Robert Latimer Euthanasia Research Paper

In “Active and Passive Euthanasia”, James Rachels argues that both degrees of euthanasia are morally permissible and the American Medical Association (AMA) policy that supports the conventional doctrine is not sound. Rachels establishes that the conventional doctrine is the belief that, in some cases, passive euthanasia is morally permitted, while active euthanasia, under all circumstances, is

Rights For Euthanasia Essay On October 24, 1993 Robert Latimer, a farmer and father, killed his 12 year old disabled daughter, Tracy. To end her ongoing pain from cerebral palsy, he placed her in the back of his pickup truck, then ran a hose from the exhaust into his cab as he watched her died from Carbon Monoxide. This was known as compassionate homicide or euthanasia, but he was charged with first and second degree murder. Trying to help and end Tracy’s suffering (till this day), Robert Latimer is fighting for the rights of euthanasia.

Active and passive euthanasia has been a controversial topic for many decades. Medicine has become so advanced, even the most ill patients can be kept alive by artificial means. Active euthanasia is a deliberate action taken to end a person’s life, such as lethal dose of medication (Burkhardt & Nathaniel, 2014). Passive euthanasia is allowing a person to die by not intervening or stopping a treatment that is keeping them alive (Garrard, 2014). There are three main arguments within this issue; Firstly, in the healthcare setting, it is morally accepted to allow a patient to die but purposely killing a patient is not (Garrard, 2014). Secondly, some people believe there is no moral difference between passive and active euthanasia.

“The killing of a person is not ‘compassionate’ it is not ‘euthanasia’. It is murder.” This was said by Stella Young (has died). She was born with a genetic disorder that caused her bones to be fragile and brake easily. Even though she was always in a wheel chair she never felt different or wanted to be treated different, she had a job and a life. Although once she had a chance to change her way of thinking, when her grandfather was sick and they were just waiting for him to die. But she didn’t she stayed strong with standing against euthanasia. She didn’t want to do it to her grandfather or herself even if she was in pain. Like Stella Young even if she was in pain, Euthanasia is still and will always be considered murder.

Two girls died the other day, one sadly took her own life while the other’s life was taken from her brutally. Everybody's upset, putting up suicide prevention posters and talking about how this is terrible and being sorry for the families who lost a loved one. Someone else ended their life through the process of Euthanasia, yet the third death was accepted and was hardly talked about. In Of Mice and Men, written by John Steinbeck, one of the main characters, George, is faced with a decision to kill his friend Lennie. George has a hard time doing so because he has known Lennie for so long. In the end George decides that it would be best if he killed Lennie, in a form called Euthanasia, instead of Curley brutally killing him. Euthanasia, also known as mercy killing, is when a doctor kills a patient painlessly because they have no more desire to live. Therefore, mercy killing is cruel and an unnecessary practice that seems to be very similar to a suicide and homicide.

In present-day society, most people question the use of euthanasia, whether it can be morally justified or not. Some argue that euthanasia has a bad reputation of being assisted suicide or murder. Most people would favour that euthanasia is generally referred to an easy or painless death, which some would call it death with dignity. However, euthanasia may at times be justified depending on the circumstances. For instance, if a patient is suffering in pain and have less or no chances at all on surviving, euthanasia can be an agreeable solution of reducing the suffering of a person. The novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck and Clint Eastwood’s Million Dollar Baby provide good examples of euthanasia being a justifiable solution. Frankie and

Another pro is death by dignity. Usually for people it is very degrading to have everything done for them by nurses or family members because then they feel like a burden so euthanasia puts those people in control of their life and let’s them make a decision that changes their lives and the lives of their families. It’s much easier for families to let go of someone that they know won’t suffer in death and it’s easier for the person dying because then they know that they aren’t burdening their family members. People who are terminally ill and choose the path of euthanasia also save a lot of money because they’re not using up the medical facilities that they normally would. This lessens the burden once again on the family and the patient as well as the hospital. Lastly, euthanasia gives the individual a freedom of choice and allows the person to take control of their own life rather than being unstable and having to be at the mercy of others. This gives a sense of peace and hope to the patient and their family because they’re making their own choices and deciding how they want to carry out the rest of the life they have

CBC news (2010) reports there was never any question as to whether or not he did it, he admitted to police that he placed her into his truck cab and ran an exhaust hose into the cab, watching her die. Robert’s reason for doing so was because, “he could no longer watch her suffer” from the severe form of cerebral palsy. They discuss this case in CBC (2010) as the “ultimate response to suffering”, as experienced and interpreted by her father. The national debate on this case revealed polarizing opinions, that, on one side, sympathize with the father and the empathetic suffering he endured. On the other side, are the advocates who strongly oppose any qualification or exception to the law where the victim of murder is a disabled person. As noted in CBC the crown appointed to the Latimar’s case stated, “there is no dispute that through her life, Tracy at times suffered considerable pain. As well, the quality of her life was limited by her severe disability. But the pain she suffered was not unremitting, and her life had value and quality” (CBC,

Hutchinson proposed that voluntary ¬euthanasia could grow to the deaths of more than 1000 terminally ill patients a year before 2030. The Andrews government had the country's first assisted death in September 2017. The self-¬administered death is open to terminally ill patients aged over 18. The suffering must be with an ¬incurable disease with a life ¬expectancy of less than 12 months. I will use this to demonstrate the growing number of physician assisted suicides.

In James Rachel’s article Active and Passive Euthanasia, James provides the argument that there is no difference between active and passive euthanasia because in the end, either through inaction or action, it both results in death and there are no moral differences in ‘killing’ or ‘letting die’. Rachel provides several different arguments to support his case including a patient dying of terminal cancer, and two uncles and the death of their nephews.

Patrick D. Hopkins in this article draws an attention about the distinction between active and passive euthanasia to be highly criticized and problematic. The author explains that to be find a relevant difference between the two types of euthanasias it is important to reveal the concept of “natural” death and intervention. In medical terms, interventions are used to make an ontological difference between actions and other things. In active euthanasia, there is a direct cause of death, whereas, in other type, one has to undergo through physiological process to track its natural path. Hopkins explains the Brody’ analysis that if respirators are interventions and its removal does not considered as killing. It would only results into natural course

In the medical realm, any argument regarding euthanasia is an argument of ethics. After considering the argument, we must first define what active and passive euthanasia is. The definitional distinction between passive and euthanasia is one

Euthanasia or assisted suicide is the practice of intentionally ending someone’s life to alleviate his or her pain. The article “Terminally Ill Brittany Maynard Takes Her Own Life Under Oregon Law” explains the case of a woman with terminal brain cancer who decided to change of state to obtain medical assistance to end her life. In the United States, there are just few states that are not against physician aid with dying (PAD), which is the reason why the Maynard had to relocate from California to Oregon. It is important to emphasize that this case occurred in 2014, when euthanasia was still illegal in the state of California. Many in the country criticized Maynard’s decision; this indicates that choosing when and how to die, regardless of

Euthanasia, which is also referred to as mercy killing, is the act of ending someone’s life either passively or actively, usually for the purpose of relieving pain and suffering. “All forms of euthanasia require an intention to accelerate death in order to benefit patients experiencing a poor quality of life” (Sayers, 2005). It is a highly controversial subject that often leaves a person with mixed emotions and beliefs. Opinions regarding this topic hinge on the health and mental state of the victim as well as method of death. It raises legal issues as well as the issue of morals and ethics. Euthanasia is divided into two different categories, passive euthanasia and active euthanasia. “There are unavoidable uncertainties in both active and

Euthanasia debate opposes two sides in which one side argues that letting someone suffer is not ethical and the other side defend that to help someone to die is not ethical based on the morality that no one should kill or help someone to die (fundamental right that everyone is allowed to live), they judge that euthanasia should compromise the criminal code. For my own morality, I am for the euthanasia possibility for the people in need to die for the reason of the person’s well-being.