The US Should Legalize Euthanasia Essay

People with incurable diseases are living in excruciating pain up until the day they die. Assisted suicide, though it sounds dreadful, can put an end to the suffering. Terminally ill patients should get the option to “die with dignity.” It is their individual right! For the common good, I think assisted suicide should be legal in all fifty states. Otherwise individuals will be suffering for years on end, knowing that there is

Once people are diagnosed to be terminally-ill, they only have a certain amount of time to live, and they know that as their disease progresses that they will only get worse and worse and they will eventually lose themselves. These people should have a choice as of whether they want to live out those dreadful days that lie ahead of them, or to simply end their lives peacefully, without any pain. Physician- Assisted Suicide or Euthanasia allows people to make the decision. Although the end-result of both procedures is the same, the technique differs slightly. In Physician- Assisted Suicide, the physician injects the lethal substances, and with Euthanasia, the doctor only provides a lethal amount of a drug to the patient and they ingest it themselves. Physician-Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia should be legalized as a federal law so that the patients have the right to decide whether they would like to end their lives when in a terminally-ill state.

If a loved one was suffering in intolerable pain from a medical illness, would you allow doctors to intentionally kill him/her to end that suffering? Euthanasia, sometimes called Mercy Killing, is the practice of ending a life prematurely to end pain and suffering. Voluntary Euthanasia is the intentional killing of a person with the patient’s consent whereas Involuntary Euthanasia is carried out by the choice made not by the patient due to his/her incapabilities. In past years, there has been Supreme Court cases surrounding this issue, such as Gonzales v. Oregon and Baxter vs. Montana. The debate over the legalization of euthanasia involves concerns such as the Hippocratic Oath. I believe that the United States should legalize euthanasia to

Euthanasia is a word that comes from ancient Greece and it refers to “good death”. In the modern societies euthanasia is defined as taking away people’s lives who suffer from an incurable disease. They usually go through this process by painlessness ways to avoid the greatest pains that occurs from the disease. A huge number of countries in the World are against euthanasia and any specific type of it. One of the most important things being discussed nowadays is whether euthanasia should be legalized or not. This essay will focus on comparing positive and negative aspects of euthanasia in order to answer to the question whether euthanasia should be legal or not.

I’d like to start by saying I was unaware that physician assisted suicide was legal in the United States. According to MacKinnon and Fiala it is legal in Oregon, Washington, Vermont, and Montana (2013). I believe that a person has the right to die when they are terminally ill and have no quality of life. If a person is forced to stay alive just to suffer a slow death, I feel this is cruel. In my opinion the laws that prohibit euthanasia have little to do with the terminally ill and more to do with religious and medical platforms. Furthermore, if religious institutions are lobbying for laws against euthanasia, I feel this goes against the separation of church and state as well as tax exemptions (MacKinnon & Fiala, 2015).

Many religions such as Protestantism, Buddhism, and Catholic go against Suicide in any form as well as some other religions. While this may be true, it goes against the constitution to entrust a religion on anybody. This being the case, Euthanasia patients should have the right to decide this. They should not be limited to other people’s beliefs. In the first amendment of the constitution, it prohibits the government from “encouraging or promot[ing]… religion in any way” ( ACLU 6). Exempting patients from Euthanasia because of religion is a form of discrimination amongst them. Religion should not take away the right to perform

Physician assisted suicide or euthanasia should be a right granted to all citizens who are suffering from a degenerative, painful, or fatal condition that would cause them to be unable to enjoy their lives as healthy people do. The right to die with dignity is a fundamental issue that is debated in the spiritual side of everyone. Some of us may have known someone close to them who has seen or gone through an ordeal as watching someone take their last breath. No one should suffer in pain or have their dignity taken from them, when they should be celebrating the life they have left in them. Personally, after experiencing my mother and sister take their last breath, it was heart wrenching. Their lives were filled with pain medication, breathing difficulties, and last visits from old friends and relatives. Only the patient can ask, “How do I die?” They valiantly will themselves to stay, because of the love of family and friends. The end is inevitable. We all know this. When given the diagnosis of an incurable disease or debilitating news of no cure, we should have the right to die with dignity. The fourteenth amendment of the constitution of the United States states, "No State shall... deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.” This clause, known as the "Due Process Clause," has been used by the Supreme Court to protect the right of individuals to make decisions about "...the most intimate and personal choices a person may make in a

Euthanasia Should Not be Legalized      "It is conceivable, that life can deteriorate to the point where persons lose their dignity and self-respect and are unable to communicate; life in such a form no longer meets meets the basic criteria of human- ness."   (O'Keefe, A1)  Under these circumstances only should Euthanasia be practiced and then only passively ("pulling the plug").   "Dutch Death", Euthanasia, doctor assisted suicide, whatever you want to call it, it should not be legalized.      People should live their lives for as long as long as it is worth living.   As long as someone can still have experiences and communicate with others, they should go on living.

America is known to be the land of the free, but how free are the people really? Americans have many rights which include the right to religion, right to bear arms, the right to freedom of speech and many more that are in the Constitution but what about the right to choose between life or death? Euthanasia is a means by which people are assisted in dying. This is usually performed to end suffering or as a sign of mercy. Euthanasia must be legalized in Florida.

There are many arguments both for and against euthanasia. Many faith groups within Christian, Muslim, Jewish and other religions believe that God gives life and therefore only God should take it away. Suicide would then be considered an interference of God's plan for that individual. Therefore, such groups argue that the patient should continue living and suffering until God decides otherwise. Some religious extremist groups take this idea to the extent that they will not seek medical treatment for any condition at all.

The United States democracy should not legalize AVE and NVAE because the potential money to be saved by the government, health care providers, insurers, and citizens creates a massive incentive to pressure people towards euthanasia in order to save money. Patients who choose euthanasia, on average, end their lives 4 weeks earlier than if they died of natural causes (according to research done by Dr. Ezekiel J. Emanuel, a respected professor at Harvard Medical School and Margaret P. Battin, a medical professor at the University of Utah School of Medicine, who based the numbers in their study off of available information from the Netherlands where euthanasia is legal) (Haney). The last four weeks of a patient's life are normally the most expensive, costing an average of $10,118 but possibly costing their family, health care providers, and insurance

In conclusion, euthanasia is never the solution to anyone’s problems. It’s an unorthodox method that has no right to even exist. Legalizing this would be a definite way to eliminate all the other options patients could use if they were to decline this procedure, the reasons people recommend going through with this are inhumane, and it completely ruins the trust between a doctor and their

Anyone with strong religious convictions believes that only God or a supreme being has the right to choose life or death. Advocates also argue that physicians, who are trained to heal, not kill, do not have any rights to choose who lives or dies. Those who are for euthanasia and the “right to die” issue believe that it is each person’s choice. Before the Karen Ann Quinlan case, the law did not say whose choice it was to live or die. Now with laws, different than they were in 1976, there are sicker or even well people have been living wills.

     Personally I don't believe in suicide, but I also don't believe in suffering for no reason. I would hate to be put in a position where I had to decide to kill myself and be at peace, or live, and suffer. I probably would want to be at peace. I believe that euthanasia is as a useful practice, just as abortion is. Euthanasia is only practiced on terminally ill patients who have a high enough competence level to make decisions regarding their own life. If they choose to practice euthanasia, the procedure is fast and it doesn't hurt. People who oppose euthanasia often pull the religion card. Their arguments usually states that suicide is a sin and a "good" Christians would never take their life because its up to God, if he wants you then he will take you. I never hear arguments that oppose the prolonging of life, God is usually never referred to then unless it's a miracle. When people who have suffered really bad stroke or heart attacks and are in the hospital and they are placed on life support for years on top of years, there are rarely any arguments because that

Everybody faces death eventually. While some people abhor the impending experience, others may await it excitedly. Regardless of one's expectations, most people do not wish for a painful end. If a situation arises where one must make a decision concerning approaching death or the death of loved ones, most people would hope for the least possible suffering. While a decision like this is extremely difficult to make, many people choose death as opposed to living in agony. However, others think that euthanasia is reprehensible no matter what the circumstances are. Author Cheryl Eckstein believes, "Killing in the name of compassion and mercy is wrong" ("Can there ever", par. 9). Homicide and