Euthanasia
has, for a long time, been a controversial issue in many parts of the world. So
what is euthanasia exactly? According to Medical News Today, euthanasia, also
known as assisted suicide, is loosely named mercy killing which basically
involves the action of deliberately or with the expression of interest to end a
person’s life to relieve persistent or intractable killing. ("What Is
Euthanasia (assisted Suicide)? What Is The Definition Of Assisted Suicide Or
Euthanasia?", n.d., p. 1) As
of now, there are only three countries; Netherlands, Belgium and Luxemburg,
that have legalized euthanasia. This indicates that most people still stand by
the fact that it is illegal for someone to help a person commit suicide
regardless the situation. Euthanasia can be performed in two various ways. The
first being passive, the second being active euthanasia.
According
to Pregnant Pause, passive euthanasia is usually defined as withdrawing medical
treatment with the deliberate intention of causing the patient's death. Normally
if a patient has a heart attack or similar sudden interruption in life
functions, medical staff will attempt to revive them. If they make no such
effort but simply stand and watch as the patient dies, this is passive
euthanasia. Active euthanasia on the other hand, refers to taking specific
steps to cause the patient's death, such as injecting the patient with poison. During
the course of this I will be referring to active euthanasia which causes more
debate amongst opposing extremists. People who are against euthanasia call
themselves the “Pro-Life” whereas people who are want to legalize euthanasia,
have formed a society called The Voluntary Euthanasia Society. ("What Is
Euthanasia (assisted Suicide)? What Is The Definition Of Assisted Suicide Or
Euthanasia?", n.d., p. 1) In this essay, I will be discussing the stands
of both parties and finally take my own personal stand on whether I feel
euthanasia should be legalized.
Euthanasia
should not be legalized because once people are given such freedom; family
members are likely to abuse such power for their own personal and selfish
reasons. For example, an extremely jealous brother might influence or bribe the
physicians to kill his terminally ill sister so as to be able to inherit his
father’s established empire and all the wealth that comes with it. Or perhaps,
the cost of paying for a life time stay at the hospital might be costing the
family a huge sum of money and therefore, they might force the patient to
undergo mercy killing. Both cases show that euthanasia should not be legalized
because no one can ever really be certain if the decision made to perform mercy
killing was voluntary or, if it was manipulated by the patient’s family members
with malicious intents.
It
is not right to put doctors and nurses under such immense pressure of being
involved in someone’s suicide. This is mainly because a doctor’s job is to
prolong or improve life. Hence, by asking them to perform euthanasia; it would undeniably
be breaking their Hippocratic Oath which firmly states that it is not right to
not take away another person’s life. In fact, the modern Hippocratic Oath
specifically says, “I will neither prescribe nor administer a lethal dose of
medicine to any patient even if asked. Nor will I counsel any such thing or
perform it, for I have the utmost respect for every human life from its fertilization
to natural death.” ("The Hippocratic Oath", n.d., p. 1) Physicians
believe that by it’s a very nature; a human’s body is sacred. Thus the
underlying ethical concern here is not only that it is against a physician’s
sworn oath but also, it is going against their belief of human dignity and sanctity
of life.
Another
reason as to why assisted suicide should not be legalized is because the
patient might not be in the proper state of mind to make such a critical
decision. Which person would not be depressed immediately after being informed
of having a fatal illness? According to medical research conducted in the
United Sates, the incidence of major depression in terminally ill patients
ranges up to 77%. A person diagnosed with depression, will find themselves
being flooded with suicidal thoughts and feelings of extreme anxiety. Hence,
since they experience an altered state of mind, their actions are very
unpredictable which result to attempted suicide and self-loath. A 35-year-old
man with AIDS met with his primary care physician added that the patient had
just been lying around in his pyjamas, did not seem to be interested in
anything, and was not taking his medications on schedule. “What's the point?”
the patient asked. He said that he didn't care anymore, that he was going to
die regardless of what he did. ("Depression, anxiety, and delirium in the
terminally ill patient", n.d., p.1) Such feeling of helplessness will
definitely deter a patient from making a uniformed decision on wonder he or she
should undergo euthanasia.
Fortunately
depression, although serious, can be treated with help of proper counselling
and medication. With proper guidance, a patient will be in a better state of
mind to make such a decision. Therefore, I believe that a patient should only
be given the choice of euthanasia under the proper guidance of a counsellor and
physicist. So that, the decision will not be made when the patient is feeling
depressed and the patient will be given the opportunity discuss family related
issues or how he/she genuinely feels about the subject. Once the counsellor,
the patient and the patient’s physician believe that the decision is truly a voluntary
one then, euthanasia should be performed on the patient.
People who are “pro-life”, often the religious, regard assisted suicide as a grave sin. They believe that since we are only humans, we do not have the power to decide when we should die nor do we have the power to play God. The religious believe that we are a creation of God and hence, by legalizing euthanasia, we are denying God’s right over us and his right to choose when we should die. They also believe that all the more, when someone is suffering, we should show our care and concern and try our utmost best to preserve, care and show respect for the inherent worth of all human beings.
My
take on this if that humans have the right to live, then they should be given
the right determine when we want to die. So long as the patient is very clear
as to why he/she wants to die and is in the right mental state of mind, as
confirmed by both the patient’s physician and counsellor. Yes, the religious
may claim that it is up to God to decide when we should die. However, which all
benevolent God would want to see his people all suffering in pain? Yes, it may
be going against doctor’s oath to ‘improve life’. How is living such a sad life
helping to improve life? Keeping the patient
alive would just prolong and in some cases, increase pain. Therefore, I believe
euthanasia, should be an option because we are independent beings, with the
right to make our own decisions about how and when we want to die.
References
1.
Depression, anxiety, and delirium in the
terminally ill patient. (n.d.). National Center for Biotechnology Information.
Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1291326/
2.
The Hippocratic Oath. (n.d.). Enter the NKTI
Division of Urology. Retrieved from http://nktiuro.tripod.com/hippocra.htm
3.
What Is Euthanasia (assisted Suicide)? What Is The Definition Of
Assisted Suicide Or Euthanasia? (n.d.). Medical News Today: Health News.
Retrieved from http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/182951.php
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