The Issue Of Euthanasia And Euthanasia

Euthanasia is the practice of ending the life of an individual for the purposes of relieving pain and suffering. Over the years, there has been a big debate about its merits and demerits, and the debate is not about to end anytime soon. However, no matter what side of the debate one supports, it is important to consider a few facts. One, the prolonged stay in hospital is bound to raise medical costs. Two, some medical complications bring suffering and pain to the patient without any possibility of getting back to one 's normal activities of daily living. However, ending the life of a person intentionally may be treated as a serious crime in some jurisdictions. Given these facts, it is evident that making a decision about euthanasia is bound to be a challenging task. Although not everyone might agree, euthanasia is a necessary procedure that relieves the pain and suffering of the patient and rids the family and the government of expensive medical costs that would not necessary improve the life of the patient.

In the “Catholic Teaching on Euthanasia and Care of the Dying” doctument it states that as a new medical student have finished they’re course of learning in the department of medicine and caring for patients, they must take the Hippocratic Oath. In this oath it incorpurates that as the medical students graduate into becoming a staffed doctors or nurse that will do anything to save a patient’s life before exuding any other options on to them. A particular pharse that has stood out in the translated oath is “firstly do no harm” meaning that as a doctor you do everything in you power to save lives and never intencially end them. ”Doctors are trained to promote life… the deliberate act of killing a patient is unethical”. In another document

defined as the mode or act of inducing death painlessly or as a relief for pain. Although there

According to the Health Law Institute at Dalhousie University, assisted suicide is “the act of intentionally killing oneself with the assistance of another who provides the knowledge, means or both.” Euthanasia is a “deliberate act undertaken by one person with the intention of ending the life of another person to relieve that person’s suffering where the act is the cause of death (Health Law). As of June 17, 2016, both assisted suicide and euthanasia are legal in Canada as long as the established criteria are met. Canada’s government can pave the way for other countries to legalize these practices if they are able to establish specific criteria, evaluate the implications on religious institutions and individual practitioners, and provide viable alternatives to every citizen.

The world revolves around the perception that a healthy life is guaranteed until it is abruptly interfered with a life tragedy or sickness. When terminally ill, an individual encounters a disease that cannot be cured and is reasonably expected to die. This particular term is used with a variation of illnesses, affecting a multitude of the nation's population. From cancerous tumors to prolonged comas, lives are tragically affected. Living with painful, endless symptoms can lead to patients suffering for an immeasurable time. A common request among these patients are to be assisted in suicide, or euthanasia. There are many reasons towards the intentions of dying, but it continues to bring controversy throughout the world. When fitted to reasonable

Those who are against euthanasia may also believe that life is a sacred thing that isn’t ours to take. Many different religions believe this like Christianity, Jewish faith, and some Muslim faiths believe that god is the only one that can take a life. However, in America, we have freedom of religion. Patients who have these religions just won’t take this option. Those who are atheists, or have a religion that don’t believe in this have the option of euthanasia. America is a free country, where people have the choice of what they want to do. The religion of a few shouldn’t determine the life of people who don’t believe in it.

The controversy of a doctor assisting their patient who is already dying, end their life sooner to save them from continuous unnecessary pain and agony has been the topic of controversy for years. The practice of euthanasia is in my opinion a mercy and should not be banned because in reality it doesn’t physically hurt anyone. You could say it hurts the patient but then again that patient is already in tremendous pain or in an incapacitated state of no recovery, as in paralyzed or brain damage etc., so in reality it would actually help them by assisting ending their pain by assisted suicide. A doctors job is also always help their patients and the practice of assisted suicide in many ways is actually helping the person. However there has and probably always will be people who do not agree with the idea of a dying person end their life for sooner than nature had intended. This demographic would suggest that by dying by your own hand or assisted by a physician for medical reasons is still considered plain suicide. And for the religious people it is a sin by their beliefs. The people could also argue that it is not a person’s right to make that decision.

Assisted suicide is the act of deliberately assisting or encouraging another person to kill themselves ("Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide ," 2014). When talking about assisted suicide there are two types: Physician-Assisted Suicide (PAS) and Euthanasia. Although they both have very similar goals but, they differ in which role the physician has in the action that finally ends life. Euthanasia can be defined as “the act of bringing about the death of a hopelessly ill and suffering person in a relatively quick and painless way for reasons of mercy” ("Physician-Assisted Suicide - Introduction," n.d.). Thus meaning that during euthanasia the physician performs the intervention by either injecting the patient with a large dose of medication, or completely withholding or withdrawing treatment that is necessary to maintain life("Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide ," 2014). Physician-assisted suicide can be defined as “the practice of providing a competent patient with a prescription for medication for the patient to use with the primary intention of ending his or her own life” ("Physician-assisted Suicide," 2012). This means that the physician provides the necessary means or information to complete the intervention but the patient performs the act themselves ("Physician-Assisted Suicide - Introduction," n.d.). Throughout this paper I will be examining both facts and issues surrounding assisted suicide.

Christians are mostly against euthanasia. The arguments are usually based on the beliefs that life is given by God, and that human beings are made in God's image this is told to us in Genesis 1:27 “So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them”. As Christians our laws are based upon the 10 commandments, the 6th commandment is” thou shalt not kill” this commandment is connected to Euthanasia because you are killing a child before they have had the chance to experience life. John. Paul II view on Euthanasia is “Euthanasia is a grave violation of the law of God, since it is the deliberate and morally unacceptable killing of a human person.”

Euthanasia has become one of America’s biggest issues in recent months, with the decision that 29 year old Brittany Maynard made. Brittany Maynard was a young woman that had severe brain cancer, and doctors told her that with treatment and medication she would only be alive for a certain amount of time. Britany had lived in California all her life, but later after noticing the impact of her illness decided to move to Oregon, a state in which a person can “Die With Dignity.” With her decision many people believed that what she was doing was immoral, Brittany had now interfered with God’s will, she’s also messing with the natural way. This caused backlashed and sparked many debates on wheatear or not Britany Maynard should have the right to pretty much kill herself. Another impactful correlation to this topic, were the T.V episodes that we watched in class that dealt with doctors who had euthanized the patients. While people might think that a person who wants to die with dignity is messing with the natural law, it is not immoral for someone who is in serious pain and is suffering, it can’t be immoral if they are going to die anyway from complication or by the doctor’s hands.

The ethical issue is Euthanasia, there are many groups that support or oppose this issue. Euthanasia is the painless killing of a patient suffering from an incurable and painful disease or in an irreversible coma. The different viewpoints are based around whether it is humane to assist someone in dying and whether it should be illegal for someone to assist the death of someone who has a terminal illness and are suffering incurable pain. Groups that oppose the issue generally believe that it is inhumane to end someone 's life early, these groups generally believe these people should be given care and as much comfort as possible until their last days. Groups that support the issue generally believe that if someone has lost their mental state or are suffering unbearable pain that cannot be cured, that they should be allowed the option of euthanasia because it is inhumane to make someone suffer unbearable pain if they do not need to. An ethical issue brings systems of morality and principles into conflict, ethical issues are more subjective and opinionated and generally cannot be solved with facts, laws and truth. Euthanasia is an ethical issue because there are two equally unacceptable options. It is considered wrong

This is why Euthanasia is important and summarizing the research that I found on Euthanasia. Euthanasia is important because there is a lot of arguments about Euthanasia. Some people support it and some people do not support Euthanasia (Euthanasia and assisted suicide- Arguments). Euthanasia allows people to be free from physical pain. It is the hastening of death of a patient to prevent further sufferings (Euthanasia Revisited). The religious argument states God chooses when human life ends. Euthanasia also causes mental suffering because they are in physical pain or they are experiencing with terminal illness. It is a debatable issue. There are many different opinions on Euthanasia.

Euthanasia, or “good death,” refers to the practice of deliberately ending a life in order to relieve pain and suffering. Euthanasia’s applications include physician-assisted suicide and mercy killing. Advocates claim that patients have the right to choose a quick, dignified death over a life of “suffering.” Suffering encompasses multiple descriptions, from terminal illness to congenital disorders, such as Down Syndrome—even though it is proven that people with such disorders can live a fulfilling life. In opposition to its proponents, Natural Law theorists consider euthanasia immoral.

Humans, like all animals, attempt to evade death. Though death is usually seen as an unwanted end, some see it as an alternative to suffering. Most people cringe at the thought of suicide, but is euthanasia the same thing? Do human beings have the right to choose death?

Euthanasia is a controversial topic throughout today’s society. As euthanasia is illegal in America, Singer fights for the legalization of voluntary euthanasia, which means the patients make voluntary request to be assisted to die. While religious views value that the life cannot be taken away so easily, Singer focuses on the human rights that enable their choices to die or not to die. However, I do not agree with singer’s respect for autonomy on the issue of voluntary euthanasia because this issue involves two parties. It is not sufficient to consider the single patients’ will; the option of voluntary euthanasia brings lot consequences for community in moral and academic aspects. My utilitarian view on euthanasia maximizes the large amount of happiness rather than the individual happiness.