Why Is Euthanasia Ethically Wrong

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The debate over the legality and ethicality of euthanasia and/or physician-assisted suicide in America was stimulated in the late 1900s by the coverage of Kevorkian’s story in national media. The increasing knowledge of euthanasia led many Americans who might've never heard of the term or the stigma surrounding it to voice their opinion either for or against the procedure. Many pro-euthanasia groups gained popularity around this time including Death with Dignity and The Hemlock Society, these organizations defend the legalization of Euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide. One chief argument by these organizations involves the willingness of the patient to participate in the procedure. In an article by GaleGroup.com titled Assisted Suicide this argument is discussed, it says, “Death with Dignity, an aid-in-dying advocacy group, argues that using the term suicide when discussing aid-in-dying is inaccurate. A patient must be …show more content…
To illustrate, anti-assisted suicide arguments are built on the fear that doctors will euthanize someone without their consent due to lack of understanding of the procedure or inability to voice their opinion, a quote by GaleGroup.com in an article titled Assisted Suicide, this idea is clarified, it says “Many of those who oppose physician-assisted suicide refer to the potential for abuse or misapplication of the practice, particularly regarding vulnerable and aging patients.” Naturally, people are going to assume doctors will abuse their power if given the option to perform euthanasia, making this a strong argument against physician-assisted suicide. For instance, Dr. Jack Kevorkian was accused of abusing his ability to perform euthanasia in an instance when only after he had assisted his patient did the media come to find out the patient wasn’t terminally ill but instead was suffering from

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