Ethics of Euthanasia Essay - 1475 Words

As patients come closer to the end of their lives, certain organs stop performing as well as they use to. People are unable to do simple tasks like putting on clothes, going to the restroom without assistance, eat on our own, and sometimes even breathe without the help of a machine. Needing to depend on someone for everything suddenly brings feelings of helplessness much like an infant feels. It is easy to see why some patients with terminal illnesses would seek any type of relief from this hardship, even if that relief is suicide. Euthanasia or assisted suicide is where a physician would give a patient an aid in dying. â€Å"Assisted suicide is a controversial medical and ethical issue based on the question of whether, in certain situations,†¦show more content†¦Whether murder is done in a peaceful, non painful way or in a very gruesome, unimaginable way, it is still considered murder. Physicians have no way of knowing ‘what is best for the patient’ especially if that patient’s terminal illness prevents them from speaking. Not only is assisted suicide considered murder, it also goes against Physicians’ Hippocratic Oath. â€Å"Hippocratic Oath: An oath (or promise) all physicians must swear to uphold, regarding the ethical practices of the medical profession† (Lee). By allowing doctors to stray from this oath, it will be easier for them to aid in or carry out assisted suicides when it will never be entirely necessary for them to consider the option. â€Å"In 2005, Texas doctors removed two patients from life support without advanced directions and against the wishes of the patient’s family† (Pawlick). By not legalizing assisted suicides, families will be able to decide when their family member is physically unable to continue with the provided treatments, but only when the patient themselves can no longer communicate their wishes and no document stating how they should go about the situation has been lef t in their families possession. Ethical issues are not the only problem. Some argue that euthanasia also creates issues from a legal perspective. â€Å"One legal question is whether assisted suicide violates the Controlled Substances Act, a federal law governing the distribution of drugs† (Lee). SuchShow MoreRelatedThe Ethics of Euthanasia Essay1742 Words   |  7 Pageslong as he did. Before we explore the sides of physician-assisted suicide, let’s go over exactly what physician-assisted suicide entails. When the topic of physician-assisted suicide comes up, many individuals believe it is the same as euthanasia. Euthanasia involves a physician actively injecting a patient with a legal drug in order to end life (Engdahl 16). However, this is not the case when it comes to physician-assisted suicide. According to â€Å"Assisted Suicide Overview† by Lee Stingl andRead MoreThe Philosophical Theories Of Euthanasia And Ethics1464 Words   |  6 PagesEuthanasia and Ethics The philosophical theories and ethics of two philosophers, Aristotle and Kant, offer two differing views on the morality of euthanasia. Margaret P. Battin’s â€Å"Euthanasia: The Way We Do It, the Way They Do It† offers three countries’ perspectives on and laws regarding euthanasia and/or physician assisted suicide, as well as evaluations and critiques of their policies. To determine which of these points of view has the most pertinence, all of these arguments will be outlinedRead MoreThe Ethics Of Non Voluntary Active Euthanasia1050 Words   |  5 PagesThe idea of non-voluntary active euthanasia is not such a disaster, as euthanasia itself. The problem that comes into consideration is when and why it should be used. When euthanasia is non-voluntary and active, such as on a patient with dementia, the ethical decision comes into play if there are episodes of clarity and the patient has or has not mentioned what they want to do at the end of life situations. Pr inciples of deontology suggest duty and obligation. A medical professional in such situationsRead MoreEssay Moral and Ethics: Euthanasia and Physician-Assisted Suicide 1776 Words   |  8 PagesEuthanasia and physician-assisted suicide are actions that hit at the core of what it means to be human - the moral and ethical actions that make us who we are, or who we ought to be. Euthanasia, a subject that is so well known in the twenty-first century, is subject to many discussions about ethical permissibility which date back to as far as ancient Greece and Rome , where euthanasia was practiced rather frequently. It was not until the Hippocratic School removed it from medical practice. EuthanasiaRead More Euthanasia as One of Todays Most Prevalent Ethics Issues Essay2759 Words   |  12 PagesEuthanasia as One of Todays Most Prevalent Ethics Issues   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Euthanasia can be considered one of the most prevalent problems when dealing with the ethics of patient treatment. Should people have the right to end their own lives when prolonging it will only cause them more pain? Should families who love someone so much, that they don’t want to lose them, cause them more pain by keeping them alive. What makes that more ethically correct then letting them die? The more you look into this issueRead MoreEuthanasia Essay : Euthanasia And Euthanasia863 Words   |  4 PagesThis is why Euthanasia is important and summarizing the research that I found on Euthanasia. Euthanasia is important because there is a lot of arguments about Euthanasia. Some people support it and some people do not support Euthanasia (Euthanasia and assisted suicide- Arguments). Euthanasia allows people to be free from physical pain. It is the hastening of death of a patient to prevent further sufferings (Euthanasia Revisited). The religious argument states God chooses when human life ends. EuthanasiaRead MoreEuthanasi Death And Dignity Act1674 Words   |  7 PagesDeath and Dignity Act. Through our presentation, the group discussed if Euthanasia was morally and ethically right through the eyes of Thresa Christensen. Thresa Christensen was a character from the case study in which her father decided act upon voluntary active euthanasia. As group, we thought it would be best if is Theresa Christensen spoke on from the behalf of herself as a person who supports voluntary active euthanasia. The case study project has taught me a variety of skills to understandRead MoreEuthanasia Essays : Euthanasia And Euthanasia1432 Words   |  6 PagesDoes euthanasia assists patients to die with dignity? From fresh to dying, is the humanity multiplies the development natural law. Along with medicine progress and life enhancement, the people besides pay attention to eugenics, simultaneous starts to pay attention to the euthanasia. Since this century 50 ages, regarding euthanasia, many countries’ medical arenas, educational world, and ethical groups have been arguing about the euthanasia argument for many years, although many person of ideas haveRead MoreArgumentative Essay On Euthanasia1302 Words   |  6 Pagesbehind Euthanasia In an ethics class I took in high school, I have learned about many controversial topics. One that caught my attention specifically was euthanasia or the â€Å"right to die† as some call it. There are many types of Euthanasia, including active and passive. In class we debated the difference between the two and why passive euthanasia is legal and active is not. Active euthanasia is defined as â€Å"a person directly and deliberately causing the patient s death.† (Forms of euthanasia) PassiveRead MoreEuthanasia: Murder or Mercy? Essay1665 Words   |  7 Pagesa way as to reach an impasse amongst two opposing parties. Euthanasia happens to be a topic that has been debated extensively for the larger part of the twenty-first century (Larue). Even the definition of euthanasia evokes mixed emotions: the act or practice of killing or permitting the death of hopelessly sick or injured individuals in a relatively painless way for reasons of mercy (Merriam-Webster). The struggle over whether euthanasia should be accepted as a common practice is majorly stimulated