Euthanasia as a Choice to Be Open for All - Essay Example

Topic:  Euthanasia is a choice which should be open to all in this day and age. Introduction Euthanasia is a Greek word which means “Good death” andit directs to a death with no or less pain or sufferings. To the people who support these phenomena, it is an act of compassion, mercy and kindness to a person who is undergoing pain. However, to a person who is opposing this concept, it is a murder. In General, Euthanasia can be defined as mercy killing. It is a concept which has raised many controversies and arguments among public to whether it should be made legalized .It is really difficult to analyze whether euthanasia is a suicide, murder or crime. Even though many people consider euthanasia as crime, to a person undergoing immense pain and stress it is a compassionate help. Different people have different view on this matter as it is intensely connected with the life of a person. It is also entangled with the ethical and moral principles of human beings. Human being has struggled with mercy killing concept for a long time. The euthanasia is a concept developed in order to save people who are suffering under immense pain and suffering .Some fatal illnesses make people undergo through life threatening situation where they themselves want to end their life. In such cases, the family and medical experts think of ending the life of the patient to save him from pain and sufferings. If a person is hopelessly ill and has no chance of survival and is in pain then euthanasia is a boon for them. Definition and of Euthanasia Euthanasia is not a new concept, but implementing it is not an easy task as people have various views regarding it. According to Seamus (2000,pg. 12)“Euthanasia can be defined as the act or practice of killing or practice of killing or permitting the death of hopelessly sick or injured individuals in a relatively painless way for reason for mercy” . Euthanasia is the process of killing oneself with the assistance of physician. It is regarded as suicide by many, as the death is with the consent of the dying person. It can also be termed as a physician assisted suicide. There is also something known as passive and active euthanasia .Passive euthanasia is where a patient’s life is taken by removing his means o f sustenance and active euthanasia where patient gives chance for doctor to take his life. Killing to defend one is considered as suicide, and is not accepted by major portion of public. Mostly euthanasia is conducted on people who are in a comma or had brain death. People who are in vegetative state are suggested to undergo mercy killing to bring relief to both patient and their well wishers. Sometimes non – voluntary euthanasia is performed where the patient’s life is put to an end without getting consent from them. It happens when the patient is not in a condition to give an opinion on the matter. History of Euthanasia According to Hippocrates, a physician has no right to take a life of a person in any condition. On the contrary, the ancient Romans and Greeks were of the opinion that it is not necessary to preserve the life of a person who has no desire to live. Voluntary euthanasia was something allowed among ancient Roman and Greek civilization. As per English law, attempting suicide and assisting people in killing themselves is criminal offence .In 1828, the first law was passed against euthanasia in New York. Euthanasia in those days was illegal like abortion, had been a major topic for debate ( Ningthoujam (2011). The proposal of euthanasia emerged in the latter half of the nineteenth century as the morphine became an anesthetic means to give painless death to patients. By the final stage of nineteenth century, death and dying came under the control of medicine and the art of dying became the medical and technical governed death. In 1934, a society named Euthanasia society was originated to promote the idea of euthanasia in England. In 1939, it was the Nazi leader Hitler who promoted the activity of mercy killing upon the sick and disabled people in an attempt to eliminate life which is unworthy. The euthanasia program of Nazi soon included the adults, mentally retarded and disabled children. In 1996 euthanasia bill came in to effect in Australia but was overruled by the Australian government in 1997.In 20th century, United States also started considering euthanasia, as the state Oregon legalized the concept in 1998 and it is the only state to accept this concept. Countries that legalized Euthanasia Different countries have varied view on euthanasia and most of the countries take it in a negative manner. In United States only three states have legalized non – active euthanasia and these are Oregon, Washington and Montana. Currently, the New Hampshire is also considering a bill on euthanasia. The active euthanasia is legalized in Belgium, Netherlands and Switzerland and many people from Europe travel to Switzerland to undergo euthanasia. Netherlands is the first country to legalize euthanasia in 2002.In Luxemburg, euthanasia is legalized by passing a bill in 2008. .However, Newzealand has not accepted euthanasia even though couple of attempts has been made in the parliament to make it legal. Euthanasia is strictly forbidden in United Kingdom and any one assisting patients to kill themselves is punished by the criminal court. Many bills were introduced in United Kingdom to legalize voluntary euthanasia but were condemned by UK parliament between 2003 and 2006.However, the country does permit the withdrawal of life supporting system in certain cases with the consent of the patient. In Turkey and Norway, mercy killing is strictly prohibited. Japan is the country in South Asia which has legalized euthanasia. Columbia is one country which is planning to legalize euthanasia in future. Euthanasia from ethical perspective Euthanasia is a concept originated in order to give relief to the patients who suffer from immense pain and suffering due to their incurable diseases. Since it is a voluntary killing or physician assisted death, there is a lot of arguments and disagreement against it. The public does not agree with the human playing there God’s role in any circumstances. When looked from an ethical point of view, euthanasia cannot be regarded as unethical, as it is performed to reduce the suffering of patients. It is a concept which takes in to consideration the human feelings and emotions and focuses on relieving pain. When a person’s life is not in happiness , then it is equal to death, and when there is no chance of survival to a patient then euthanasia is a justifiable option. Those who argue that mercy killing is wrong in principle forget the conceptual link between the wrong of killing and the harm of dying (Hope,2004). The mercy killing is practiced by physicians in an attempt to end the prolonged painful survival of patients. If harm is done to relieve a person from prolonged pain and then that harm cannot be concluded as an immoral activity. Moreover, the family member of the diseases is under great stress to see the patient in pain. When the patient and the people related to him get nothing but despair and unhappiness then there is nothing wrong in taking the life of the patient. Even the patient feels that he is burden for himself and to the people around him. Euthanasia from religious perspective When we look at euthanasia from religious perspective, then no religion will be in favor of it. Every religion considers life as a gift of God and taking away life is an unarguable sin. According to Buddhism, mercy killing is an unacceptable concept as killing and mercy does not go together. A killing is always accompanied by bad karma and the killer at any case has to undergo the punishment related with it. As per Religious Facts (2004) “Since religion concerns itself with issues of life, death, meaning and morality, it is not surprising that, for many people, religious beliefs are the main basis for their views of euthanasia”. Buddhism is of the principle that harming living being is against the law of nature and peace and happiness is the message of God to Humans. Even Christianity, euthanasia is an unacceptable concept as human does not have the right to interfere in the jurisdiction of God. The Bible has not mentioned anything particular about mercy killing but people who kill themselves are not considered as an ideal person. “ Thou shall not kill” is the central message of Bible and hence euthanasia is by no chance is moral in eyes of christians.In Islam, birth , death and marriage is solely under the power of Almighty and no human have the right to act on this part. In Hinduism too suicide is an offense and it is connected with bad karma and also create imbalance in the life cycle of birth and death of an individual. Doctor’s and patient’s view on euthanasia In the medical field, the acceptability to the concept of euthanasia depends on the branch of medicine. Usually it is seen that oncologist and neurologists are more in favor of euthanasia as these fields come across fatally ill patients who need relief from prolonged pain and sufferings. It is mostly seen that, French doctors are more agreeable to legalization of euthanasia as they are less competent in palliative care. It is observed that cultural differences play a strong role in the response of doctor’s with regard to mercy killing. Some people are of the opinion that euthanasia is an extension of palliative care and that doctors must respect patients wish to end their lives a s a part of accepting their autonomy (Watel, 2003,pg 595-596). The perspective of doctors has changed recently and many of them feel that they should be given right to end the life of their patient in exceptional cases. When it comes to the view of patient’s , no man want to end his life but if his life is going to be in endless pain then dying becomes a better option for them’. Patients who are suffering from terminal illnesses like cancer and AIDS are mostly in agreement with mercy killing. Since they know that their life is a burden for family and relatives and they prefer to end they life rather than putting people in difficulty. There are many cases where the patients request the physicians to take their life in order to get rid of the pain and sufferings. Patients are not killed without their consent and in such a case euthanasia cannot be considered as a crime. Conclusion Death is something which nobody wants to go through, whether it is good or easy death it does not make any difference. Euthanasia is a controversial issue because it is a suicidal act and against the religious and ethical values. People only look at the death part, but not at the end of the pain undergone by the diseased person. Euthanasia is a difficult subject and is depressing concept to discuss about as it is focused on ending the life of people. Euthanasia is a process which takes place as a last resort to help a patient. It is not a decision which is easy for the patient as well as the family members and physicians. Euthanasia is only practiced when the patient will not survive and has to spend the rest of their life in distress and pain. There is a huge argument and debate when it comes to euthanasia, as it is related to the life of a person. Some countries have legalized mercy killing by considering the emotional and human right of the patients, while majority of the countries are against it. In General, people think that life is extremely precious and no human has the right to take it away from anyone. Many believe that God is the one who created human beings and he alone has the right to take away the life of a person. In conclusion it can be said that, the medical experts can be more human and practice euthanasia only in cases with no chance of survival. References Hope, T., 2004. Medical ethics: a very short introduction. 1st ed. Oxford: oxford University Press Religion Facts. 2004. Euthanasia and Religion. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.religionfacts.com/euthanasia/index.htm. [Accessed 19 August 11] Seamus, C., 2000. Euthanasia: the debate over the right to die. . 1st Ed. New York: Roshan Publishing S.Ningthoujam. 2011. History of Euthanasia. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.buzzle.com/articles/history-of-euthanasia.html. [Accessed 19 August 11]. Watel, P., 2003. Doctors opinions on euthanasia, end of life care, and doctor-patient communication: telephone survey in France. BMJ, 13/327, 595-596. Read More