Euthanasia is an emotionally charged topic of debate, and it is easy to lose sight of the facts when people talk about wanting to kill themselves for whatever reason. Most of the people that seek physician-assisted suicide are suffering from terminal illnesses that cause them a great deal of pain that cannot be properly controlled with medications. For these individuals, the relief of death is preferred to their continuing suffering. The ethical debate over euthanasia, though, is colored by millennia of human thinking concerning the value of life and biblical proscriptions against suicide in any form. This paper examines the arguments in support of euthanasia as well as arguments against the practice to determine the facts and to provide rationale in support of legalizing euthanasia.
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Introduction:
Humans can be said to really own one thing outright: their lives. There are laws in most countries, though, that prevent people from taking their own lives or having a physician help them in the process. Advocates of euthanasia maintain an individual's right to autonomy means that people are automatically entitled to physician-assisted suicide and a relatively painless death (Sinha & Basu, 2012). Opponents of euthanasia argue that physicians should not participate in physician-assisted suicide because the practice would be violative of the central tenet of the medical profession (Sinha & Basu, 2012). The ethical debate over euthanasia has become more intensified in recent years as Oregon legalized physician-assisted suicide and some countries such as The Netherlands and Belgium have also legalized physician-assisted suicides and more people are opting for this way to end their lives (Marcoux & Mishara, 2007).
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Issue Statement
This paper provides a review of the relevant peer-reviewed and scholarly literature to demonstrate that euthanasia is a humane and acceptable practice that should be implemented by the United States based on the example used in The Netherlands, followed by a summary of the research and important findings concerning these issues in the conclusion.
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Issue Discussion:
The term euthanasia is derived from the Greek and means a "gentle and easy death" (Keown, 2002). In this context, it is reasonable to suggest that everyone would support this type of passing, and advocates of euthanasia argue that this should be everyone's fundamental right (Keown, 2002). Besides improving palliative care and expanded hospices, euthanasia advocates are also "arguing that doctors should in certain circumstances be allowed to ensure an easy death not just by killing the pain but by killing the patient" (Keown, 2002, p. 10). Euthanasia is defined by Sinha and Basu "as the administration of a lethal agent by another person to a patient for the purpose of relieving the patient's intolerable and incurable suffering. Typically, the physician's motive is merciful and intended to end suffering." (p. 177). The precision of the definition used for euthanasia is vitally important because some misleading definitions are used intentionally to support or refute the legalization of euthanasia (Somerville, 2003).
Notwithstanding the arguments in support of euthanasia, many critics rely on age-old proscriptions about killing and the need to prevent death to support their cause. In this regard, Nelson emphasizes that, "It generally is assumed in our society that the act of suicide should be prevented. This assumption is founded upon another, more basic, assumption, which holds that life is preferable to death" (1984, p. 1328). It is also reasonable to suggest that these assumptions are not applicable to everyone, including those with terminal illnesses that suffer enormous pain while they wait for nature to take its course. As Keown points out, "Euthanasia is the belief that death would benefit the patient, that the patient would be better off dead, typically because the patient is suffering gravely from a terminal or incapacitating illness" (p. 10).
Proponents of euthanasia have become increasingly vocal in recent years, spurred by some high-profile cases. For instance, Sinha and Basu (2012) report that, "Advocates demanding autonomy for patients regarding how and when they die have been increasingly vocal during recent years, sparked by the highly publicized cases of Drs Jack Kevorkian, Timothy Quill, and Aruna Shanbaug . These cases have centered on the plight of dying patients with terminal illnesses" (p. 177). Likewise, Marcoux and Mishara report that, "Debates concerning euthanasia have become more frequent during the past two decades" (2007, p. 235). Many legislative debates have drawn on opinion polls that indicate sustained and strong public support for the legalization of euthanasia (Marcoux & Mishara, 2007). Indeed, a majority of the population in Australia, Canada, Great Britain, The Netherlands, and the United States...
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