Ethanasia Essay, Research Paper

Euthanasia

I have picked the topic of Euthanasia because I believe people that suffer from a serious illness should have the right to die by euthanasia. All Americans have the right to die because the Constitution grants us the right to privacy and the right to pursue happiness. People should have the right to take their lives if they are totally dependent on others or machines. Ones that depend on other people to care for them only feel like a burden, which in turn just makes the situation worse than it already was. If I was ever this sick I would definitely want the choice of Euthanasia and this speech will convince you to want it also.

Euthanasia is the practice of ending a life to release an individual from suffering an incurable disease or intolerable pain. The doctor or in some cases, a family member, uses injections, weapons, or other means of killing to act out euthanasia. But euthanasia is usually gentle and quiet. In most of the cases of euthanasia, the patient died by lethal injection or certain life support systems were withheld. There are many types of euthanasia. The most common type is voluntary euthanasia, which is euthanasia that is preformed at the will of the patient. Having to lie in bed twenty-four hours a day is no way to live a life. People that suffer from a serious illness should have the right to die by euthanasia. In 1991, a national telephone survey was conducted which posed the

question, If you were terminally ill, what would you want for yourself? Fifty-two percent of one thousand four in the US said that they d consider assisted suicide or euthanasia. Among the reasons cited were that the people wouldn t want to burden others, live in pain, or be dependent on machines. All Americans have the right to die because the Constitution grants us the right to privacy and the right to pursue happiness. People should have the right to take their lives if they are totally dependent on others or machines. Ones that depend on other people to care for them only feel like a burden. Being a burden to a loved one makes the sick feel even worse then they do already because of their illness. People that are alive only because of machines really don t have

a life. If they didn t have machines, they d be dead, so why aren t they allowed to die?

Americans have the rights that are in the Constitution. When dealing with euthanasia, people have to look at what Constitutional rights give people the right to die. Americans have the right to privacy. Privacy to ones body is a strong reason why one should be allowed to seek death by euthanasia. When a person is in great pain is that happiness? As Americans, people have the right to pursue happiness. A person s only way to be

happy may be death, so why shouldn t they be able to be happy. Having the right to be happy is an American right, even if it means death. There are those who argue that if euthanasia becomes legal it will become abused and overused. This is a good point, however, if we determine the use on a case by case basis this wont be a problem.

People also argue that it is against religion. One patient believes, Only God can give life and only God should take it away. But should we ask, Why would God prolong such pain and suffering? Jesus Christ suffered and died a long painful death, would he want to see his people go through suffering like he had to? Many churches and religious groups oppose euthanasia stating that the sixth commandment “Thou Shalt Not Kill” also extends to euthanasia. But this also raises many questions. Why do these churches and religious groups specifically target euthanasia as horrific killing when there is war and violent murders all over the world? Every day countries send troops to kill and to be killed, but these religious groups seem to ignore these problems. Some medical doctors also oppose euthanasia. They say that assisted suicide “violates one’s will to survive” and that it violates our dignity. They believe that, One of our natural human goals is to survive and if we practice euthanasia, then that goal is destroyed (Satris 258). I also found that when doctors receive their license to practice medicine they have to take the Hippocratic Oath. This oath says ” I will neither give a deadly drug to anybody when asked for it, nor will I make a suggestion to that effect.”(Levine 104). However, many pro-euthanasians say that the oath means that they should not give anybody a deadly drug to kill an enemy with, nor should they tell the person what to use to kill. In some cases it is permissible to knowingly shorten a life by giving-pain relieving medication, such as morphine, with consent, to a terminally ill patient. So killing the patient by giving morphine for pain relief is acceptable, but giving the patient morphine for death is unacceptable. The difference is intending death and foreseeing it. In other cases intending a lesser evil in order to produce a greater good, such as amputating a leg to remove a cancerous tumor, are performed by doctors all the time. Why is it wrong for doctors sometimes to act against a duty to preserve life in order to relieve pain, just as they could sometimes act against a duty not to intend pain in order to save a life? How can it be wrong to intentionally shorten a life if it will produce the greater good?

If physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia were to become legalized, it could become a final control that a dying patient could have. People who die from a massive heart attack in their sleep are often viewed as lucky because they did not have to undergo a long and painful death, where one loses control of their physical and emotional being. Death and dying in its prolonged state has the ability to take away a patient s dignity. Euthanasia, for some people, may be seen as a more humane way to die.

So should one have the right to die? I feel a person is entitled to that choice. The word euthanasia comes from the Greek–Eu, meaning good, and thanatos, meaning death. So the word euthanasia means good death by it s origins. Euthanasia is a way of putting an end to a person s life in which they are suffering or totally dependent on others or machines. Having the right to die, should become legal so many suffering people can end their pain legally. Sometimes euthanasia serves the interest of everyone concerned and is the best choice for the terminally ill person. It relieves the person of unbearable pain and provides a merciful and dignified end to their life. It also relieves the terrible emotional strain on family and friends of the loved one. No one is suggesting the value of life be taken lightly. However, the only case worse than a terminally ill patient requesting euthanasia, is the doctor refusing it, thereby, sentencing the patient to a drawn out and painful life for the remainder of their existence.