Euthanasia
Euthanasia is different from assisted
suicide, this is the act of deliberately assisting or encouraging another person
to kill themselves. Euthanasia is the painless killing of a patient suffering
from an incurable and painful disease or in an irreversible coma.
Euthanasia is a big thing for the
sake of animals who are suffering, but what about human beings? Is it cruel or
humane? There are very few places where Euthanasia is actually legal. As of
June 2015, The Netherlands, Belgium, Colombia, and Luxembourg are the only
foreign countries where euthanasia is legal. In Switzerland, Germany, Japan,
assisted suicide is legal. The only U.S. States where euthanasia is legal is
Washington, Oregon, Vermont, New Mexico, and Montana.
If euthanasia was legal in all
places throughout the world, there would be less terminally ill people who have
to suffer through the pain every day. In the European Declaration of Human Rights,
it says that there is “the right not to be forced to suffer.” Americans believe
that they should be guaranteed that right as well.
Many refer to euthanasia as a “slippery
slope” because in ways, could it be considered murder? For example, if someone
is in a comma and not coming out of it, how are they supposed to have a say in whether
they want to live or die? The family has the right to decide but that doesn’t mean
they know what the patient wants. On the other hand, if the patient does want
to go rather than suffering any longer and the family or doctor decides to keep
them alive, it could be almost a punishment.
Physicians have their own opinion
on the topic to, especially since they are the ones partaking in the operation.
A survey in the United States of more than 10,000 doctors concluded that about
16% of physicians would consider pausing life-sustaining therapy because of the
patient’s family. About 55% would not do this. The last 29% said they would
decide depending on the circumstances. Another study showed that most of the physician’s
decisions would come after they surveyed the situation and what was really
going on, what they thought would be best for the patient
An Australian physician that
investigates Euthanasia and its effects is afraid that this could lead to how-to-commit-suicide
clinics. Causing even more death then just if Euthanasia was legalized in all
countries. That more and more people are going to be given information about “the
best way to kill yourself” according to a times story “if they choose to die,
they should be helped to
This is not what euthanasia was
originally made for, it was to help people in commas or patients who were vegetables,
not for ones that just want to make the decision to die. Although this topic
can be a slippery slope it is a big one. We need to decide as a community
weather this is a good decision or not. This could help helpless patient in
pain, but, it could also cause an increase in unreasonable deaths.