Arguments Against Euthanasia In The United States

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Euthanasia has been a debated topic dating back from ancient times. Euthanasia is the practice of painlessly killing a patient suffering from a terminal or severely painful disease and is also known as assisted suicide. The only difference between assisted suicide and other forms of euthanasia is which person performs the final procedure that kills the patient. Both sides strongly argue whether the practice should be allowed or not and both sides have strong arguments to support them. Currently in the United States, euthanasia is fully legal in the states of California, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington and is legal under a court ruling in Montana. Overall with the rapid growth of medical technology, euthanasia shouldn’t be the last resort. …show more content…
Oregon, a coastal state, has taken many actions to allow euthanasia in their state. In 1994, Oregon’s “Death and Dignity Act” altered the crime of physician’s act of assisted suicide into a medical treatment for people who have around six months or less to live (Marker, "Euthanasia And Assisted Suicide Today" 60). Under Oregon’s law, that allow PAS (physician assisted suicide), the Oregon Department of Human Services is expected to gather information, look into a sample of cases, and issue an annual statistic (Marker, "Euthanasia And Assisted Suicide Today" 63). Marker shows how Oregon has taken action of legalizing euthanasia and turning euthanasia into a medical treatment just like they did in the Netherlands. In Oregon, they turned the Death and Dignity act into the exact opposite from what it was opposing. This will change Oregon's health care system by giving their patients the direct route of euthanasia rather than seeing if their treatment will be effective or not. Smith says that the legalization of assisted suicide or any type of euthanasia would actually hurt the people that the doctors are trying to help in the big picture (Smith 64). Smith conveys that the legalizing of euthanasia would lead doctors to give their patients less opportunities to get better or seeing the …show more content…
Doctors in countries like the Netherlands or states like Oregon, where euthanasia is allowed must go through a lot because euthanasia is legal there. Merja Kuuppelomäki a Finnish health facility administrator talks about what the doctors go through when they are required to help a patient go through with euthanasia. Doctors say “everyone is so focused on the patient when it comes to euthanasia, but no one thinks about the physician that has to perform it and what they go through, they may experience guilt by going through with the process and also from other doctors who are a part of their staff (Kuuppelomäki 20).Doctors also have concern for the mental well being of what other doctors have when they are to go through with active euthanasia (Kuuppelomäki 20). Kuuppelomäki conveys that not only the patients but doctors must also face many mental obstacles such as guilt or abuse because they in the bigger picture are going through a lot too, because instead of them being on the deathbed their the ones intentionally killing the
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