A Death of One’s Own: The Concept of Euthanasia

A Death of One's Own
Name
Institutional Affiliation
Course Title
Professor's Name
Date
1 DEATH OF ONE'S OWN
What is meant by euthanasia?
According to Young (2019), euthanasia refers to an act of helping a patient end their life as a way of preventing an individual from suffering due to a terminal illness. Euthanasia is something that most countries do not support since people view it as something that devalues life. In countries where euthanasia is permitted, one of the basic requirements is that the patient is terminally ill, and no medical care can be administered to help them heal. Consequently, euthanasia enables a patient to have a relatively good death instead of subjecting a patient to a slow and painful death. Additionally, this practice cannot be forced on an individual; it must be a personal will to ask for this practice; else, helping a patient die will be deemed illegal.
In the film Suicide Tourist, they discuss the debate over euthanasia.
In the film "Suicide Tourist," individuals in need of assistance to die travel from various countries to Switzerland to get admitted into the Swiss organization Dignitary programs. In this case, terminally ill patients travel from their country to get assistance in dying (Zaritsky, 2010). Furthermore, the spouses of terminally ill patients want to die because they believe their lives will be disrupted if they die. In the film, the patient says that they have lived a life they are pleased with, and they would want to have a relatively better death instead of suffering and then dying. In this film, euthanasia is deemed a necessary act that should be given to humans. However, patients have to travel from far because euthanasia is depicted as taboo in their country.
In the film Suicide Tourist, they discuss the struggle of the family to support the patient's wishes. 
In the film, the family members have to support the patient's wishes even though it means they will not be together. Craige, a 59-year-old patient, is diagnosed with the motor-neuron disease, and his health status worsens (Zaritsky, 2010). He felt that if he continued to live, he would be a burden to his family since his wife had to wash, clothe, and even brush his teeth. To support his wishes, his wife and child ac...