Persuasive Paper Part 2: Solution and Advantages

EUTHANASIA

ENG: 215 English Research and Writing

8/5/2016

EUTHANASIA

Every human being has that one person that they love and care about, and the last thing that they want to do is to see them in pain. However, this doesn’t give anyone a right to take that person’s life, and if you choose to do it, it doesn’t make it right. This is why this paper is going to look at euthanasia. Euthanasia also famously known as mercy killing refers to the painless and deliberate killing of a patient who is known to be suffering from an incurable as well as painful disease or who is in a coma. To some, it may look like a good way of letting their loved one rest from all the pain, but the big question is it right? When you consider all the implications on the feelings of the various people involved, it shouldn’t be a consideration at all. This paper seeks to look at the history and background of euthanasia, its status and look at it as a problem from various perspectives.

The debates concerning euthanasia and its existence range back to 5th Century BC in ancient Greece as well as Rome where there were debates concerning the ethics of euthanasia. When ether was developed, many physicians started advocating that there should be the use of anesthetics to relieve patients of their pains. In the year 1870, Samuel Williams gave the first proposition that anesthetics and morphine should be used to deliberately end the life of a patient. Since then, there have been major debates and arguments for and against euthanasia as a method of ending one’s life.

Euthanasia is illegal in most of the countries. However, some have legalized it. According to ProCon (2016), there are two kinds of euthanasia that are considered, active euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide. Most countries have made it clear that both of them are illegal and ought not to be practiced. However, some western countries, at least 8 , have either legalized one or both types of practices. Belgium, Luxembourg, The Netherlands are some of the countries that have legalized both practices. On the other hand, Canada, Finland, and Switzerland have legalized Physician Assisted Suicide. Colombia has legalized euthanasia only. This clearly shows that there just like any other argument, when it comes to euthanasia, there are those who are for it and those who are against it.

There are various problems that are associated with euthanasia as a form of ending one’s life. When we consider the social problem, we know that euthanasia has various social implications to the society at large. As much as one may say that it is one’s decision or the next of kin or whoever has the person’s power of attorney to make that decision, it is beyond just personal. When we consider the society, we also consider those physicians or doctors who will carry out the act of euthanasia. All the students who attend medical school are taught the importance of life and that they shouldn’t be involved in killing their patients

This value is what maintains the trust between the doctors and their patients and the doctors and the society. Legalizing euthanasia distorts that clear line, and this has a direct impact on the nurse or doctor’s obligation to protect as well as respect a patient’s life. This then means that ensuring that euthanasia remains illegal is not only trying to protect the life of the patients but also trying to maintain the trust of the society at large in their own physicians and in the medical field at large (Somerville, 2009).

Secondly, the legalizing of euthanasia is an ethical problem. There are various implications that come with it. One is that the sanctity of line is weakened. The society will no longer see life as something important since a human being can just decide who lives and who dies. The implications will be that the elderly, people with various disabilities and those of unsound mind will be discriminated. They will-will see as a burden since they have an option of ending their life by being in pain . They will be considered less of human beings and their lives will be termed worthless since they may seem not to be adding any value and constantly need to be taken care of . This way, the society will force them or in a way influence them to take an option of ending their lives. This way, there will be no more respect for human life (BBC, 2014).

Thirdly, when we consider the complexity of the issue of euthanasia, we realize that it is a major problem . This is not something that one wakes up one morning and decides to do; it involves a lot of soul searching, and this is emotionally draining. The fact that one has to think about it over and over makes it a complex decision to make. Even to the professionals who carry out this process, we know that it is complex. Most of them are severely affected by it and have to go constantly for therapy to recover. This makes it a complex issue and one that shouldn’t be taken lightly. This clearly brings out the fact that this issue should be well handled, and one’s life should be respected. Life isn’t something to be taken for granted and lightly and thus no one should be given the right to take it away from another person for whatever reason.

I t is clear from the above discussion that euthanasia has so many implications. It is not something that has been introduced now and from the history, we get that the arguments for and against it have been there since time immemorial. The fact that it is a social problem, ethical problem and is very complex brings out the fact that it shouldn’t be taken lightly. The implications that it leaves behind are things that are to be dreaded, and that may change the society’s perspective on life negatively and thus under no circumstances should it be considered.

REFERENCES

BBC (2014). Anti-euthanasia arguments. Retrieved from

http://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/euthanasia/against/against_1.shtml on August 1, 2016

ProCon (2016). Euthanasia & Physician-Assisted Suicide (PAS) around the World. Retrieved from

http://euthanasia.procon.org /view.resource.php?resourceID=000136 on August 1, 2016

Somerville M. (2009). Would euthanasia damage doctors? Retrieved from

http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/view/would_euthanasia_damage_doctors/6093 on August 1, 2016

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