alzheimer 's, the practice is illegal in most countries, including the United States, although in the United States, it is a state decision, the only state in the United States that it is legal in is Oregon. Oregon passed the Death with Dignity Act in 1994, making euthanasia legal for chronically ill patients, the only caveat is that the doctor is allowed to prescribe the medication, but they are not allowed to administer the drugs, the patient must do that themselves (Arnold, 17, 2004). Euthanasia is a controversial topic that can spark many different feelings. Some people may feel that if they are suffering that they want to end their pain, or if they have a fatal illness that they just want to speed the process along. Others, generally not a patient that is in the situation that would be in a position to consider euthanasia as a real option, feels that it is murder and morally wrong. As a potential social worker, I must say that I feel that euthanasia is wrong and should not be practiced in any form. I feel that palliative or end of life care that would make the patient more comfortable in their final days is a more valuable option than ending a life prematurely with the assistance of a doctor.

If everyone has the right to live, then everyone should also have the right to die. Physicians assisted suicide, also known as Euthanasia, is not only a currently expanding concept around the world, but it is also a concept that is changing the options for terminally ill people and their families immensely. Not only should physician assisted suicide be legal in all states, but it should be promoted and encouraged around the world. People have the right to know their options and be informed of what they can and can't do with their own body.

Over the years assisted suicide has become more and more popular. Debates have happened, and laws have been made, but the United States have never com into an agreement on whether or not assisted suicide should be allowed. An article about euthanasia stated the US Supreme Court upheld laws forbidding physician-assisted suicide, but let the door open for states to pass legislation permitting the practice” (Euthanasia). Since the United States Supreme Court did not not make up their mind, states now have the right to

Euthanasia is the practice of ending a person’s life intentionally in order to relieve pain and suffering. Every country has different euthanasia laws. Euthanasia itself is categorized in different ways, which include voluntary, non-voluntary, or involuntary. Voluntary euthanasia is the only category that is legal in a few countries. The act of ending one’s life, even through a voluntary act, is morally wrong and should not become legal in the US. It is ultimately an act of murder. This issue is important due to the fact that the lives of many suffering people will be on the line. If this law were to become legal, rather than giving freedom to the suffering patients, euthanasia and assisted suicide will ultimately give other people the legal power to end another person’s life.

The reason euthanasia is illegal in forty-three states is that many believe that it is morally wrong, majority of people who think this come from a religious standpoint. The main argument from religious people particularly Christians (they make up majority of the population) is that euthanasia goes against the “sanctity of life”. This is the belief that “all life is precious and death should never be hastened” (Jaret). Everyone has the right to their beliefs, however the population should have to deal with the consequences of them. Church and state are meant to be separated for a reason and religious beliefs should not be a factor in whether or not a person has the right to die. Finally those who are against euthanasia use the argument that it is against the Hippocratic Oath. The oath requires physicians to promise to relieve pain and not to inflict it. ”I will neither give a deadly drug to anybody who asked for it, nor will I make a suggestion to this effect” (Tyson). However the Hippocratic Oath is extremely outdated and some have even discontinued to use it because of this. “Nearly 50% of the medical school deans surveyed

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.

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.