Active
- Submitted by: cbarber
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- Category: Politics: Moral Issues
- Date Submitted: 11/19/2010 10:11 AM
- Pages: 5
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Active Euthenasia
Active euthanasia is a way of inducing death in a good or peaceful way to someone who is suffering. The term comes from the Greek expression for "good death."
The process involves lethal substances or force. This process is usually done when there is terminal illness or no hope for any kind of recovery to prevent an individual from dying a slow or painful death. The physician prescribes the dosage and the patient must administer it to their self. Such drugs may include sodium thiopental and the muscle-paralyzing drug pancuronium which are commonly used as general anesthetic .The patient is free at any time during this process to change their mind and not go through with it.
Some examples of diseases that an individual may choose active euthanasia are end stages of cancer or Alzheimer’s Lou Gehrig's disease paralyzation in which a person cannot even swallow food and may other diseases or illnesses.
Some people call this process mercy killing there is great debate on whether active euthanasia
should be allowed in the United States. The cons of active euthanasia: Active euthanasia is
illegal in the United States the majority of the states here state if you participate in active
euthanasia you may be charged with murder, manslaughter and other offences. The Supreme
Court of the United States, in its 1997 Opinion from Vacco v. Quill, stated:"...Even as the States
move to protect and promote patients' dignity at the end of life, they remain opposed to physician
assisted suicide.” Euthanasia has been a large issue in the courts during this century. The first doctor was charged for performing euthanasia in1935. Harold Blazer was charged for the death of his daughter. His daughter was a victim of cerebral spinal meningitis. He killed her by placing a handkerchief soaked with chloroform over her face until she died. He had taken care of her for thirty years. In his trial he was acquitted (Humphrey 191). The first doctor to be...
Active euthanasia is a way of inducing death in a good or peaceful way to someone who is suffering. The term comes from the Greek expression for "good death."
The process involves lethal substances or force. This process is usually done when there is terminal illness or no hope for any kind of recovery to prevent an individual from dying a slow or painful death. The physician prescribes the dosage and the patient must administer it to their self. Such drugs may include sodium thiopental and the muscle-paralyzing drug pancuronium which are commonly used as general anesthetic .The patient is free at any time during this process to change their mind and not go through with it.
Some examples of diseases that an individual may choose active euthanasia are end stages of cancer or Alzheimer’s Lou Gehrig's disease paralyzation in which a person cannot even swallow food and may other diseases or illnesses.
Some people call this process mercy killing there is great debate on whether active euthanasia
should be allowed in the United States. The cons of active euthanasia: Active euthanasia is
illegal in the United States the majority of the states here state if you participate in active
euthanasia you may be charged with murder, manslaughter and other offences. The Supreme
Court of the United States, in its 1997 Opinion from Vacco v. Quill, stated:"...Even as the States
move to protect and promote patients' dignity at the end of life, they remain opposed to physician
assisted suicide.” Euthanasia has been a large issue in the courts during this century. The first doctor was charged for performing euthanasia in1935. Harold Blazer was charged for the death of his daughter. His daughter was a victim of cerebral spinal meningitis. He killed her by placing a handkerchief soaked with chloroform over her face until she died. He had taken care of her for thirty years. In his trial he was acquitted (Humphrey 191). The first doctor to be...