Euthanasia Pros Essay

Euthanasia is often called "mercy killing". It is intentionally making someone die, rather than allowing that person to die naturally. It is sometimes the act of ending someone's life, who is terminally ill, or is suffering in severe pain. Euthanasia is mostly illegal in the world today. Euthanasia can be considered a form of suicide, if the person afflicted with the problem actively does it. The person volunteering to commit the act to that person can also consider it a form of murder.

The positive side of Euthanasia is that it ends a person's suffering in this world. Many physicians and psychiatrists believe that it may a humane act. From a virtue ethics point of view, it may be appropriate. What we seek inhuman existence is to be...show more content...

The benefits are numerous in that the person euthanized would cease suffering, and the families would begin the healing process from grief and /or depression from the situation.

From Mill's perspective, the person volunteering for euthanasia has a liberty to do what he/she wants. Mill has written that if the person does not cause harm to others, it is the person's right, or liberty, to do what they please. If a person wants euthanasia, then that person has the sole liberties to choose such an act, and depart society and life. Nobody is being other than the person wishing it, and it is a volunteered act.

Brandt argues for approval of euthanasia, but killing human beings is wrong, because it injures that person and goes against the preferences of self–preservation. However, Brandt says that the above is not present in the issue of euthanasia, so it may be permissible. Brandt says that not all killing is injury, so not all killing is wrong. One should pay attention to one's expressed wishes he says. Euthanasia could be considered doing a person a favor, because you cannot injure something if you are relieving it of pain.

The negative side of euthanasia is that it goes against natural law ethics, because we do not let nature take its course. We are disturbing what is occurring or happening naturally to the person. Every person has a natural inclination to continue living. It is also said Get

Ethics of Euthanasia Essay

As patients come closer to the end of their lives, certain organs stop performing as well as they use to. People are unable to do simple tasks like putting on clothes, going to the restroom without assistance, eat on our own, and sometimes even breathe without the help of a machine. Needing to depend on someone for everything suddenly brings feelings of helplessness much like an infant feels. It is easy to see why some patients with terminal illnesses would seek any type of relief from this hardship, even if that relief is suicide. Euthanasia or assisted suicide is where a physician would give a patient an aid in dying. "Assisted suicide is a controversial medical and ethical issue based on the question of whether, in certain situations,...show more content...

Whether murder is done in a peaceful, non painful way or in a very gruesome, unimaginable way, it is still considered murder. Physicians have no way of knowing 'what is best for the patient' especially if that patient's terminal illness prevents them from speaking. Not only is assisted suicide considered murder, it also goes against Physicians' Hippocratic Oath. "Hippocratic Oath: An oath (or promise) all physicians must swear to uphold, regarding the ethical practices of the medical profession" (Lee). By allowing doctors to stray from this oath, it will be easier for them to aid in or carry out assisted suicides when it will never be entirely necessary for them to consider the option. "In 2005, Texas doctors removed two patients from life support without advanced directions and against the wishes of the patient's family" (Pawlick). By not legalizing assisted suicides, families will be able to decide when their family member is physically unable to continue with the provided treatments, but only when the patient themselves can no longer communicate their wishes and no document stating how they should go about the situation has been left in their families possession.

Ethical issues are not the only problem. Some argue that euthanasia also creates issues from a legal perspective. "One legal question is whether assisted suicide violates the Controlled Substances Act, a federal law governing the distribution of drugs" (Lee). Such

When someone is inevitably dying and in inexplicable pain is it really a crime to grant their wishes and end their suffering? As of right now euthanasia is illegal in many countries and is a very controversial topic. Is it compassion for the patient helping them in ending their life or murder? The doctor is not giving death as an option, it is the patients choice and even where it is legal there are many rules. Euthanasia should not be considered a crime because the patient is not being murdered; they are having their suffering end in a painless, humane way out of compassion for the patient and their family.

Euthanasia is defined by the World Book Millennium 2000 encyclopaedia as, "the practise of painlessly ending the lives of people...show more content...

The reason to legalize euthanasia is clear, these people need to have the choice to die with dignity.

Dr. Jack Kevorkian more commonly known as Dr. Death is greatly known for his opinion that euthanasia should be legalized and his work with patients seeking help. He was very important in showing euthanasia and voicing his opinion on the subject so the public could not ignore the importance of the matter. Dr. Kevorkian was said to have been involved with 130 suicides by patients who wanted to end their own lives (Nicol and Wylie 17). He had two machines he used to help the patients, one an injection and the other a mask, however both machines were operated by the patient and although Dr. Kevorkian was taken to court many times for these he was not convicted because the patient was in control. He was very careful as to not actually commit the act himself until he was contacted by Thomas Youk, a young with Lou Gheric's disease; Lou Gheric's disease is when the muscle stop working and eventually the patient chokes to death. Tom's condition prevented him from actually operating the machines and therefore Dr. Kevorkian decided that he would operate the machine himself because he cared greatly about all his patients and could not let Tom live in his constant fear (Nicol and Wylie 11). Dr. Kevorkian taped Tom's wishes and then himself hooking up the machine and pushing the button to inject the drugs. He then proceed to Get

Pro Euthanasia

Most people want to live their life with dignity and die with dignity. People make important choices and decisions through out their life. Some of these decisions are very difficult and even life changing. We live in a democratic society where we are free to make these decisions.Death is an unavoidable event and happens to everyone. Death can be quick or it can make our love ones suffer miserably. Some people become very ill or have devastating physical problems they must deal with daily. They have a constitutional right to refuse treatment. Most patients trust in their doctor to help them deal with their illness. As their suffering increases, their self–respect decreases. A person should have the freedom to end their life...show more content...

These events are also described in (1 Chronicles 10:3–7). Saul took his life because of his injuries. He knew when the Philistines arrived; he would be tortured and brutally killed by them. Saw knew his death would be dragged out like a helpless person, slowly and painfully dying, so he quickly killed himself.

Think if someone you cherished was dying due to an organ failure or the need of a new organ. There are long waiting lists for hearts, kidneys, livers, and other organs that are necessary to save the lives of people who can be saved. Doctor–assisted suicide allows physicians to preserve vital organs that can be donated to others. However, if certain diseases are not stopped quickly and spread, the organs may weaken or stop working all together. Friends and family of the patient suffers just as much or more than the patient themselves. Death should not be a dragged out painful thing and "Assisted suicide shows compassion for the dying"(Rifkin 18). Right now there is a shortage of medical staff in this country, especially nurses. If someone is going to eventually die and is desperately hanging on, why not grant their last wish and use that unneeded medical attention on someone who can be saved. Dr. Pieter Admiraal, and anesthesiologist and the first Dutch physician to express his opinion stated," The main reason patients request euthanasia are the loss of dignity that may accompany the Get