Euthanasia Essay

Submitted By surfer89
Words: 1011
Pages: 5
Open Document
Brady Jones
M-W 9:00-11:50
12/3/13

Exercise 2: Euthanasia

Euthanasia, sometimes referred to as physician-assisted suicide, is the act of ending a very sick person’s (terminally ill) life to relieve them of suffering. Euthanasia is a topic of intense debate for religious, ethical, and practical reasons. Although illegal in the United States, people should have the right to be able to make decisions to end human suffering whether it be for themselves or their loved ones. How can a right to life include a life of minimum quality and value through suffering and pain? Euthanasia should be an acceptable ethical choice in society and should be viewed as a practical way to reduce the suffering of those that are terminally ill (BBC Ethics Guide: People have the right to die). The first argument for euthanasia would be the deontological ethics argument. An individual exercising their right to human life by ending their own suffering is using deontological ethics because they are focused on their own welfare. The action of euthanasia is justifiable because it reinforces terminal values, increasing happiness, by ending pain.
Another argument for euthanasia would be the right of free choice and the duty of compassion that all people should possess. All persons have a moral right to choose freely what they will do with their lives as long as they inflict no harm to others (Andre & Vasquez 1). Why should one suffer if they wish not to? Humans have a duty to be compassionate towards others as well. In the case of euthanasia compassion means all people have an obligation to reduce the suffering of our fellow human beings while also respecting their dignity (Andre & Vasquez 1). Respecting a person’s dignity also means making sound ethical decisions to protect those who most need it.
To be ethical, the act of euthanasia should be a conscious and informed decision by the patient for reasons that benefit the patient. This means that the patient is not only responsible, but the physician has a duty to inform the patient and accept moral responsibility if euthanasia is for wrong reasons. Culpability is defined as responsibility for a fault or wrong. A physician should be culpable for a patient’s death if it is for wrong or degrading reasons including self-interest or inhumane practice. For example, if a physician is paid or pressured by another person to give false information to a patient causing that patient to choose euthanasia when another solution is possible. If euthanasia was made legal it might be possible to regulate and better protect vulnerable patients (BBC Ethics Guide: Regulating euthanasia 1). Immanuel Kant created a commonly accepted ethical principle that states: only ethical principles that could be accepted universally should be morally accepted. An example for this principle would be: “do unto others as you would have them do unto you” (BBC Ethics Guide: Moral rules must be universalisable). To end suffering should be a universal principle also making it morally acceptable (BBC Ethics Guide: Moral rules must be universalisable). Those who accept this principle realize that if they were in a situation of suffering they would want the option of euthanasia as well.
Although utilitarianism implies that euthanasia is negative, playing the devils advocate could prove utilitarianism to be a reinforcing argument why euthanasia should be accepted. Utilitarian ethics states that an ethical decision is the one that has the most benefit for the most number of people in society. When a person is terminally ill and suffering in excruciating pain it is hard to believe that their loved ones enjoy what they are going through. In fact it may be a burden to see a once healthy person suffer so miserably with no hope of recovering. When a person makes a decision to end their own suffering through euthanasia, shouldn’t the loved ones be relieved for that person? Isn’t it the greater good to know
Show More

Related Documents: Euthanasia Essay

Euthanasia

allowed a thing called euthanasia to help people from dying a slow and painful death. You may ask what is euthanasia? .who invented it? I will elaborate.Euthanasia was first recorded back when the Nazi’s where around and was introduced by Nazi physicians to provide a ‘good death’ to those who were tainting the German race. The basic fact is that euthanasia was introduced properly into society by the Nazi’s to purify the ‘Aryan race’. That was many years ago and over that time euthanasia got changed and…

Words 991 - Pages 4

Euthanasia: Death and Euthanasia Essay

Research Essay – Euthanasia Euthanasia is a serious moral and ethical issue in today’s world. Rightly so. Approximately 1.2million people in the United States and about 564,600 Americans annually – more than 1,500 people per day are suffering from terminal illnesses (Growthhouse). However, most people think that euthanasia is murdering, even if they believe that suffering is a horrible thing. Being bed-ridden in pain because of a disease or sickness is completely horrifying. Interestingly, someone…

Words 1857 - Pages 8

Euthanasia: Euthanasia and Greenhaven Press Essays

Is Euthanasia The Only Way Out? There are no guarantees in life except for one, death. Death is a natural and inevitable phase of the lifecycle. Unfortunately, today there are numerous people who are deadly sick and being kept alive by different medical techniques. Sadly, most of the deadly ill suffer throughout this time and they think that the only way to end their suffering is through euthanasia. Euthanasia is defined as the action of a deliberately ending someone’s life under the impulse of…

Words 1567 - Pages 7

Euthanasia: Euthanasia Dictionary. Com Essay

April 2nd 2014 Euthanasia Dictionary.com provides the following: eu·tha·na·sia, ˌyo͞oTHəˈnāZHə/ noun The painless killing of a patient suffering from an incurable and painful disease or in an irreversible coma. The practice is illegal in most countries. This is the dictionary definition of euthanasia. Euthanasia is a very important and critical topic to talk about. Both sides of this issue can be argued very well. This paper is going to show the negative side of euthanasia, but also show…

Words 2258 - Pages 10

Essay on Euthanasia: Religion and Voluntary Euthanasia

Euthanasia Euthanasia refers to the process of taking your own life medically to end pain or suffering. Euthanasia is legal in three countries, Belgium, Luxemburg and the Netherlands. Physician assisted suicides is a form of voluntary euthanasia, it is more controlled as the physician rules out cases of depression that could be clouding the thought pattern. They normally end their life by an overdose of medication or a lethal injection. Euthanasia in Christianity Most Christians believe that…

Words 635 - Pages 3

The Importance Of Euthanasia

Kevorkian a popular euthanasia activist, author and pathologist once said that “dying is not a crime” (“A Quote by Jack Kevorkian”). This short sentence covers the main idea of this paper. Euthanasia refers to the procedure by which an individual or an animal’s life is deliberately ended to stop suffering. There are numerous types of euthanasia, such as, passive, active, passive and active involuntary, voluntary and non-voluntary euthanasia. In this paper, active voluntary euthanasia is what will be…

Words 2813 - Pages 12

Euthanasia In America

Euthanasia, also known as the physician assisted suicide, it basically means when the person has the intention to end a life in order to relieve the pain and stop suffering. In most of the countries around the world euthanasia is illegal, because it against their morals by helping someone to kill themselves. It is also illegal in most of the states in the U.S. except Oregon, Washington, Montana, and Vermont. Euthanasia should be legal because individuals have the freedom to die and control their…

Words 476 - Pages 2

Euthanasia: Capital Punishment and Euthanasia Essay

Some call it murder, while others call it mercy killing. Euthanasia is literally pulling the plug on someone or giving a criminal lethal injection. It is hard to argue whether or not to be for or against euthanasia because it is not as simple as black or white; it is the decision of ending the life of another person. However, people should not be against euthanasia practice because it can end suffering or possibly take a mass murderer off the streets. And if we can play god by saving lives with…

Words 538 - Pages 3

Euthanasia Paper

Around the world, Euthanasia has become a controversial topic for many reasons. Many people debate over whether or not it should be legalized in the United States and so far only four states have legalized it so far; Montana, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington. The Netherlands is another country that has already legalized euthanasia and many more should. Vegetative and terminally ill people should have the right to die by lethal injection, whether it be kids or elderly, but many people are confused about what it is and that causes issues…

Words 929 - Pages 4

Euthanasia Safeguards

The definition of euthanasia is the painless killing of a patient suffering from an incurable and painful disease or in an irreversible coma. The Individual should be able to choose to die with the least pain and distress possible. So why should we put them through this irreversible and agonising pain with no hope to be cured? The drug will be protected by safeguards so any misuse of assisted dying can be avoided and those who do not agree with the use of euthanasia are not required to use it.…

Words 626 - Pages 3