Euthanasia is a compassionate way to bring an end to the life of an individual. Euthanasia has become a problem in the world due to increase in its awful standing courtesy of pessimistic media. The governments need to carefully re-evaluate their policies and show its positive features to the world. Euthanasia can not be associated with killing as it is done upon the wish of an individual who requests for his death to be in less or no pain. Introduction Euthanasia is finishing the life of a human-being or an animal suffering from an incurable disease or terrible pain in the least possible painful manner.
It is done by injecting a poisonous injection, withdrawing medical assistance or any other way likewise. Euthanasia is quite often associated with assisted suicide but there is a small difference between the two. The distinction is that the final act without which the death would not take place is performed by the patient in euthanasia whereas; the final act without which the death would not take place is assisted by someone else (Baird and Rosenbaum 24). The support for euthanasia started in U. K and U. S. A in 1935 and 1938 respectively when some organizations came in front demanding for its legalization (Otlowski 81).
Defense 1. There is no use of staying alive a few more weeks, months or years, but suffering and health conditions deteriorating day by day only to die in the end in more pain. For example, if you are about to die of an incurable disease and you know that it will only get worse, would you opt for a rather quick and painless death or would you like to suffer a lot. It is not that you are going to have a better death if you wait. 2. In the 21st century, dying is something that has become extremely frightening.
The medical science has developed the skills and invented the technologies to elongate the time to death, resulting in needless pain for those who are kept alive without any real hope. Moreover, the families of the patients are also in great trauma for a longer time period. 3. Romans and Greeks were the ones who permitted to help people die in a situation where there was no hope for the patients to survive. An ancient author from Greece named Plutarch in his book Sparta discussed about “infanticide” that was performed on severely ill kids. Examples of certain forms of euthanasia can also be found in the writings of Plato and Socrates.
Several other early societies also used to practice euthanasia for the aged people. Against: 1. It is nature that pre-plans the place and time of one’s death, not the human being. For example, Judaism, Islam and Christianity teaches that the occasion and the time of one’s death is decided by God only and no one else should have the right to obstruct in God’s matters (Somerville). 2. Euthanasia is also against medical values and ethics and the medical associations have regularly criticized it as it tears down the expectations of a patient on the doctor.
For instance, all forms of euthanasia and assisted suicide are rejected and pronounced to be against the nature and principles of medical field by the American Medical Association (AMA). 3. The person in pain is not only the patient, but there are some bystanders as well. For example, the friends and the families of the patient who elects to end his/her life gets devastated by the extraordinary decision taken by their loved one. They suffer from extreme depression by getting to know the exact date and time of their loved one’s life. 4. Patient opting for euthanasia is a person who is not in complete command of his/her mental sense.
Patients get depressed while suffering from such diseases but such mental state can be altered by means of counseling. There are many examples of the patients altering their decisions of euthanasia after proper counseling done by psychiatrists in Netherlands where euthanasia is legal (Somerville). 5. Medical practitioners are expected to save lives of their patients, not to let them die (Somerville). People usually do not feel good about the doctor who practices euthanasia and their image in people’s mind is of a murderer who has killed a patient rather than trying to save his/her life.
Taking Dr. Jack Kevorkian, a physician in Michigan, as a live example who helped over 100 people commit suicide; 75% of the people among those were not found to be terminally ill. Refutation Following points disapproves the claim against euthanasia: 1. If no one is allowed to obstruct in God’s matters, then shall we just wait and watch a person die from a terminal disease. Seeking for medical treatment for an ill person is also interfering in God’s matters. We would have no need for hospitals and medicines if human beings were not allowed to interfere in nature’s acts. 2.
In a survey in Colorado, USA, about 59% of the physician respondents agreed for the use of fatal drugs if euthanasia is given legal status. In a survey conducted in San Francisco, about 70% of the respondents among 676 physicians responded in the favor of euthanasia for the incurable patients. It has been found that over 50% of doctors in U. K. are in the favor of euthanasia in extreme cases (Brock). These statistics clearly show the thinking of medical practitioners in the support of euthanasia. 3. The friends and the families of the patient are also the ones who can not see their loved one in extreme pain.
The pain of a loved one opting for death through euthanasia is not much in comparison to seeing their loved one in pain because death comes only once but the pain keeps on killing the patient every day. 4. Counseling can only slightly change the patient’s state of mind but can not decrease the amount of pain of the patient hence there is a narrow chance of patient changing mind. It should be truly the patient’s decision to opt for death rather than bearing an unbearable pain. 5. Euthanasia can not be associated with killing or butchering. It is upon the wish of an individual in severe pain who requests for his death to be in less pain.
Upon proper implementation and regulation of euthanasia law, no one can take false use of it. Conclusion It is hence proven through the arguments in refutation that euthanasia is a sympathetic way to let anyone die who is in immense pain and terminally ill. It is feared that by legalizing it, people will start butchering poor, old aged, handicapped and all the other unwanted population along with severely ill people leaving the world with a handful number of perfect people only (Gula 501). This seems impractical as there is a role by the governments to play. Statistics shows that 53.
7% people favored legalizing euthanasia in British Columbia, Canada in 1997 organized by The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition (Brock). The number of countries favoring it is expected to rise in the near future but there will always be a sturdy resistance in the countries where religion plays a strong role (Baird and Rosenbaum 55). “A dying person wishes to die just as a drowsy person wishes to sleep, and there is an occasion where it is incorrect and a waste of time to defy. ” -Steward Alsop. Works Cited Baird, Robert M. , and Stuart E. Rosenbaum, eds. The Moral Issues The Moral Issues.
Buffalo, NY: Prometheus Books, 1989. Brock, Dan W. “Voluntary Active Euthanasia. ” The Hastings Center Report 22. 2 (1992): 10+. Gula, Richard M. “Euthanasia and Physician Assisted Suicide: Killing or Caring?. ” The Christian Century 5 May 1999: 501. Otlowski, Margaret. Voluntary Euthanasia and the Common Law. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1997. Somerville, Margaret. “The Case Against: Euthanasia and Physician-Assisted Suicide. ” Free Inquiry Spring 2003: 33+. De Wachter, Maurice A. M. “Euthanasia in the Netherlands. ” The Hastings Center Report 22. 2 (1992): 23+. “Euthanasia. ” The Columbia Encyclopedia. 6th ed. 2007.