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Who has the right to end a person’s existence? to stop one’s suffering? Will it be the person himself, the doctor in charge, the family or should you just let course go its way. The question has been debated for a long time already and still there is no definite answer. Should Euthanasia be legal? When a person commits an act of euthanasia he brings about the death of another person because he believes the latter's present existence is so bad that she would be better off dead, or believes that unless he intervenes and ends her life, it will become so bad that she would be better off dead. The motive of the person who commits an act of euthanasia is to benefit the one whose death is brought about. (Though what was just said also holds for many instances of physician-assisted suicide, some wish to restrict the use of the latter term to forms of assistance which stop short of the physician ‘bringing about the death’ of the patient, such as those involving mechanical means which have to be activated by the patient.) Before we continue some terms must be clear to us.. The term 'euthanasia' (or 'mercy killing') comes from the Greek word meaning 'good death.' Such dying, with the assistance of others, can be either active or passive. It can be voluntary or non-voluntary. Passive euthanasia: The deliberate disconnection of life support equipment, or cessation of any life-sustaining medical procedure, permitting the natural death of the patient. Active euthanasia: Deliberate action to end the life of a dying patient to avoid further suffering. Active voluntary euthanasia: A lethal injection by a doctor into a dying patient to end life by request of the sufferer. Active involuntary euthanasia: Lethal injection by a doctor into a dying patient without that person's express request. The euthanasia controversy is part of a larger issue concerning the right to die. Staunch defenders of personal liberty argue that all of us are morally entitled to end our lives when we see fit. Thus, according to these people, suicide is in principle morally permissible. For health care workers, the issue of the right to die is most prominent when a patient in their care (1) is terminally ill, (2) is in intense pain, and (3) voluntarily chooses to end his life to escape prolonged suffering. In these cases, there are several theoretical options open to the health care worker. First, the worker can ignore the patient's request and care can continue as usual. Second, the worker can discontinue providing life-sustaining treatment to the patient, and thus allow him to die more quickly. This option is called passive euthanasia since it brings on death through nonintervention. Third, the health care worker can provide the patient with the means of taking his own life, such as a lethal dose of a drug.
Approximate Word count = 1838
Approximate Pages = 7.4
(250 words per page double spaced)
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