Analysis of an Ethical Dilemma (Part Two) - Essay Example

Euthanasia and Physician Assisted Suicide Euthanasia: Interview to a Neighbor Euthanasia and physician assisted suicide is an act where a physician administers a lethal dose to a patient because the patient cannot do so. The patient is the instigator of their own death. Some states have made this act legal while in others it is still illegal. People have different views and opinions regarding physician’s assisted suicide, one such person is my neighbor, who I personally interviewed.Mary Gonzalez, who works in a non profit making organization as a social security person thinks that there is no moral justification, whether in medical science or in any kind of sound reason.

Life is a gift from God and no human being has the right to do whatever they please with it. She believes death is gods will and wish and everyone has their time of death and there is no turning back from this time. She is opposed to all forms of euthanasia, not just because she believes God is the creator of life or because of the teachings of the catholic church, but also because these churches and biblical teachings are supported by philosophical, ethical and reasoned argument that can be availed (Armstrong, 2009).

As a Christian, Mary Gonzalez believes it is against her religious background and moral perspective to take her life or even request someone in doing so. She believes no one has the right to kill or assist in killing no matter how hopeless the situation. In relation to euthanasia being a way to relieve pain, to the suffering individuals, Mary insists that it is wrong and against the Hippocratic oaths of doctors. The oath states that, “I will not give a deadly drug to anybody if asked for it, nor will I make a suggestion to this effect or in swearing the giving of poison when asked for it.

” The American Society of Internal Medicine and American College of Physicians do not encourage or give support to physicians regarding euthanasia (ACP-ASIM, 2010). Physician assisted suicide, she believes, deteriorates the trust that patients have in the physicians.The government is wrong to give any right to a certain group of people to kill other people. This is illegal and should be abolished. Instead, people should encourage the suffering and give them hope until God decides when to take their life.

The biblical worldview according to Mary Gonzalez is a well reasoned and gives a moral value to the sanctity of life (Cox, 2009). This is because it is possible to point to a moral right or wrong. It is concerned with the good of the community at large while the secular worldview is more focused on the individual rights. In reality, one outweighs the other and according to historic tradition and the bible, the one that has its interest in the good of the community wins.Physician assisted suicide and euthanasia are considered as dignity deaths or a way of empowering.

The question remains, “to whom is the empowerment going?” Is it the relatives and the doctor who is unable to administer a cure, or the activists who find a meaning in their own lives of such death? In her concluding words, Mary Gonzalez said that a problem cannot be solved by ending the lives of the people to whom the problems exist (Cox, 2009). The most humane yet difficult solution to the suffering of humans is addressing the problem and letting God take control.ReferencesACP-ASIM. (2010).

Euthanasia. Retrieved from American College of Physicians and American Society of Internal Medicine: https://www.acponline.org/Armstrong, K. (2009). The case for God. New York, NY: Knopf.Cox, H. (2009). The future of faith. New York, NY: HarperOne.