Euthanasia Essays (1940 words) - Euthanasia, Medical Ethics

Euthanasia An eighty-seven year old grandmother on a respirator, a newborn child with AIDS, and a father in a coma; all put to death by respectable doctors with the O.K. of their families. But is it really 3O.K. Euthanasia, or doctor-assisted suicide, has become as common as jumping off of a fifteen story building or taking a gun to one1s own head. Certainly society frowns upon suicide, but yet putting an old lady or a man in a coma to death is being accepted every day. Society knows that suicide is bad, but euthanasia is even worse. The guilt and blame of a lost life is falling on the hands of doctor1s that we are supposed to trust, and even worse, the family members themselves. A doctor is to be known as a healer, not an agent of death. A family is supposed to love and support, not kill and inherit. Every person makes the light of the world brighter. The world needs everyone1s power and contribution. It1s the power and energy of the elderly, and the strength and will of the ill, that give the world life. The light has become very dim with the crime and corruption in today1s world, we can1t afford to throw lives away because some think they1re meaningless. If we continue to accept the merciless killings and suicides of the helpless but powerful, the light will soon burn out. There will be no energy in the world. Euthanasia and doctor-assisted suicide should not be accepted or allowed by the government and people of the United States. Statistics show that seventy-three percent of the U.S. population approved of some form of euthanasia. This is used constantly in debates to pass laws for making euthanasia legal. But the people are deceived by this number. When the poll was taken, the people were asked if they approved of "some form" of euthanasia. There are two forms of euthanasia, active and passive. It is the passive euthanasia that many people are accepting, the less harsh of the two. That's why people generally say they approve of it. If a separate question was asked or the people were informed of the difference, we would find that only thirty-eight percent of the population approves of active suicide, as used by Kavorkian. So the fact that people approve of euthanasia is irrelevant because only thirty-eight percent would actually pass a law if they knew that Kavorkian1s methods would be allowed. However, it is said that passive euthanasia, suicide by the removal of life support, is a long-time practice for hospitalized patients. But does this make it O.K?I should think not. Many things have been accepted and practiced in the world, and many of them have become illegal. Not too long ago a teenager could drink whenever he wanted. Now we have laws to regulate the drinking age. This is the same type of thing, something terrible has going on for too long now. We need to put a stop to the killings with a law. Just because something has been allowed and occurring for a long time doesn1t mean that it1s O.K. Also, there is the issue of living wills. A living will is a document that protects the right of choice in end of life matters for patients. And not everyone has a living will when they become ill even though they don1t want to live through the agony and pain. They just don1t think to make one or plan on being ill and incompetent. But with or without a living will, it1s just not right to end a life, even if it1s one1s own. Many think that they should be able to decide on their own, but what about their families. The family will spend the rest of their lives wondering in agony and pain about whether or not a cure would have been found or if the patient would have made it out of the coma. It wouldn1t be right to spread the pain by adding to the fire. But some say, 3Why waste the money and extend the pain and agony by keeping someone on a machine We need to look at life in a more positive way. We need to weigh the matters evenly. What1s more important, the life of a family member or trying to save money and pain. Clearly it is the life, nothing is more important than that. Approximately one billion dollars is spent on life support patients annually. But the cost of keeping people alive is irrelevant if there is a chance that they may be cured or come out