Acute Euthanasia - Term Paper Example

Patients may themselves request physicians to end their lives, as in voluntary euthanasia, also called as physician-assisted suicide. Euthanasia may be active, wherein medical professionals administer drugs that cause immediate death, or passive, wherein medical professionals discontinue the administration of drugs and life-supporting systems that have been keeping the patient alive (BBC). As is clear from these definitions, euthanasia concerns the termination of the life of an ill person to save him from severe pain that his/her ailment entails.

This paper introduces the topic of euthanasia as a bioethical issue. Its pros and cons as well as legal implications are also discussed. The aim is to identify the ethical issues associated with euthanasia through an unbiased discussion of the arguments in favor as well as against euthanasia. The entire debate of euthanasia boils down to one question – Can imposed death be permitted, both morally and legally? Euthanasia is a bioethical issue because it concerns the taking of life of one individual by another individual.

Even if it stems from compassion for the patient, and is aimed at the patient’s best interests, it is still an act of murder, abhorred by both moral and religious laws. Contenders in support of euthanasia claim that everyone has the right to a dignified death and that the law must recognize a patient’s “right to die” (Human Life Alliance 2). The debate over euthanasia is multifaceted and arguments both for and against the motion are equally persuasive. Some of the moral questions that encompass the ethical issues raised by euthanasia include questions like – Can murder be justifiable under any circumstance?

Is it right to terminate the life of a person just because it is perceived that he/she is in unbearable pain? Is there no value of life? Can killing be legalized? Who has the right to decide whether a