Euthanasia

Euthanasia

Euthanasia is the practice of ending the life of an individual suffering from a terminal illness or an incurable condition, using lethal injection or the suspension of extraordinary medical treatment. The word is originated from the Greek language, since Eu means “good”, and Thanatos means “death”. There are two types of Euthanasia, involuntary and voluntary; the person who is killed either chooses to be killed, or does not choose. Euthanasia is a legal practice in some countries, and states around the world. In 1988 the state of Oregon legalized it, and in 2000, and 2002 the Netherlands and Belgium where added to the list. An analysis of the first full year of legalizing Euthanasia in Oregon shows that about 20 people actually requested medical assistance in their death, and about 10 people didn’t use assistance they just simply died a natural death. Euthanasia is a very controversial issue because it interacts with religious beliefs, and the matters of life, death, murder and suicide.

There are different reasons for wanting to commit suicide. Some suicidal issues are just temporary, because of a personal issue, stress, or depression. Other reasons for committing suicide are more complex. For instance, a person who lives with a chronic illness, or chronic pain and lives in poverty and does not have enough money for drugs, or medication could live a long painful life, and instead choose suicide. For the people who have been diagnosed with a terminal sickness, like Alzheimer’s, Aids, Cancer, or Multiple Sclerosis, suicide may be a way of controlling their death, because they know it is coming soon.

Suicide is a value that is disallowed by Christian believers, because of many reasons. Suicide breaks an amendment on the 10 commandments, because suicide harms people, thus breaking the rule “thou shall not harm.” The desire to live is taken away; many Christians believe that only God has the power to take one’s life away. Christians know things about life that the world does not understand. Christians know that man was created in the image of God, and that God is the giver of life. (GEN. 1:26,27) Christians, and any other religion that believes in God, does not usually agree with Euthanasia.

Of course accepting any situation with an open mind is what the Pro-Euthanasia’s are doing. From a pro-euthanasia argument, the definition of murder is defined as “the unlawful killing of a human being with malice aforethought.” Therefore a conclusion based solely on the definition of murder, is that Euthanasia is lawful, and “morally justified” as well. The right in dying has some positive points, recognizing freedom, and high living standards. Elimination of suffering is also a big pointer in arguments, for many people who are living on a life support machine. The decision is made everyday for families of people living on life support, whether to “pull the plug” or not. Much Pro- Euthanasia beliefs consist of not only assisted suicide, but beliefs in medication, surgery, and life saving breathing machine’s as well. Many people for Euthanasia are not strong religious follows, and tend to feel much more self control than those that are against Euthanasia.

Of course, there are people that are morally and ethically against Euthanasia, and believe that assisted suicide is wrong. Others hold strong to the point that euthanasia should be based solely on the circumstance of the situation at hand. Those against assisted suicide are either following their strong religious beliefs, or feel that suicide may be cowardly, or may even be murder. Those against euthanasia argue the points that suicide is death, and if you assist in a person’s death, than you are a murderer. Many religious preachers argue the point that any illness may be cured, and that with faith in God any miracle could happen.

Currently, Euthanasia is making news in the Netherlands, because doctors are performing Euthanasia on newborns. Because technology is so high tech now-a-days, a mother can find out a head of time if her child is going to be born with a life threatening disease. If this is the case, and it is too late to perform Abortion, then the mother can chose to live out her pregnancy and see what happens. Then, when the baby is born sick, or deformed the mother can then decide to perform Euthanasia or not. This can be more effective than abortion, because the baby has a chance to be born and live without the mistake of a false prediction. In the case of Euthanasia in youngsters, the mother is not the only person who can make the decision of the child’s life. The doctor has to agree that it is right to do, and submit reports to the government. A child can decide to end his or her life as well, again the doctor has to agree, and send the reports to