Euthanasia

A detailed Summary of Euthanasia

"No right is held more sacred, or is more carefully guarded, by the common law than the right of every individual to have possession and control of his own person, free from all restraint or interference of others...the right to one's person may be said to be a right of complete immunity: to be let alone" (Lessenbury 91). This being the case, why isn't euthanasia legal in the United States of America? Euthanasia involves a death or killing in the name of compassion and mercy that is intended to benefit the person who dies. The word euthanasia derives from the Greek for "good death" and originally referred to intentional mercy killing. Some may object to the idea of euthanasia on the grounds that it is immoral for a person to take his own life or another person's life. How is it possible for death to benefit the person that dies? It is possible to benefit a person if the patient has an advanced terminal illness, which is causing unbearable suffering or if the patient has a grave physical handicap that is so restricting that they cannot tolerate a limited existence. Yet, there are still people fighting over the right to choose when or how a terminally ill individual will die. The issues of ethics are not for society t

If you read between the lines in the Preamble of the United States Constitution, it gives a clear understanding that a person has the choice of when to end his own life. The Preamble doesn't come right out and say it but it does state, "We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America." What this means is that the people of the United States of America have a choice of lifestyles and belief systems and they have the right to live and die the why they chose to with out persecution. A perfect example of this is the controversial case that came before the Supreme Court in 1973, Roe V Wade, where the court ruled that a woman has a constitutionally protected right to an abortion. The reasoning behind the decision was " the court has recognized that a woman's right of personal privacy or guarantee of certain areas or zones of privacy, does exist under the constitution" (Lesserberry 92). If this ruling was made on the right of women to end another life that was created by the own actions, why can't a terminally ill patient with no chance of survival choose to end his life peacefully and with dignity? According to Ralph Mero, "Thousands of dying patients in America would be comforted to know that, if and when their suffering becomes intolerable, a humane alternative is available to them. Many of us believe that it is inevitable that such and arrangement will come: there are simply too many patients who do not wish to languish in such hopeless situations and will take the measures to preclude such pointless suffering, not to mention the many physi

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Approximate Word count = 1229
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Science