Euthanasia - Why It Should Be Illegal - Essay Example

Topic :Euthanasia, Why it should be illegal? Euthanasia otherwise called mercy killing is an act of assisted suicide where a diseased patient with no chance of living being killed with the aid of a doctor. Euthanasia is of two kind; passive and active euthanasia. Passive euthanasia is a situation where the diseased person is left to die by himself. Here the patient is not given medical treatment or life support to continue his life. In active euthanasia, the death of the person happens due to a human intervention. Euthanasia, in both the ways is illegal in most of the countries around the world. It is one of the most controversial subjects which have existed in the medical field since few decades. However, euthanasia is illegal because it takes away the future of a life and is a homicide and a cruel and unethical act. Nowadays, euthanasia does not bring a harsh reaction from the people like earlier times, as they take it in same way as abortion and capital punishment .The concept of euthanasia was always debated by people around the world since its invention. Even though the word “euthanasia” mean “Good death” it reality it is an unfortunate death from the hands of a human. Euthanasia helps to relieve a patient from a difficult situation where he is suffering from pain or extreme discomfort. However at times, people are also killed for the convenience and selfish motive of other people. Euthanasia in whatever way is killing, and taking a life of a person is immoral and unethical and must be made illegal. Euthanasia steals the future from a person Euthanasia is wrong as it steals from a person his future, which is his legal right. Every person born on this earth has the right to live as much as the nature allows. No human has the right to decide the life span of a person; hence euthanasia is against the law of nature. Every person has a future and along with it he has some plans and dreams for his future. When is being killed due to his illness, he is being devoid of all his dreams and plans. A person values greatly his future life, life is precious and euthanasia deceives a person and destroys all his hope on life. In his book (Soifer 380) mentions that “One very plausible answer is that killing denies the victim something that he or she values greatly - continued life or future” A person around his time of illness would have hoped of a better future life and an unfortunate occurrence of euthanasia destroys his complete plans and his family members. Many a times, the victim could be young and can have plans for marriage, kids, education or career. In case of euthanasia, his life dooms to darkness at a tender age. Sometimes a person could be cured in a miraculous way by nature from an incurable disease. In that case taking the life of a person beforehand could be unfortunate. So euthanasia must be made illegal to save the future of a person and his dreams. Euthanasia is a homicide There is a criminal implication on Euthanasia as it is a killing of a person with the assistance from a person or physcisian. Homicide refers to manslaughter or murder, both of which come under the offense of common law. Murder could be defined as intentional killing of a human being which is unlawful and it is definite that euthanasia tend to fall in to this category .Euthanasia is a morally wrongful act and a behavior which is harmful to a human being. So voluntary euthanasia is a process in contradiction to the law of a nation and violates the human right and freedom. It is deliberate killing which is unlawful even though the motive is benevolent in nature. In his book ( Biggs 28) writes that “The allocation of criminal responsibility in cases involving euthanasia and assisted deaths is same as in all normal criminal cases”. Euthanasia is a decision which is life limiting and criminal law is against this practice of physicians. In some cases, the patients were being killed by the autonomous decision of the physician, in this event, opinion of the patient or his relatives are not considered. This is a clear case of homicide, for which the doctor is punishable as he is committing a murder upon his own will. Even indirect euthanasia is a homicide, where the patient is given pain- killer morphine, which has a side effect of early death. All these medical practices fall in the class of murder and are illegal. Euthanasia is cruel inhumane act which is unethical Euthanasia when perceived from a humanitarian ground is a cruel some act which is also unethical. When considered from all religious perspective, euthanasia is immoral, unethical and destruction of human life. Christian teaching advocates “thou shall not kill” and this must be respected by medical practitioners and common people. In many instances, the life supporting system of the patient are removed to take his life and this is a sympathetic case. Life of a human is divine, and destruction of it is disrespectful and immoral. A life is a gift of nature and only nature has the right to take back a person’s life. The gift of life must be respected and preserved and not destroyed. According to (Carloff) “One of the primary arguments against Euthanasia is that it degrades human life,that it is always wrong and immoral to end another humans life, no matter what the circumstances are”. It is an extreme horrifying experience for the loved ones and family members to see the patient to enter death. It is in humane to take away someone’s son, husband or brother from them and throw him to the mouth of death. Inspite of that everyone has the right to live, as no one want to accept death no matter what is the case. Human beings should cherish life and should give full support to enhance life and prosperity of a human being. As a human we have ethical standards and killing is the most heinous crime a person can commit and hence euthanasia is illegal. Conclusion Euthanasia is a medical practice performed to relieve patient from pain and suffering. From a medical perspective it can have many favorable arguments .But euthanasia, from a humanitarian and ethical ground, is cruel, heinous and truly criminal act. Science does not value and regard life in the same way religion does. Religion and normal men look at human life with dignity, love and compassion. Human cannot comprehend science when it comes to Euthanasia. Even though a person suffers pain, he usually prefers to have a natural death. Especially active euthanasia is bad and difficult to understand from human grounds. As per (Mattison 373) “Active euthanasia means something like a suffering patient dying sooner because of some action taken by a care giver”. Nowadays, Euthanasia has a mixed review from people, as they have become more advanced and knowledgeable; it is no more considered much of a crime. It could be said that people have become more detached from nature and want life to be easier and comfortable. Many a times Euthanasia are performed for the comfort of the parents or family members. In such a case, it is shameful on humane to kill someone, especially their blood relative. Human must be more God -fearing and must be patient to allow nature to take its toll. We do not have to take responsibility of birth and death of a person as it is a divine act .So it is strongly illegal to practice Euthanasia as it is a crime from all perspectives of life. Work Cited Biggs, Hazel. Euthanasia, death with dignity and the law. Portland: Hart Publishing, 2001. 28. Print. Carloff, Andy. "Euthanasia." ezinearticles. N.p., Apr. 2005. Web. 4 Dec. 2011. < http://ezinearticles.com/?Euthanasia&id=75427> Mattison, William C. Introducing Moral Theology: True Happiness and the Virtues. Grand Rapids: Brazos Press, 2008. 373. Print Soifer, Eldon. Ethical Issues: Perspectives for Canadians. Ontario: Broadview Press, 2009. 380. Print.   Read More