Euthanasia: Right or Wrong - Essay Example

Euthanasia - Right or wrong? and Section # of Below, euthanasia is discussed in detail. Euthanasia is killing a person on medical basis, when there is no hope left for him. We discussed few arguments both in favor and against of euthanasia. Euthanasia The word Euthanasia is basically a Greek word, eu means “good” and thanatos means “death”. It is the deliberate and intentional killing of a person on the medical basis and it is said to be for the benefit of the person. It is usually done by the permission of the person; still it is a very controversial topic. It is done with the help of physician and is known as physician aid suicide. Ethical Problems of Euthanasia Now the point for Euthanasia is that when a person is extremely ill and there is no chance for him or her to survive, at the same time the person is suffering from severe pain then do we consider this his right to decide whether he wants to live more or not. As keeping in mind that it is actually his own life which he wants to terminate. The other point that comes under ethics is that what should be the circumstances under which Euthanasia should be allowed. Euthanasia cannot be allowed in any normal circumstances but only when there is no other option left for the patient as well as the physician. The arguments which are given either in favor or against of Euthanasia are usually in the religious and moral sense but there are few ideas that are given in technical and practical sense as well. Many people believe that the Euthanasia should no be allowed in any case. According to them there is a chance that it can be used as rivalry or might be used as a cover for murder. When see it closely there is very less difference in killing and letting someone die. Killing can be either giving a person any lethal injection and by letting someone die is to see any person who is about to die and do nothing for him or her. Euthanasia is said to be a pain relief. The doctor gives a lethal injection to the patient in order to relieve him or her from the pain and he never intended to kill him. This is known as Doctrine of Double Effect. It is sometimes known as “easy killing”. Why People Want Euthanasia Normally people think that the only reason for asking Euthanasia is the unbearable pain and suffering but the recent research in USA and Netherlands proved that the less than a third of requests were because of severe and unbearable pain and suffering. If a person is in a condition of long illness and his or her personal life is severely damaged due to his illness and isolation. He may be having a worst relation with his or her spouse, children or friends. His may be in danger of loosing his job, in these circumstances, the only thing that attacked him is depression and fear. The fear of loosing his job, the fear of loosing his family, the fear of being deserted by his friends, fear to loose his control over his life and fear of loosing his dignity, he might imagine himself as a burden on his family and on earth, he might think of himself as a dependent useless person who cannot move a step without the help of someone else. All these fears lead to the sever depression and the person is under a lot of stress that he feels the idea of death attractive, to get rid of his life. The other physical conditions like incontinence, queasiness, nausea, paralysis, vomiting and continuous bed rest leaves him to end his life without any fear. In these circumstances, any person can find the idea of death striking and he will willingly ask the physician to inject him a lethal injection. It sometimes referred as a person’s life to end his life whenever he wants. Voluntarily and non-voluntarily Euthanasia There are three types of Euthanasia, Voluntarily Euthanasia and non-voluntarily Euthanasia and the other one is Involuntarily Euthanasia. The voluntary euthanasia is the one when the person says it clearly that he or she wants to die and they themselves want to put an end to their lives. This is when they ask for other’s help to end their life so that they can get rid of their life and their sufferings. The second form of voluntary euthanasia is when the person refuses to take the medical treatment which is been offered to him. He is ill and of course he is bound to take some medicines on time, but he, at some time, get tired of his treatment and intentionally or unintentionally he refuses to continue the cure of his illness. It is also counted in euthanasia. The third form of voluntary euthanasia is that the patient asks the administration of the hospital or his family members that he no longer wants to continue the treatment and wants to quit his life. He asks the administration to switch off the life supporting machines which are providing him hope of life. The fourth form of voluntary euthanasia is that the person starts his starvation and stop eating anything. This is an attempt of suicide and it of course will lead him to death. Or the last form of voluntary euthanasia is that the person simply decides and announces to die and tell everyone that this is what he wants. He wants to no one to interfere in his left over life and he wants to end it in his own way. Non-Voluntary Euthanasia It is a form of euthanasia when a person is not in a mental or physical condition to make the decision regarding his life and death. Some conditions for the non-voluntary euthanasia are given below: Suppose a person in a state of coma and he is no more aware of anything that is happening around him. The person can remain in coma for a year, two years, and fifteen years and even for a decade. So in this case he is not able to take this decision whether he wants to continue in his present condition or not. Then the authorities take this action and they first take permission from his family as well. A person who is suffering from an uncured illness is very young, a baby, who cannot make his decision. Then it is asked from his parents or guardians. The person who is suffering from the illness is not in a good mental health, he could be a senile. In this scenario, the decision is taken by the hospital administration but of course with permission from his family. One reason could be that the brain of a person is severely damaged due to some accident or any other reason. This time the person is dead mentally but his body is still working. So this decision is taken with the permission of his family. Involuntary Euthanasia This is a condition when a person wants to live and he is afraid of death but still is killed. It is usually considered as a murder but there are few conditions for this too. One condition for this is the war state, when a soldier is severely wounded and there is no chance of him to survive, there are only few minutes of his life remaining and he is begging the doctor to save his life at any cost but the doctor cannot do anything. At this time, the only thing that a doctor can do is to reduce his continuous pain and kill him in a one go. It is considered as a murder. A person is at the top floor of a building and his flat is on fire. There is no way out for him. Any other person who is passing by understands the situation and kills him by his pistol. This is a murder. The morality and ethics in the above mentioned examples is controversial but mostly people think of this as a murder. Active and Passive Euthanasia Active euthanasia is the type of euthanasia when the physician or the ward boy does something clearly and in front of his family to let that person gets rid of his life. It can be an injecting a lethal injection in a person or to give him anything which will immediately kill him in no time. Passive euthanasia is an act by the hospital staff where they stop providing the treatment or just cut off the ways that is keeping him alive. These measures can be like switching off the life supporting machines, stop giving him the food in any form, stop giving him the medicines etc. Though there is not much difference between the two of them. In active euthanasia, the doctor or physician give something to the patient that kill him immediately but in passive euthanasia, the doctor or physician let him die and don’t do anything to keep him alive. In both cases it is death which is the fate of the patient. Thou shalt not kill but needst not strive, officiously, to keep alive. (Arthur Hugh Clough, 1819-1861) Few people think active euthanasia better than the passive euthanasia, according to them it kill a person without giving him any more pain and it actually relieves him from his pains and sufferings. Arguments in Favor of Euthanasia The arguments which are given in favor of euthanasia are the ones which think that euthanasia is in this world from the beginning and it is blessing for people who are in constant pain and suffering. They believe that there is no way that the euthanasia can be stopped by any bill or regulation. According to them, there are already few laws and drafts against euthanasia but they cannot be implemented positively and wont be followed. These people believe that the ones who are already practicing this in their treatment won’t be affected much by any law or draft against euthanasia, nothing can stop them. There are ways to control it but still many people think that the physicians with the bad intentions will never stop themselves from committing this crime. As it is clear that all laws try to stop murder and have declared it as a crime but on one can actually stop murderers from committing it. And also they believe the fact that whatever actions might be taken against it there is no way that the poor patients would be pressurized to choose death against their will. And they will be forced to choose this way and to give up few more weeks of their life when they can live as well. So these people think that the euthanasia should be legalized and should be given a moral cover so that the abuse could be minimized and it could get into a legal cover, because the people who want to use it will keep using it even after the law being given. But the need is to protect the poor and vulnerable patients who are forced to accept it but actually they want to live their complete natural life. So the rules and procedures should be set to protect them against the criminal minded people. It is the only way to help people who think that they are forced to decide in favor of euthanasia. And these people might feel supported and should feel that they are not alone and there is a law which guards them, as there would be some legal works to be done before the euthanasia and like this the government authorities will be allowed to communicate with the patient and the patient wont be left alone on the mercy of the hospital administration. There could be a reason that the hospital administration might think of doing this to save their expenses, so like this it can get clear as well. The regulations should include the complete medical and psychological check up of the patient and also a detailed interview as well. So that they can come to know whether this is their permanent decision or they want to do this because of the temporary depression. Like this there is a chance that may be the patient might get cure after that there would be no need left for the euthanasia. They might get a clear picture about the family of the patient as well. That what cause them to do this and what are their real intentions on the subject. If the patient is recovering, even on a small ratio then also they should wait and give up the idea of euthanasia because a human life is precious. Though these ideas are time consuming and expensive as well but they should be adopted because nothing is precious than a human life. The other argument given by them is that every individual has the right over his body and life and they should be provided this right that whenever he or she wants to end it they should be allowed to do so. It is said that the humans are independent and they should be allowed to practice their freedom and should not be put into the restrictions in their personal matters. “In...cases where there are no dependants who might exert pressure one way or the other, the right of the individual to choose should be paramount. So long as the patient is lucid, and his or her intent is clear beyond doubt, there need be no further questions.” (The Independent, March 2002). Though the humans do follow the religions and most of the religions don’t appreciate the idea of suicide and death but still people like to practice their freedom and want to gain control over their lives and bodies. The secular people do believe firmly in it and they think that the people should give this much freedom on their lives and should be given the right to end their lives when ever they think to complete it. But they strongly oppose the idea of forcing people to accept the idea of euthanasia. Liberation bodies also encourage the idea of euthanasia if and only if the patient wants this. And they think about the medical resources as well, because the medical resources are wasted because of this. Arguments against the Euthanasia There are many arguments given against the euthanasia. There are many religious arguments as well. They are given below; According to them the concept of euthanasia is against eh words of God and also against the will of God. So people should respect the human life and should save the other people’s lives as well. The other argument given by them is that the euthanasia is a curse on the society where doctors can kill their patients because of medical reasons and the reasons of finances. This is a cruelty. There are many ethical arguments against it as well. They are given below; It weakens the society and people become fearful of going to hospitals even. It gave an idea that few lives are not worth of living and the lives of some people are worth less than the other ones. Voluntarily euthanasia is very harmful for the people as anyone can think of giving up his or her life because of illness. Conclusion The conclusion driven from this is that euthanasia is good in few cases but bad in many cases. There should be some rules and regulations for this and everything should be in notice of government and it should be thought of a last option because human life is precious. Bibliography 1. American Veterinary Medical Association. (1993) Report of the AVMA Panel on Euthanasia. American Veterinary Medical Association 2. Derek Humphry (2002). Final Exit: The Practicalities of Self-Deliverance and Assisted Suicide for. Norris Lane Press 3. Glanville Llewelyn Williams. (1957)The Sanctity of Life and the Criminal Law. Knopf 4. James Rachels (1986).The End of Life: Euthanasia and Morality. Oxford University Press Read More