Persuasive Essay On Euthanasia

Euthanasia is a controversial debate in society today. Dr. Nitschke wrote an essay titled “Euthanasia: Hope You Need it, but be Glad the Option is There”. Dr. Nitschke’s purpose of writing this article was to conduct an essay covering the euthanasia topic. Nitschke is a director of the pro-euthanasia organization, while having a career in medicine for twenty five years. Nitschke fully supports the use of 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.

Euthanasia as defined by the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary is a quiet and easy death. One may wonder, is there such a thing as a quiet and easy death? This is one point that I will discuss in my paper, however the question that my paper will answer is; should active euthanasia be legalized? First, I will look at Philippa Foot's article on Euthanasia and discuss my opinions on it. Second, I will look at James Rachel's article on active and passive euthanasia and discuss why I agree with his argument. Finally, I will conclude by saying that while the legalizing of active euthanasia would benefit many people, it would hurt too many, thus I believe that it should not be legalized.

“When we talk about euthanasia we are talking about a death understood as a good or happy event for the one who dies” (Foot 2002 [1972]:34).

In the article, “Euthanasia and Physician-Assisted Suicide Should Be Legal”, Lawrence Rudden responds on why he feels Euthanasia should be legal all around. The article begins with a story about a woman who was diagnosed with breast cancer. She spent the next few years slowly dying and the cancer grew inside of her. She was forced to watch her own body begin to fail. She was eventually told she had less than six months to live. One of her final requests was to die with dignity by asking the nurse to end her life, and she did. She wrote a letter two days earlier saying she feels thankful she could escape the cancer before it got worse.

Active euthanasia is a subject that is raising a lot of concern in today’s society on whether or not it should be legalized and under what circumstances should it be allowed. This is a very tricky subject due to its ability to be misused and abused. There are a wide variety of things that need to be considered when it comes to who should be allowed to request active euthanasia such as, is it an autonomous choice, do they have a terminal illness, is their quality of life dramatically decreased, and are they in pain and suffering. Both James Rachel and Daniel Callahan have very different opinions on active euthanasia and whether or not it should be allowed. However both authors manage to provide a substantial argument on where they stand regarding active euthanasia.

Some people say that euthanasia will end suffering and pain. But what proof do they have or what right do they have to make that claim" (143). Many authors have asked what proof people have to back up their claims but many of them never have any proof at all and are just relying mostly on their own personal beliefs or feelings. They don’t have any factual evidence that euthanasia will or will not end suffering. Some people believe that euthanasia would only end the burden on those who are around the sick. The reason that they think this is that they believe that the people only end a life to end the burden of worrying and the burden of paying high bills. This is a clear-cut example of just some of the debatable issues behind the topic of euthanasia. Many people believe that others might use euthanasia to send old parents or other

The interviewee stated she was aware of what euthanasia is and personally opposes voluntary or assisted euthanasia. She explained her opposition to euthanasia by stating that she feels, “terminally ill patients should receive unceasing health care focusing on maintaining an optimal level of comfort and proper pain management” (Oden, 2015). However, the interviewee

Many people do not find the prospect of legal voluntary active euthanasia alarming. But two things should make us think.

Today, voluntary euthanasia is getting closer to being legalized in more than just one state in the United States. “‘Voluntary’ euthanasia means that the act of putting the person to death is the end result of the person’s own free will” (Bender 19). “ Voluntary euthanasia is an area worthy of our serious consideration, since it would allow patients who have exhausted all other reasonable options to choose death rather than continue suffering” (Bender 19). The question of whether or not voluntary euthanasia should be legalized is a major debate that has been around for years. Because the issue of whether people should have the right to choose how they want to live or die is so complex. With the advances in technology today we have made

People who are proeuthanasia believe that it should be used if patients do not have control of their bodily functions, are not mentally competent and are experiencing severe pain (Ashcroft, 2003). They also believe that those who do not commit to the patient’s request are deceitful (Ashcroft, 2003). People who are anti-euthanasia believe that it is completely wrong under all circumstances (Ashcroft, 2003). According to Ashcroft (2003), some arguments used demonstrated that physicians are humans too and it is not right that they are dehumanizing their patients by providing them with an option such as euthanasia. Making euthanasia an option will make the concept of killing a norm and psychologically “salient” (Ashcroft, 2003). Ashcroft (2003) also stated that there would be an increase in involuntary and non-voluntary euthanasia if voluntary euthanasia is allowed and authorized. Ashcroft’s (2003) last argument declared that it is inaccessible to differentiate between voluntary and involuntary euthanasia as well as passive and active euthanasia. As the barrier between these processes become transparent and active voluntary euthanasia is legitimized, other forms of killing may become legalized as well (Ashcroft,

   Euthanasia or assisted suicide would not only be available to people who are terminally ill. This popular misconception is what this essay seeks to correct. There is considerable confusion on this point, perhaps further complicated by statements in the media.

According to Webster’s Dictionary, Euthanasia is “conceding painless death to a patient who is considered to be hopelessly ill, because of a non-curable disease”. The term is used to refer to the act of deliberately taking the life of a sick person, especially those who are sick from terminal illnesses. Patients in this category are normally those who are nearing their death from a persistent terminal illness and medicine does not to have much effect on them. Different scholars hold different opinions on whether to legalize the practice. Some stage a very strong that attempt to justify euthanasia. They argue that it is a common practice in the US and that it serves to end a person’s suffering and save the family members a lot of emotional

Euthanasia should be the choice of the individual, and not of the family. It should be the individual’s right if they are cognitive and coherent. The

First of all, what is euthanasia? It is something that not many people think about until they or a friend or family member is put in a position where they might actually have to consider it. Euthanasia, in the dictionary, simply is: the action of ending someone’s life in a painless way. It seems pretty simple but in reality it is a lot more complicated, not only for the people involved but for the society in general as well.