РефератыИностранный языкEuEuthanasia Essay Research Paper Euthanasia The word

Euthanasia Essay Research Paper Euthanasia The word

Euthanasia Essay, Research Paper


Euthanasia


The word euthanasia is derived from the Greek word “eu” for good and “thantos” which


means death and originally referred to intentional mercy killing. But the word it


euthanasia has acquired a more complex meaning in modern times. Proponents of


euthanasia believe that a dying patient has the right to end their suffering and leave the


world in a dignified manner. Those who contest euthanasia believe that man does not


have the right to end another person’s life no matter what pain they endure. Euthanasia is


one of the most important public policy issues being debated today. The outcome of


debate will profoundly affect family relationships, interaction between doctors and


patients, and concepts of basic morality. The word euthanasia has acquired a complex


meaning in modern times. There are several types of euthanasia and one must define


them in order to avoid confusion. Passive euthanasia is the process of hastening the death


of a person by withdrawing some form of support and letting nature take its course. Such


a act would include removing life-support equipment, stopping medical procedures,


stopping food and water and allowing the person to die. Active euthanasia involves


causing the death of a person through a direct action in response to request from that


person. This is also called mercy killing. Physician assisted suicide is the process of a


physician supplying information and or the means of committing suicide to a patient.


This would include writing a prescription for a lethal dose of sleeping pills or providing


the patient with carbon monoxide gas. Euthanasia has been practiced in some form or


another by many societies in our history. In ancient Greece and Rome helping others to


die our putting them to death was considered permissible in some situations. In the Greek


city of Sparta all newborns with severe birth defects were left to die. Voluntary


euthanasia for the elderly was approved custom in several ancient societies. Although


euthanasia is widely practiced in the Netherlands it remains technically illegal. In 1995


Australia’s Northern Territory approved a euthanasia bill. It went into effect in 1996 and


was overturned by the Australian parliament in 1997. One may ask, what is the difference


between euthanasia and assisted suicide? In euthanasia one person does something that


directly kills another. For example a doctor gives a lethal injection to a patient. It assisted


suicide, a person knowingly and intentionally provides the means or in some way helps a


suicidal person killed himself or herself. For example, a doctor writes a prescription for


poison, or someone who hooks up a face mask to a canister of carbon monoxide and then


instructs the suicidal person on how to push a lever so that they will be gassed to death.


For all practical purposes, any distinction between euthanasia and assisted suicide has


been abandoned today. However passive euthanasia is different than other types of


euthanasia. Passive euthanasia is the process of hastening the death of a person by


withdrawing some sort of treatment. This includes removing life-support, stopping


medical procedures and medications, stopping food and water to the patient and thus


allowing him to die. Or not delivering C P R or other resuscitating treatment and


allowing the person whose heart has stopped to die. Perhaps the most common form of


passive euthanasia is to give a patient at large doses of morphine to control pain, in spite


of the likelihood of the painkiller suppressing respiration and causing death earlier that it


would otherwise have. Many states in the United States and other countries engage in this


type of passive euthanasia to what is known as a health-care proxy or do not resuscitate


order. These procedures are usually performed on the terminally ill, suffering patients, so


that natural death will occur sooner. It is also opted for persons in a persistent vegetative


state, individuals with massive brain damage or in a coma from which they cannot


possibly regain conscious. During the 20th century, major scientific and medical


advances have greatly enhance the life expectancy of the average person. There are


however many diseases that cannot be cured by modern medicine. Such diseases like


AIDS, terminal cancer, multiples scalrosis. These conditions remain a certain death


s

entence. These diseases leave the patient in a constant state of pain sometimes lasting


many weeks or months. There are however other reasons why a person may feel


euthanasia is appropriate. These reasons include the patient feels that the their quality of


life has shrunk to zero, they feel the indignities of being cared for as if they were and


infant, including being diapered and fed by nurses. Others simply want to die with the


dignity before they become sick. Such an example would be a person was diagnosed with


Alzheimer’s disease and would like to end their life before serious dementia overtakes


their living. These people feel that they would rather die in full mind and body rather to


let themselves live a few more years in a vegetative state or with debilitating dementia


that does not allow them to recognize their closest family. Proponents of euthanasia


believe that the patient has the right to end their life when it is known that there will not


be any recovery and death is imminent. They believe that a human being has the right to


die in dignity and a painless death rather than suffer endlessly knowing full well that they


will not recover. Those are anti-euthanasia state many reasons for their position. One


reason is because euthanasia is contrary to Judeo-Christian ethics. Many religious groups


within Christian, Muslim, Jewish and other religions believe that God gave life and


therefore only God should take away a.life. Suicide would then be considered as a


rejection of God’s sovereignty and loving plan. They feel that we are all masters of our


own lives, but that’s suicide should never be an option. Many other faith groups believe


that human suffering can have a positive value for the terminally ill person and for their


direct family. A Roman Catholic document mentions that some people prefer to


moderate their use of painkillers, in order to accept voluntary at least a part of their


sufferings and thus associate themselves in a conscious way with the sufferings of Christ


at the time of crucifixition. Some Jews feel that pain and suffering in this world acts as


atonement for sinss and transgressions and may benefit them in entering the world to


come. The two main arguments offered by Christians and other religious groups are the


following: life is a gift from God and that each individual is a gift. Thus only God can


start a life and only God should be allowed to end it. Also, God does not send us any


experience that we cannot handle. God supports people and suffering. To actively seek an


end to one’s life would represent a lack of trust in God. Those who are pro euthanasia


offer the following arguments: each person has autonomy over their own life. If a


person s quality of life is nonexistent, they should have the right to decide to commit


suicide, and to seek assistance if necessary. Sometimes a terminal patient s pain can


cause an unbearable burden, death can represent a relief of intolerable pain. When one


discusses euthanasia we must understand that this is a legal view. By passing legislation


that allows euthanasia we’re getting the right to doctors and patients to end their lives.


We will be allowing euthanasia to become a procedure practiced in the hospital or


hospice. In the end it will just be a matter of procedure such as a blood transfusion or


operation. One must ask, by denying the legislation of euthanasia are we in fact denying a


person to end their life? The answer to this is no. People do have the power to commit


suicide. Suicide and attempted suicide are not criminalized. Each and every year, and the


United States alone, there are more suicides than homicides. Suicide is a tragic,


individual act. There are several books on the subject of suicide such as Derek


Humphrey s Final Exit . Organizations such as the Hemlock Society have been


established to give information on patients interested in ending their own lives.


Euthanasia is not about a private act. It’s about letting one-person facilitate the death of


another. Euthanasia is not about giving rights to the person who dies, it is about changing


law and public policy so that doctors, relatives and others can directly and intesinaly end


another person’s life. This change would not give rights to the person who is killed, but to


the person who does the killing. In other words, euthanasia is not about the right to die.


It’s about the right to kill.

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