The right to Die
The subject of Euthanasia is a heated battle, in which lines have been drawn between warring social, religious and political groups. Many people want this controversial institution erased from the volumes of lawful medicine, but others say that we should be able to choose our fates in extreme cases. Neither the lawmakers of the country nor the people have been able to find a solution to this debate without causing an intense opposition, and the possibility for an end to this war of ethics seems very far in the distance. A definition of euthanasia is, “a painless killing, especially to end a painful and incurable disease; mercy killing. (World Book, p. 733). This intentional termination of life by another is at the request of the person who dies, but like so many other religious, social and political terms, euthanasia has many meanings. Passive euthanasia is defined as, the hastening of death of a person by withdrawing some type of support and letting nature take its course, examples of this are, removing life support systems, stopping medical procedures, stopping food and water, not delivering CPR and letting the patient’s heart stop. The most common form of passive euthanasia is to give a person large doses
The opposition to this side comes from groups including liberal Christians, humanists, secularists, agnostics, atheists, non-christians, and others who do not accept the theologically based arguments. Their arguments can be summed up in two statements; The first is that each person has autonomy over their own life, persons whose quality of life is nonexistent should have the right to decide to commit suicide, and to seek assistance if necessary. The second statement is sometimes terminal illness causes life to be an unbearable burden; death can represent a relief of intolerable pain. The main political question is whether individuals should be allowed to choose suicide, or whether they should be forced to follow the theological beliefs of the dominant religion. This point is similar to that raised in discussions on Euthanasia is only one of the many hotly debated topics of our time which revolve around personal choice. The other two prominent topics are whether gays and lesbians should be given a choice of whether to marry and should women be allowed a choice to abort their unborn children. All three of these questions are emotional laden and have entered the political and judicial systems. The issues become muddied when they are no longer the individual’s and become society’s decision. Many believe that euthanasia targets the most vulnerable of human beings when they are no longer in a position of making proper decisions. There are three types of euthanasia that are illegal or very close to illegal even in places where euthanasia is permitted. The first is Physician assisted suicide. Physician assisted suicide is when a doctor supplies information and/or means of committing suicide to a person, so that they can terminate their life easily. This type of assistance has come to the public’s eye as the media has covered the actions of Dr. Jack Kavorkian. Dr. Kavorkian has assisted in the deaths of hundreds of patients.
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1598
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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