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Introduction
Perhaps one of the most controversial topics that are discussed today is euthanasia. While the right to live and sustain life is never contested, the right to die is a hotly-debated and highly offensive topic in many academic, religious, medical, and legal circles today.
The author of this sample essay explores the nuances of physician-assisted suicide and talks about the pros and cons of human euthanasia.
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Arguments For Euthanasia
Also called “mercy killing” or “assisted suicide,” euthanasia is essentially giving a person the power to decide to end his life in humane and comfortable ways. You may even call it the creation of the right to die. While this act is illegal in most countries of the world, there are a few nations that actually espouse it, such as Switzerland, Belgium, and the Netherlands.
Mercy killing can happen in different ways. Active euthanasia is when a lethal dose of drugs, for instance, is injected into a patient, causing death. There is also passive euthanasia, which could refer to the withholding of artificial life support in the case of a terminal illness. You also have voluntary euthanasia, wherein the act happens with the consent of the patient suffering from an incurable and painful disease; and involuntary euthanasia, which is the exact opposite. The patient is unconscious and unaware of the decision that has been made for him.
What arguments would support the decision of someone who would choose euthanasia?
Mercy killing ends unnecessary and indefinite suffering.
For a patient in chronic pain and suffering or suffering from an incurable disease, death is the only relief they can aspire for. Euthanasia gives them that option, especially when their ailments have dramatically eroded their quality of life. The moniker “mercy killing” actually refers to how it is ultimately more merciful to end a person’s suffering rather than promote all means to extend it in order to preserve life. A common form of euthanasia is a lethal dose of sodium or barbiturates.
A patient’s suffering can be difficult to witness, especially if it has been already been years of extreme pain from a debilitating disease, regardless of the medical treatments already administered to ease it. Assisted suicide makes it the patient’s decision, under the expert supervision of a physician, whether or not he is still willing or able to battle immense pain for the rest of his foreseeable future.
Physician-assisted suicide cuts down medical expenses.
End-of-life care can be extremely expensive for terminally-ill patients, with weeks upon weeks of being on life support and not knowing the ultimate outcome. Most of these cases are generally about keeping a person alive rather than allowing him to truly live. There is no quality of life in this situation, and it is mostly performed for the comfort and security of the family members who are not ready to accept the patient’s inevitable journey to death. They are willing to shell out all of their personal savings, even get into heavy debt, just to be able to keep the patient alive at all costs, even if they are not even able to communicate. This translates to burdensome personal expenses and even keeps the hospital’s operating expenses unnecessarily high.
Assisted death is a good death.
It is hard to unlearn the negative perceptions we have of death. To a terminally-ill person, facing death is a good thing because he will finally be free of the chronic pain and depression from spending most of his life in a hospital. Not many loved ones recognize that euthanasia can literally relieve pain from terminal illnesses. They are far too focused on how the loved one’s death will debilitate them, so they insist on indefinite palliative care, even despite the wishes of the patient. However, euthanizing someone who has been in pain for a very long time can give him or her the opportunity to die with dignity. He or she will not be a weak and frail person who succumbed to terminal illness, but a warrior who purposely chose to honorably exit this world because he or she is not truly living, which some people would even consider a fate worse than death itself.
Arguments Against Euthanasia
While a handful of nations have progressed positively to make physician-assisted suicide a legal practice and option for their patients, many countries continue to protest this method.
Here are some cons of euthanasia, based on the reactions of stakeholders from different spheres of society.
Euthanasia is basically legalized murder.
One of the loudest public outcries against euthanizing terminally-ill people is that allowing people to decide their own deaths is equivalent to murder with the consent and support of the government. It is also legalized suicide if it is self-administered. This is an argument upheld by most religious groups, many of which believe that only God has the right to take away lives, no matter the amount of pain and suffering being experienced. They believe that it is an affront to the Creator who designed human life.
Legalizing euthanasia goes against medical ethics.
Part of the oath one takes as a doctor is to literally preserve and uphold life. The advocate for mercy-killing, even if it is to end excruciating pain, is not part of the credo of the overall healthcare system. This is a large reason why assisted suicide remains illegal in most parts of the world today. Even if the patients provide consent, euthanasia can be seen as an erosion of the principle of human rights. Somehow, the right to die is not acceptable as medical treatment. It is believed that a person’s life is far too valuable for another person to willfully help end it, even if there are many logical reasons behind the proposal.
The word “euthanasia” can be used to justify other forms of self-administered suicide.
Since there is a type of mercy-killing that involves a patient ending his own life, this can set a precedent for glorifying suicide as an honorable way to leave the world. Euthanasia shares so many commonalities with suicide and even capital punishment that other forms of taking life can be justified as “just another variant of euthanasia.”
Death by euthanasia is a sin.
Perhaps one of the most common arguments in religious circles is the biblical basis of their stance against assisted suicide. The Bible states that God is the author of all life, and He has designed each life to be lived for a purpose. This includes all pain and suffering that the person may endure in his or her lifetime. Religious people believe that all suffering has a reason and a season and that even experiencing chronic pain for the rest of one’s life serves a greater agenda. Therefore, mercy-killing interrupts the plan of God for the life of the patient.
Any type of euthanasia profoundly affects the lives of family members.
As with any type of death, the loved ones are always the ones left behind to pick up the pieces. Knowing that they actively played a part in advocating their loved one’s death can take a mental toll on family members long after the patient’s passing. This is especially true of those who vehemently opposed the idea, but were vetoed by other members of the family and the patients themselves. Many of these people find it difficult to grieve well because the death was a controlled one, and they can’t help but feel that they became passive murderers as a result. This can also cause strained relationships within the family, especially if there are mixed sides within the group. Those who opposed the act can cut off ties with those who supported the patient, resenting them for life.