Euthanasia
The foremost contentious concern lately has been the issue of granting legal status to the right to die with dignity, or euthanasia. Similar to the issue of death sentence or suicide, euthanasia is contentious as it entails killing an individual through a conscious decision. (The right to a dignified death - need for debate) "Euthanasia" derived from the Greek term implying "good death" is some activity we perform or otherwise which results in, or is planned to result in death, to liberate a person from pain. This is occasionally known as "mercy killing." (Reflections on Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide) Giving a legal sanction to euthanasia is a vital referendum upon the social standing of those incapacitated in America nowadays. (Euthanasia: The Disability Perspective on the Right to Die Movement) Euthanasia can be attained either though an intentional process, or by refraining to take an action intentionally. In any one of the cases, the decision of a doctor makes the death of a patient a reality. This is substantiated on the grounds that the individual's life was 'not worthy of living' maybe in their independent, or in somebody else's consideration. Before I analyze in more detail, I shall first present an historical overview of the topic of discussion. The paper shall further have a discussion on the arguments in favor and opposition to Euthanasia. It shall finally touch upon my side of the argument.
2. Historical overview
The support of euthanasia is not a new occurrence. The pressure to permit mercy killing in fact started during the later part of nineteenth century, a normal spin-off of the wide acceptance of eugenics. Deliberation regarding the moral values of euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide -- PAS began from the primeval Greece and Rome. Following the growth of either, doctors started to promote the application of anesthetics to alleviate the agonies of death. (Emanuel, 1994) Undeniable, the caveat issued by Charles Darwin in the Decent of Man that hospitals, asylums, and drugs for remedy of diseases meddled with the natural selection by letting frail individuals of the society to exist and replicate- that would mean euthanasia as a remedial -- aided his cousin, Francis Galton to believe that humanity had a chance to refine the gene pool by curbing human procreation. To achieve this end, it is imperative to foster "good stock" to replicate in copious quantities and to check 'bad stock' from reproducing any more. (Books in Review -- A Merciful End: The Euthanasia Movement in Modern America)
Within a short phase these mindset reached beyond coming to the conclusion that must not be given birth to the presupposition that it is for the society who should have a final say about who will meet death among the living pool. In the case of several supporters of eugenics, killing was not merely witnessed as a justifiable method of putting an end to misery when living had lost its relevance due to agony or desolation, but possessed the capability to be an efficient means of social restraint. (Books in Review -- A Merciful End: The Euthanasia Movement in Modern America) In New York, it was illegal abetting anybody in suicide in 1828, which as a state made a debut in making an absolute regulation to be abhorrent of such a matter. In the past some common laws was in place that was vocal against abetting somebody in suicide, or even instigating somebody else to put an end to their own life. (Euthanasia: Mercy Killing) During 1870, Samuel Williams was the first to suggest the utilization the anesthetics and morphine to deliberately put a patient to death. (Emanuel, 1994)
In 1900, Doctor William Duncan McKim who initiated the crusade on euthanasia supported a 'gentle, painless death' as the answer to troubles he witnessed was the outcome of the alcoholics, convicts, and people who were crippled. (Books in Review -- A Merciful End: The Euthanasia Movement in Modern America) In the course of the following several years, deliberation regarding the morals of euthanasia stormed the U.S. And U.K., ending in 1906 in an Ohio Bill to give legal assent to euthanasia which was finally beaten. (Emanuel, 1994) During the initial stages of the 20th century, eugenics and euthanasia were mutually linked. A lot within the American privileged decided to accept euthanasia as a constituent of the same enterprise. Among them were utilitarian philosopher Robert G. Ingersoll, biologist and old eugenics staunch supporter Charles Davenport, Food and Drug Administrator Harvey Wiley, Margaret Sanger, Helen Keller, and civil rights lawyer Clarence Darrow, who backed in 1915 the idea that is fair to put on anesthesia ailing children and demonstrate...
Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.
Get Started Now