Euthanasia, also known as assisted suicide, is a very hard hitting topic. It is seen as an act of kindness to put a suffering pet to sleep, but is much more complicated when it comes to people. According to Medical News Today, euthanasia is defined as a doctor legally able to end a persons life as long as it is by painless means and the patient has persistent and incurable suffering.
There are many different kinds of euthanasia. The most common is voluntary, involuntary is when a person is physically unable to consent and the decision is made by another admissible person. Involuntary is equivalent to murder, it occurs when the decision is made without the patient’s approval and against their will. There are two different types of procedures, passive and active euthanasia. Passive euthanasia is when a doctor abstains from giving a patient possible treatments for their illness while others argue that giving a patient strong medications that can have dangerous side effects is also considered passive, even though they are not attempting to take the patient’s life. Active euthanasia is ethically questionable for many, it is the use of lethal medication to end a patient’s life; this is the most common way to euthanize someone.
Voluntary euthanasia is currently only legal in the states of Oregon and Washington, The Netherlands, Switzerland, Belgium, and Luxembourg. Many people living in areas where euthanasia is illegal will travel to these areas where it is legal to get the procedure done. According to the 2007 Regional Euthanasia Review Committee, The Netherlands had over 6000 cases of voluntary euthanasia and has increased tremendously over the past few years. Though this number is high, this type of death is not a leading cause of death in the countries and states where it is legal by any means.
People with a mental illness should be thoroughly examined before considering euthanasia. It is never to undermine the seriousness of mental health, but in any case, all other actions should be taken to help the patient before serious action is taken. This is one instance where euthanasia becomes complicated. Mental health is just as important as physical health, but people with suicidal thoughts can request euthanasia without considering the other possibilities. According to BBC News, there was a recent case where a 29-year-old woman chose to be euthanized because of her psychiatric illness. Though euthanasia is most common for physical illnesses, some cases have been argued for incurable mental illness. The woman had several different mental illnesses and said that her pain was unbearable and hopeless, just as the suffering of a physically ill person. In cases like this euthanasia should be able to be considered, but only when all other treatments have been tested.
There are positive and negative things about human euthanasia. To many, euthanasia is morally and ethically questionable. Religious people may see it as morally wrong and a form of murder. It is incredibly important that the patient requesting euthanasia is competent and aware of any other alternatives. Medicine and cures for illnesses are constantly being studied and improved; because of this, there is a possibility that a patient who chose euthanasia could have been saved.
A large pro is that everyone should be able to make their own choices, that is what legalizing euthanasia does for people in an incurable state. People with incurable illnesses go through things that no one else can understand. Instead of a slow death, euthanasia can prevent a lot of pain and suffering from those people and they can die the way they want to die. The resources used on people who are in tremendous pain with incurable illnesses could be used on patients who can be cured and survive. This may sound harsh, but it is the truth. Families and friends of the patient who have requested euthanasia do not have to go through the painfully prolonged death of a loved one. Suffering beloved pets are euthanized frequently because the owners wish for their pain to be over. Pets are different than people, but the same idea applies. The reason euthanasia is legal in certain areas is because it is used to prevent the prolonged suffering of another person with an incurable illness.
It is not to say that euthanasia is good or bad or that all of the United States should legalize it, but it should be considered as an alternative to a slow and painful death.
