Why Should Euthanasia Be Legalized
It is apparent that euthanasia should be permitted everywhere for the following reasons: individual liberty; one's undesired pain, suffering, and misery; and the individual's frustration from having a valueless life. First of all, one should be able to understand the term euthanasia. "In ancient Greece, eu thanatos meant 'easy death.' Today's euthanasia generally refers to mercy killing, the voluntary ending of the life of someone who is terminally or hopelessly ill" (Euthanasia 1). Knowing that, it is seemingly appropriate to say that one has the right to die an easy death if, and only if, he is terminally ill. Otherwise, different situations should not play any part in this issue. To understand more about the pro-euthanasia side of this issue, it is best conceived through the viewpoints, strong beliefs, and perspectives of proponents of euthanasia. An individual has liberty, which includes the right of owning his life. He is the possessor of his life. Just as he can do whatever he wishes with his possessions, such as selling his new house, he can also wish to discontinue his life if the reasons were rational. In a typical situation, a person has some terrible, deadly disease. He is trapped in a hospital be
Individual liberty, undesired misery, pain, and suffering, and one's frustration in having a worthless life all serve as critical circumstances to be considered thoroughly in legalizing the act of euthanasia everywhere. Euthanasia is a death option that should not raise controversy if performed solely in the appropriate predicaments mentioned earlier. Knowing this, shouldn't euthanasia be legalized? The solution to that question would have to be yes. Coming to an end, the crux of this matter is summarized in one simple sentence: The emphasis of euthanasia should be placed on the purpose of the act, not the nature of the act (Bender 50). In addition, one should have the right to end his life by euthanasia because of the unsolicited pain, suffering, and misery he feels due to the disease he has or the condition he is in. People in this position would most likely want to alleviate their pain, suffering, and depression-just to name a few-partially because of the inconveniences, emotional and physical burdens, and drawbacks imposed on family members, relatives, and friends. Furthermore, family members "may be sensitive to the costs accumulating during terminal care" (Hagen 91). Consequently, patients may feel guilty in this entire ordeal. Even more, people who, maybe because of a serious illness, are extremely depressed partly because they want to live their lives to the fullest by perhaps participating in energetic and active events but know that that is not possible now that they are severely ill and sick. Since they recognize that enjoying life in those ways is no longer possible, they may want an easy way out-euthanasia. Others simply do not want to sustain suffering. Everybody has different amounts of pain and suffering that he/she can tolerate (Behnke 17). In considering suffering of terminal patients, one cannot exclude from thought the grief due to distress, fear, and agony. Nor must anyone underestimate the bearable level of pain in the periods between doses of medication or simply from being turned over in bed. There is still too little known about what is actually experienced by patients as they approach death so it is evident that the
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Approximate Word count = 1471
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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