The Right to Die
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- Category: English
- Date Submitted: 02/15/2011 10:31 AM
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The Right to Die: Using Euthanasia
Our government has taken away the citizens of America, the freedom of choice, by banning euthanasia. Since we have the right to live, should we not also have the right to die? Euthanasia, by definition, is “…the intentional killing, by act or omission, of a dependent human being for his or her alleged benefit; mercy killing” (Morehead et al. 243). Death must be the result, or it cannot be classified as euthanasia.
Euthanasia is also known as “…justifiable suicide that is a rational and planned ‘self-deliverance’ from a painful and hopeless disease, which would eventually end in death” (Hoche, M.D. et al). Suicide used to be a crime punishable by giving all the dead person’s possessions to the government instead of the family of the decease keeping everything. If the one who tried to commit suicide failed, then he could be placed in a mental institution of some kind for a number of years or until doctors felt he could safely return to society without trying to hurt his self. Times have changed since then. Suicide, or assisting someone to commit suicide, is a crime. Punishments for assisting someone with suicide range from fines to 14 years in prison or both. Punishments for committing the actual act today are, of course, death or humiliation for failing. Those assisting are trying to be of help but are ultimately blamed and harshly punished.
Euthanasia should not only be legal, but society should accept it as well. There are thousands, possibly millions, of people who are spending their last days on earth in pain. They suffer, with no relief, due to an incurable illness, praying for the day when death will come and end their torment. This country was based upon freedom. Assisted suicide should be an option, not a crime, for those suffering to choose. A doctor willing to help terminally ill patients put an end to their suffering should be praised rather than condemned (Weir 116-126). Yet doctors assisting these patients in...
Our government has taken away the citizens of America, the freedom of choice, by banning euthanasia. Since we have the right to live, should we not also have the right to die? Euthanasia, by definition, is “…the intentional killing, by act or omission, of a dependent human being for his or her alleged benefit; mercy killing” (Morehead et al. 243). Death must be the result, or it cannot be classified as euthanasia.
Euthanasia is also known as “…justifiable suicide that is a rational and planned ‘self-deliverance’ from a painful and hopeless disease, which would eventually end in death” (Hoche, M.D. et al). Suicide used to be a crime punishable by giving all the dead person’s possessions to the government instead of the family of the decease keeping everything. If the one who tried to commit suicide failed, then he could be placed in a mental institution of some kind for a number of years or until doctors felt he could safely return to society without trying to hurt his self. Times have changed since then. Suicide, or assisting someone to commit suicide, is a crime. Punishments for assisting someone with suicide range from fines to 14 years in prison or both. Punishments for committing the actual act today are, of course, death or humiliation for failing. Those assisting are trying to be of help but are ultimately blamed and harshly punished.
Euthanasia should not only be legal, but society should accept it as well. There are thousands, possibly millions, of people who are spending their last days on earth in pain. They suffer, with no relief, due to an incurable illness, praying for the day when death will come and end their torment. This country was based upon freedom. Assisted suicide should be an option, not a crime, for those suffering to choose. A doctor willing to help terminally ill patients put an end to their suffering should be praised rather than condemned (Weir 116-126). Yet doctors assisting these patients in...