Euthanasia is defined as “the act or practice of killing or permitting the death of hopelessly sick or injured individuals (as persons or domestic animals) in a relatively painless way for reasons of mercy” (Merriam»Webster). There is a wide variety of different philosophies and beliefs on the subject of euthanasia Euthanasia is called many things the most being Physical Assisted Suicide. The word Suicide has a mainly negative connotation and therefore so does Physician Assisted Suicide. I believe that Euthanasia is a good thing and it should be legalized everywhere, Ezekiel Emanuel said “PhysiciamAssisted Suicide and Euthanasia have been profound ethical issues confronting doctors since the birth of western medicine more than 2,000 years ago”(Goodman), This has been a moral struggle since the beginning and hopefully by legalizing Euthanasia we can end this struggle.
Many countries and states have legalized Euthanasia because it is the right thing to do, Belgium, Columbia, India, Ireland, Luxembourg, Mexico, and the Netherlands have legalized Euthanasia.
Some countries have legalized passive euthanasia some active euthanasia, some passive, and some both. The differences between passive and active euthanasia are that passive is ”when the patient dies because the medical professionals either don‘t do something necessary to keep the patient alive, or when they stop doing something that is keeping the patient alive”(BBC) an example of this would be taking the patient off of life support. While active euthanasia is “when the medical professionals, or another person, deliberately do something that causes the patient to die”(BBC), Passive Euthanasia is legal in most of the United States.
Physician assisted euthanasia is only legal in Oregon, Washington, Montana, Vermont, and California. There is a major moral difference between passive and active euthanasia. The difference simply stated is between killing the patient and letting them die. I believe that euthanasia should be legalized because there are many people that are terminal and know that they are going to suffer for days, months and even years, Euthanasia is giving them a way out of that pain and suffering.
I believe that patients have the right to die without suffering. I will discuss a few of the reasons that I believe Euthanasia should be legalized. My first reason is also the most important reason to me and that is the right to die. TO me this means that people have the right to avoid the excruciating pain that comes with some deaths even if this means they pass away a few days, months, or even years before they would have passed naturally, People are given the right to live, To live their life however they choose and there for with that right comes the right to die because without death there is no life. To me the right for a person to live goes hand in hand with the right to die. The second reason is that people should have the right to choose. This right is given to everyone and is used in every decision you make from what you are having for breakfast to if you want to have a child, Therefore you should be given the right to choose if you want to die. If a patient is terminally ill by denying this patient the right to die is denying them what could be their final request.
From the moment you are brought into this world you are given the right to choose therefore you should be afforded that same right while leaving this world. Another reason is that it could help economically as well. It not only would impact the healthcare system, but the government, and also the patient’s family. When a patient is terminally ill in most cases the patient and therefore their family have already racked up a lot of debt from previous treatments and hospital stays. Most patients families are not equipped to handle caring for their family members fully and for long periods of time ands therefore have to have the patient be admitted into a long term care facility or pay a nurse to stay at home with them, Both of these options are costly and can occur a lot of debt. Most patients, especially elderly patients, do not want to be a burden on their family when they know their death is inevitable. The option of euthanasia takes the burden on their family off of not only the family but the patient as well This also frees up space in hospitals The Government spends more the 12 Billion dollars on Hospice through Medicare yearly (Goodman) If only one percent of these people choose Euthanasia it would save the Government approximately 120 million dollars, This could greatly impact the government as well as the families of the patients.
Euthanasia is a Good Thing and Should Be Legalized Everywhere. (2022, Nov 08). Retrieved from https://paperap.com/euthanasia-is-a-good-thing-and-should-be-legalized-everywhere/