Assisted Suicide or Euthanasia - Term Paper Example

Assisted Suicide or Euthanasia Introduction The literal meaning of the term euthanasia is seen to literally mean “good death”. However in the Nazi context euthanasia was seen to essentially be an euphemistic term that was used in reference to a relatively clandestine murder program that was specifically targeted at killing the physically and mentally disabled patients who happened to have been living in various institutional setting both within the German-annexed territories as well as in Germany itself. In the modern context Euthanasia has gradually been adopted and is currently used to refer to the inducement of an essentially painless death for individuals. This paper seeks to establish what exactly are the contemporary views relating to euthanasia, the impact of euthanasia on society as well as establish its general legal status in a number of countries including also in the United States. What is Euthanasia? From its humble beginnings where it was commonly used in reference to a Germany’s national socialist program that was seen to predate by a period of about two years the genocide of the European Jewish people, that was eventually referred to as the Holocaust, the popularity and use of euthanasia grew rapidly and it is now a commonly accepted medical procedure in some countries despite its often controversial nature. According to Foreman et al., (95), the general subject of euthanasia or physician-assisted suicide is seen to have engaged numerous health professionals, theologians, policy makers, philosophers and ethicists in a raging debate for several decades. The most recent debate on the subject is over the proposed change to the legislation in some countries advocating for physicians to be allowed to legally engage in voluntary euthanasia or assisted suicide, however, it is only the citizens of Oregon who have managed to approve euthanasia in the United States, this was done in a poll that approved the Death with Dignity Act in the county (Foreman et al., 95). Euthanasia can broadly be defined as a painlessly rapid and deliberate termination of an individual’s life on the basis of their having either a rapidly progressing or incurable terminal disease. Euthanasia is also variously referred to as self-administered or assisted suicide. It is normally used in the event that terminally sick individuals wish to advance their own death by seeking the help of other persons or medical practitioners. This is commonly achieved by the individuals being administered with lethal dosages of drugs and injections (Cavan, 12). Impact of Euthanasia on Society The impact of euthanasia on society is seen to be largely divided along two lines of opinion. Some societies and communities such as Buddhists, Jains and Hindus are seen to favor different methods via which one can be able to attain dignity in their dying, these communities also tend to consider euthanasia to essentially be largely an insult to the entire general community. However, some segments of the community are seen to be of the opining that the failure by the society in general to generally endorse the practicing of euthanasia within the given society leads to an inadequate response to the perceived need for one to maintain their own dignity when dying (Biggs, 158). Although the societal failure to fundamentally endorse euthanasia to be a legitimate option can be regarded as being destructive to the human dignity of the persons who may be wanting it, allowing euthanasia to be conducted in a society would have the conflicting results of securing the preservation of the dignity of the individuals on whom the procedure was being performed on while at the same time destroying the dignity of the medial personnel who would be forced to conduct the procedure (Biggs, 158). Contemporary Views on Assisted Suicide and Assisted Euthanasia According to Dorkin, Frey and Bok (88), some of the more contemporary advocates of the current expansive view pertaining to the taking of human life have been seen to frequently invoke the aspect of “quality of life” in arguing for the support of the taking of one’s life or the lives of others if it is perceived to be the best choice for the people regardless of whether they agree to it or not. Dorkin, Frey and Bok also point out that these advocates are found to generally find it to essentially be morally legitimate under certain specific conditions to kill persons who happen to be comatose, newborns in addition to those whose lives own lives are judged as basically not be worth living (Dorkin, Frey and Bok, 88). Views on Euthanasia from Ethical Theories As is often found to be common with most of the applied ethics, the main philosophical questions that are seen to apply to euthanasia are often found to generally not all be ethical ones. The responses to the ethical theories are found to be dependent on the general ethical theory that the individual adopts. Christians would tend to have doubts on the moral justification of voluntary euthanasia which would be seen to generally contradict one of their key commandments to not kill while persons ascribed to Kant’s ethical theory would generally feel duty-bond to ensure that they never kill (Warburton,. 57) Utilitarian’s would perceive the issue in a significantly different light. As with others, the conflict of duties would not be the main difficulty for a utilitarian, the main difficulty for a utilitarian would be on how to calculated the perceived possible courses of action that would be available (Warburton, 58). The Legal Status of Euthanasia in the United States and Other Countries In the United States, the only law that is seen to legalize euthanasia is the Death with Dignity statue in Oregon. This was the first law in the country to legalize euthanasia in the United States. There are several other countries around the world such as the Netherlands that are seen to generally legalize euthanasia (Carper and McKinsey, 668-699). Shocking statistics on the prevalence of Euthanasia in the Netherlands show that about 9% of the deaths in the country were as a result of euthanasia with about 96.6 of these deaths having been achieved by means of lethal injection while only about 3.4% of these deaths were as a result of Physician-assisted suicide. And most citizens in the country carry “Do Not Euthanize Me” cards in the event that they happen to be admitted in hospital. There are shocking cases doctors administering euthanasia to patients due to chronic depression. (Terri Schiavo, par 2) However, euthanasia is still illegal in most countries. Works Cited Biggs, Hazel. Euthanasia, death with dignity and the law. Oxford : Hart. 2000. Print. Carper, L. Donald and McKinsey, A. John. Understanding the law. Mason, Ohio : South -Western Cengage Learning. 2012. Print. Cavan, Seamus. Euthanasia : the debate over the right to die. New York : Rosen Pub. Group. 2000. Print. Dworkin, Gerald, Frey, G. Raymond and Bok, Sissela. Euthanasia and physician assisted suicide. Cambridge [u.a.] : Cambridge Univ. Press. 1998. Print. Forman, B. Walter, et al. Hospice and palliative care : concepts and practice. Sudbury, Mass. : Jones and Bartlett, cop. 2003. Print. Terri Schiavo. Life & Hope Network. Facts About Euthanasia. Retrived from http://www.terrisfight.org/facts-about-euthanasia/. Warburton, Nigel. Philosophy: the basics. Routledge. 2004. Print. Read More