Euthanasia has become an issue of growing attention. Jack Kevorkian, Doctor Death is a good example of a technical dispenser of death. He is the most famous physician on the planet who makes a living by helping others commit suicide. If euthanasia is legalized then there will be more Doctor Deaths in this world, which certainly is not necessary.
Ultimately, the most powerful reason to oppose euthanasia is that since there is great potential for abuse, it will lead to the deaths of patients who do not really wish to die. For example, those who oppose euthanasia argue that powerful doctors or family members, unrestricted by law, may persuade patients to choose death, or greedy insurance companies may pressure doctors to control insurance costs by ending lives. According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, says that intentional euthanasia, whatever its forms or motives, is murder. It is gravely contrary to the dignity of the human person and to the respect due to the living God, his Creator. On and after October 21st Dr. Kevorkian has done nineteen assisted-suicides.
There was an increasing number of suicides in Michigan, so the governor signed an anti-suicide law in late February that made doctor-assisted suicides a felony. During the 21-month trial period of the new law anyone assisting in a suicide can be sentenced to up to four years in prison and fined more than $2,000. Seventy percent think euthanasia is justified sometimes for a person to kill his or her relative, if they are suffering terrible pain caused by a terminal illness. Even suicide is starting to be accepted.
About half the public thinks a “moral right” to suicide exists if a person has an incurable disease or is suffering great pain with no hope of recoveringPhysician assisted suicide is a very important issue. It is also important to know the difference between the situation in which a person can be involved in making the death of a sick person any quicker. Euthanasia, a word that is often used as the same as physician assisted suicide, means the act or practice of killing for reasons of mercy. Assisted suicide takes place when a dying person who wishes to have death, and requests help in carrying out the act.
In euthanasia, the dying patients may not neccessarily be aware of what is happening to them and may not have asked to die. In an assisted suicide, the sick person wants to die and has asked for help. Physician-assisted suicide occurs when the individual assisting in the suicide is a doctor instead of a friend or family member. Doctors are the people most familiar with their patients condition and know what is necessary to cause certain death, sick patients who have made the decision to end their lives often turn to their physicians for advice. However, studies indicate that many physicians are unwilling to provide their assistance in suicide because it conflicts with their ethical beliefs and because it is illegal. The legalization of euthanasia is a complicated topic which is becoming more popular with Americas aging population and the terminally ill patients.
Euthanasia is a social issue which is here to stay. The legalization of euthanasia is being debated all over the United States and offers a potential for abuse. In 1994, euthanasia laws of Washington and New York were challenged in federal court and declared unconstitutional. Physician assisted suicide should not be legalized in any state. In addition, they worry that legalized euthanasia would be the first step down the slippery slope, which would lead to widespread, unregulated deaths of individuals who society considers undesirable, such as the insane, the mentally deficient, the elderly, and those of less than average intelligence.
As society must understand, euthanasia is challenged for several reasons. First of all, the Right-To-Die group is advertised mainly by another group called ERGO, which stands for the Euthanasia Research and Guidance Organization. The World Federation of Right To Die Societies, started in l976, and officially founded in l980, represents nearly all the organizations internationally which are fighting for a person’s right to die when terminally ill. The 33 organizations meet every two years to exchange news and views.
The next meeting is in 2002 in Belgium. ( website quote) Of course there is always the document patients can sign to tell doctors Do Not Resuscitate, which means that if they should happen to go into clinically dead conditions, then doctors should not go into any extraordinary means to bring them back. Legalization with medical record documentation will enable authorities to regulate the practice and guard against abuses while punishing the real offenders. Also, supporters of euthanasia strongly suggest that laws banning euthanasia do not save lives, but rather, they prolong painful deaths.
Despite the reasons which lead some to believe euthanasia should be a viable alternative, it should not be legalized. Alexander Capron says that I think that the parents must participate in any decision about treatment and that they must be fully informed of the consequences of consenting and of witholding consent. First of all, one reason to oppose the legalization of euthanasia laws is that it is morally wrong. No person has the right to assist in the taking of others lives. Only God has the power for taking human life.
Therefore, those who believe in God know that they must not prevent their destinies by ending their lives because, if someone believes in God, then they know that He will keep one safe for all time. A second reason to oppose physician-assisted suicide is because it will pervert the medical profession. The doctor-patient relationship be severely damaged and ripped of its trust, but the image of doctors as healers will be transformed to killers. People will view them as technical dispensers of death. The Hippocratic Oath which is the traditional standard pledge of those in medicine expressly prohibits assisted suicide, stating: I will not give poison to anyone though asked to do so, nor will I suggest such a plan.
So, it seems fair to say that Hippocrates implicitly accepted the distinction between killing and allowing to die. People of this day and age are of two positions. They are either afraid of death, or they welcome it. People who welcome death are not necessarily afraid to have the doctor assist them with their suicide, to end their pain. People who are afraid of death, are most commonly afraid of change.
They fear being alone, left without any comfort or security. They are in a world that is constantly changing, and they feel insecure on how well they will be able to keep up with it. People are also afraid of pain. Others believe that pain is weakness leaving the body.
There is an option that hospices have come up with that meets in between euthanasia and living in pain. It is terminal sedation. She was given a Valium-type sedative to sleep, along with opioid medication for the pain and slipped into a coma. It works for patients who are afraid of being trapped in medical hell at the end of their lives.
It’s quiet, private, far removed from the headlines or how-to manuals on suicide. It’s legal: Patients have the right to refuse treatment and physicians can administer high doses of pain medications even if the drugs have a “double effect” of hastening death. It’s moral: The primary goal is to relieve suffering, not to take a life. In conclusion, all should firmly believe that physician assisted suicide should not be legalized in any state. Although it is legalized in Oregon it is not wise for any other state to follow that example. By now, all should strongly believe the growing public support for euthanasia still remains a very dangerous trend.
The role of our physician should be a healer, not a killer. It must be understood that in some cases the only way to relieve someone from their pain is to let them go. On the contrary, each human life has a special value that must be respected. It is immoral to intentionally end a life.
For those who are believers in God know that he has given us the most powerful gift on earth, the gift of life. Only He has the power to take it away from us.
