Ethics in Euthanasia

Ethics in Euthanasia

  • Submitted By: colada
  • Date Submitted: 11/29/2008 12:54 AM
  • Category: History Other
  • Words: 620
  • Page: 3
  • Views: 2

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The term Euthanasia refers to the killing of a terminal ill person by a physician to end his or her suffering. It is any action taken by a physician to provide death to a patient. Sometimes when a patient is terminally ill, they feel like death is better than life, and they wish to simply end their remaining chance at life. With this in mind, people argue that Euthanasia should be lawfully practiced in all parts of the world, with the simple argument that and Many people argue that the decision to kill oneself is a private choice which society has no right to be concerned about, while others believe that killing someone, no matter what the reason, is just wrong, and should not be accepted in any way.

This argument assumes that the suicide is a result of competent people making independent, rational decisions to die. People who agree with this feel that society has no business "interfering" with a freely chosen life or death decision that harms no one other the suicidal person. However, according to experts, who have studied several cases on suicide, the basic assumption is wrong. Almost all of those who attempt suicide do so as a subconscious cry for help, not after a carefully calculated judgment that death would be better than life. Not only do physicians perform assisted suicide on terminally ill patients, but they also kill newborn infants and hospitalized seniors whose quality of life is judged to be unacceptable. You may be thinking, “But what about those who are suffering from severe pain and disabilities; shouldn't we respect their decision to die?” Keep in mind that contrary the assumption of society, a scientific study of people with terminal illness in the American Journal of Psychiatry found that fewer than one out of four patients expressed a wish to die, and those who did had diagnosable depression. Contrary to pro-euthanasia misinformation (i.e.: “It’s the only way to end the pain”), physical pain, with rare exceptions, can be controlled...

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