Euthanasia: Euthanasia and Greenhaven Press Essays

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Is Euthanasia The Only Way Out? There are no guarantees in life except for one, death. Death is a natural and inevitable phase of the lifecycle. Unfortunately, today there are numerous people who are deadly sick and being kept alive by different medical techniques. Sadly, most of the deadly ill suffer throughout this time and they think that the only way to end their suffering is through euthanasia. Euthanasia is defined as the action of a deliberately ending someone’s life under the impulse of ‘’compassion’’ in order to relieve them from physical pain and suffering caused by the disease. No one should have the option to decide who can live and who cannot.
Euthanasia is growing to be a really polemical topic, and just like on everything we can find people with different viewpoints about how it should be handled. In order to get a better understanding about what this issue represents in society, and what decisions need to be made, let’s first talk about the different types. Although, there are different types of Euthanasia such as: passive, active and involuntary, the result is always the same. Keep in mind that euthanasia is only performed in people that are deadly sick and have little to no hope of surviving. Along with the different types, there is also another spin to euthanasia and it is called, Physician-assisted suicide.(Diaconescu)
Passive euthanasia is defined as rushing the death of somebody by altering the machines or the equipment that is maintaining that person from dyeing. By doing this, nature will take its course and the person will die sooner (McManaman). For examples, unplugging respirators or maybe not taking the proper medicine can be a cause of death. Active euthanasia consists of a more direct action on the death of the person. An example would be, someone administering a lethal injection to the sick person. Involuntary euthanasia is by far the least controversial of the three; this consists of ending someone’s life without their consent, probably even against their will. But the reason being that the individuals are not able to decide for themselves, being in a coma, vegetative state, or for whatever reason will never recover consciousness (Diaconescu). The last one although not a type of euthanasia but very similar in many ways it is called physician-assisted suicide, consists when someone else, most likely the doctor provides the patient with the means necessary to commit suicide. This could be looked at as a cross between passive and active euthanasia (Marker).
Since the creation of euthanasia, no matter the type or condition, at the end of the day it is always the same, a lost of a life. The most common argument is that nobody should be able to decide whether someone should live or die; regardless of kinship or how deadly sick the person is. Today we can find people with different points of views about this delicate topic. Many of them hoping to find a way to legalize euthanasia and some others trying to maintain it illegal.
There are many organizations that are in the front of both for and against the legalization of euthanasia. Groups like Americans Pro Choice are one of the many groups that support the legalization of euthanasia (Diaconescu). Their claim is that euthanasia should be legalized because it helps the deadly ill with their suffering. They claim euthanasia gives the sick a way of “dyeing with dignity” and “compassion” but I wonder if anything is really a good argument to end someone’s life (Marker). Also, group supporters of this practice argue that the main goal of laws against euthanasia is only to make people suffer; however, the main goal of those laws are to protect innocent patients from immoral and dishonest doctors that look out for their own interest. Doctors such as J. Kevorkian who was charge for the crime of murder using Euthanasia as a method to kill 130 patients (Salem). A study showed that about 300 out of 500 doctors confessed anonymously that they have
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