...Euthanasia should be legalized Euthanasia has always been a controversial issue not only in America but Internationally. Is it moral? Ethical? And should it be legalized? Before answering any of these questions, one perhaps needs to get some straight facts about Euthanasia or “Assisted Suicide”. “Euthanasia: Euthanasia is the intentional killing by act or omission of a dependent human being for his or her alleged benefit. Voluntary euthanasia: When the person who is killed has requested to be killed. Non-voluntary: When the person who is killed made no request and gave no consent. Involuntary euthanasia: When the person who is killed made an expressed wish to the contrary. Assisted suicide: Someone provides an individual with the information, guidance, and means to take his or her own life with the intention that they will be used for this purpose. When it is a doctor who helps another person to kill themselves it is called "physician assisted suicide." Euthanasia by Action: Intentionally causing a person's death by performing an action such as by giving a lethal injection.. Euthanasia by Omission: Intentionally causing death by not providing necessary and ordinary (usual and customary) care or food and water.” (http://www.nrlc.org) Physician assisted suicide might sound horribly to a normal person with no knowledge about the practice itself. There are many little factors that must be count into consideration when such operations are performed. Voluntary vs. Involuntary...
Words: 1633 - Pages: 7
...Paper Euthanasia Revisited: The Aruna Shanbaug Verdict *Arsalaan. F. Rashid, **Balbir Kaur, ***O.P. Aggarwal Abstract Euthanasia and its procedure have long history of locking horns as a vexed issue with laws of countries across the world. Every human being of adult years and sound mind has a right to determine what shall be done with his/her own body. It is unlawful to administer treatment to an adult who is conscious and of sound mind, without his consent. In patients with Permanently Vegetative State (PVS) and no hope of improvement, the distinction between refusing life saving medical treatment (passive euthanasia) and giving lethal medication is logical, rational, and well established. It is ultimately for the Court to decide, as parens patriae, as to what is in the best interest of the patient. An erroneous decision not to terminate results in maintenance of the status quo; the possibility of subsequent developments such as advancements in medical science, the discovery of new evidence regarding the patient’s intent, changes in the law, or simply the unexpected death of the patient despite the administration of lifesustaining treatment, at least create the potential that a wrong decision will eventually be corrected or its impact mitigated. Key Words: Consent, Permanent Vegetative State, Passive Euthanasia, Parens patriae Introduction: Euthanasia is the intentional premature termination of another person’s life either by direct intervention (active euthanasia) or...
Words: 3830 - Pages: 16
...Moral Issue about Euthanasia Reflection Euthanasia is defined as the practice of ending a life prematurely in order to end pain and suffering. The process is also sometimes called Mercy Killing. Euthanasia can fall into several categories. Voluntary Euthanasia is carried out with the permission of the person whose life is taken. Involuntary euthanasia is carried out without permission, such as in the case of a criminal execution. The moral and social questions surrounding these practices are the most active fields of research in Bioethics today. Many Supreme Court cases, such as Gonzales v. Oregon and Baxter vs. Montana, also surround this issue. Voluntary euthanasia is typically performed when a person is suffering from a terminal illness and is in great pain. When the patient performs this procedure with the help of a doctor, the term assisted suicide is often used. It is also legal in the state of Oregon, Washington and Montana. Passive euthanasia is carried out by terminating a medication that is keeping a patient alive or not performing a life-saving procedure. Active euthanasia involves the administration of a lethal drug or otherwise actively ending the life. These two types of procedures carry different moral and social issues. Euthanasia Controversy My opinion or point of view about euthanasia,There is a lot of controversy surrounding the issue and whether or not it should be legal. From a legal standpoint, the Encyclopedia of American Law categorizes mercy killing as...
Words: 577 - Pages: 3
...P393 26 June 2013 Put Out to Pasture: The Problem with Euthanasia I have decided to write my paper on Euthanasia as the topic elicits all types of opinions and conversion on the matter. It is definitely a hot button topic when it comes to Ethical dilemmas, theories, principles, and how society should precede with this in application of law and legislation. I believe that allowing for Euthanasia globally and nationally will begin to further erode the very moral and ethical fiber that separates man from animal. I further support my stand with the example of abortion, and even though opinion hasn’t changed much in the 40 years since Roe vs. Wade allowed for abortion to take place, still millions of babies have been killed despite to negative opinions about it. My hypothesis on this issue is that if nationally legalized it would lead to an untold amount of elderly, handicapped, ill, poor, and lonely people vulnerable to being put to death against their wishes and before their time. The aim of this paper it too show that indeed legalizing “Euthanasia” or “Patient Assisted Suicide” would indeed lead us down the “slippery slope. This first step for me in this paper would be to talk about the theories and principles behind not being pro-euthanasia. There are a number of ethical principles that are deontological in nature, are part of the natural moral law, and relevant to the kinds of dilemmas that occur in euthanasia cases.Four of them are as follows: 1. The Principle of Autonomy...
Words: 3593 - Pages: 15
...Assisted Death for the Terminally Ill – Yes or No? (2012, October 20). Over my dead body; Assisted suicide. The Economist, 405(8807), 55(US). This article recognizes the increasing acceptance of assisted suicide amongst the public and across the world. Despite so, there are still groups of people who are apprehensive about legalizing euthanasia as they are worried that it may have negative implications. The article gives a detailed description of the requirements that must be met before a person is allowed to go through with assisted suicide. It also uses data to prove that safety measures put in place are being followed and there is barely any abuse of the law in places that legalize assisted suicide. Although voluntary euthanasia is still considered as murder, many doctors in Europe give patients or their family the choice of proceeding with treatment or undergoing passive euthanasia. The article also talks about the possible reasons why people opt for assisted suicide, including loss of independence, dignity, and more. The use of statistics shows that substantial research has been done by the author to prove his point, confirming it is a good source to support the legalization of assisted suicide. As “The Economist” is a reputable magazine, this source is credible and is unlikely to publish articles without prior research. Cassity, S. A. (2009). To Die or Not To Die: The History and Future of Assisted Suicide Laws in the U.S. Utah Law Review, 2009 (2), 515-523...
Words: 1759 - Pages: 8
...academicjournals.org/INGOJ ISSN 1993–8225 © 2008 Academic Journals Article Euthanasia – A dignified end of life! Vaibhav Goel Faculty of Law Addis Ababa University Addis Ababa Ethiopia. E-mail: vaibhav_hnlu@yahoo.co.in. Accepted 27, October 2008 Survival is undoubtedly valuable but some time and in certain condition life becomes painful and impossible or unbearable, in that stage survilance seems, like a curse or abuse. Euthanasia – a new word for masses become common about four years back in the month of December 2004 because of Venkatesh plea for granting him right to die. Euthanasia is nothing else but a permit or license to the medical professional for ending the life of a person in question. No doubt if it will be permitted in laws, may be the biggest threat to the creature. In fact the concept is debatable; here the key question is “What should be the ingredients of law which would legalize Euthanasia?” Hence the purpose of writing this paper is to examine the questions pertaining to Euthanasia, especially in the light of traditional perspective besides legal dimensions of MTP and to suggest legal aspects of the same to make life with dignity even at the time of end. In addition the second key question may be that if it permitted weather it will be on the recommendation of the doctors or in the consent of the relative of the Patient? Keywords: Euthanasia, PAS, Suicide, Religions on Suicide Right to Die, Mercy Killing, MTP INTRODUCTION Antipathy is not a word but it...
Words: 6788 - Pages: 28
...Should Physician Assisted Suicide Be Legalized? Julia Schulenburg PHI103 Informal Logic Professor Robert Paixao September 2, 2013 Should Physician Assisted Suicide be Legalized? In today’s society there are many so many controversial issues one of the biggest being Patient Assisted Suicide, or PAS. PAS is defined as: “suicide by a patient facilitated by means or information (as a drug prescription or indication of the lethal dosage) provided by a physician who is aware of how the patient intends to use such means or information.” Merriam-Webster Dictionary (n.d.). Let us not get PAS confused with Euthanasia, this is different, to be euthanized is when the doctor himself physically administers the lethal dosage into the patient causing their death. PAS is just the doctor prescribing the drugs for the patient to give to themselves to cause them to die. There are people who are in favor of allowing a doctor to prescribe a lethal dose of medication or machinery for the patient to administer to themselves to end their own life due having a terminal illness. Then there are those who greatly oppose it, some being doctors, moralists, the general public, as well as some private groups. They claim physician assisted suicide to be immoral, ethically wrong, against religious beliefs, and unnecessary with proper palliative care. While PAS is a controversial topic in modern day society, it originally stemmed from ancient civilizations, which defended the rights of citizens to...
Words: 2076 - Pages: 9
...Euthanasia is a word coined from the Greek language, Eu meaning good or noble; Thanatos meaning death, in the seventeenth century by Francis Bacon to refer to an easy, painless, happy death. (Singer) Within euthanasia, there are two types. Active and passive. Active euthanasia occurs when a medical professional or another person deliberately does something to cause the death of a patient. Passive euthanasia occurs when a medical professional either stops doing something that is keeping a patient alive or they don’t do something necessary to keep a patient alive. Like switching off life support or disconnecting a feeding tube. A term that is commonly confused, but is similar to euthanasia, is physician assisted suicide. Although the results and reasoning’s behind each type of death is the same, they differ in the way that the death is administered. In euthanasia, the physician performs the intervention. Usually with a lethal dose of a powerful drug such as morphine or Pentobarbital. During physician assisted suicide, the drug, and means of delivery, are given to the patient by the physician. However, the patient accomplishes the act of injection. Leading to his or her own death (A General History Of Euthanasia) The first time euthanasia was reported on record was around 400BC by Suetonius, a Roman historian, while describing the death of Augustus Caesar. Although the actions of an easy, painless death have been used on hopeless patients since ancient times, these acts have been...
Words: 3117 - Pages: 13
...Midterm Study Guide Midterm: March 6th • • • Make sure to bring a pen to class. The midterm will have 15 multiple-choice questions, and 2 short-answer questions. Make sure to read the whole question before answering. The short-answer questions have multiple parts. Make sure to fully answer every part of the question. The Midterm covers all the material discussed in class so far. What you need to know: Logic • • • You should know what the following are: proposition, argument, premise, conclusion, circular argument, conditional statement, antecedent, consequent. You should be able to give precise definitions of validity and soundness, and be able to evaluate whether an argument is valid or sound. You should be able to recognize the following forms of an argument, and know whether they are valid: Affirming the Antecedent (Modus Ponens), Denying the Consequent (Modus Tollens), Denying the Antecedent, and Affirming the Consequent. Ethics • • • • • • • You should know what the following words mean: ethics, right, wrong, permissible, obligatory, impermissible. You should know the difference between ethics and axiology, and the difference between ethics and law. You should understand: Ethical Relativism, Personal Relativism, and Cultural Relativism. o You should understand the objections to these views that we discussed in class. o You should understand and be able to assess the Cultural Differences Argument and the Provability...
Words: 1075 - Pages: 5
...6th Amendment. The Court has dealt with cases either philosophically, constitutionally, or both. “ The Supreme Court is distinctly American in concept and function, as Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes observed. Few other courts in the world have the same authority of constitutional interpretation and non have exercised it for as long or with much influences.” (www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/) One of the biggest delimas the court has faced is the original intent of the Constitution is in such cases as Marbury vs Madison 5 US 137 ( U.S. Supreme Court, 1803 ), and Griswold v. Connecticut 381 U.S. 479 ( U.S. Supreme Court, 1965 ), were originalist argued that courts cannot apply a general right to privacy in a politically neutral manner without protecting all sorts of illegal activities that are done in privacy, such as prostitution. In this paper I will attempt to show how the Court have dealt with the principle of Right to Privacy, active and passive euthanasia, and sanctity of life. I will also attempt to show how the court has dealt with stated principles philosophically and constitutionally. The first principle I will attempt to show how the court dealt with philosophically and constitutionally is the Right to Privacy. The U.S. Constitution contains no wording of the right to privacy. The basic fundamental of the right to privacy is implied rights. Implied or unemumerated rights by definition are rights that the courts have found to exist even though they are not expressly...
Words: 2368 - Pages: 10
...EUTHANASIA- The “Right” to Die ABSTRACT Euthanasia is one of those Taboo topics that individuals try to distance themselves from due to the fact that it’s a sensitive issue. Most individuals try to take a politically correct stand without evaluating the impact it has on the aggrieved party’s life. Euthanasia in itself may seem a simple issue at the first instance, but by probing deep into the issue we are made to ponder a lot about not only its ethical aspects but also the stakes involved in exercising Euthanasia as a fundamental right of an individual. The dilemma in this issue is a lot more complicated if we were to compare it to other conventional ethical dilemmas because both the stands seem morally right, but there’s a legal perspective which opposes one school of thought and supports the other. Is an individual allowed to determine his death if survival is more of a formality? If so what is the basis of qualifying a case to be a suitable contender for euthanasia? Is the judiciary ignoring this since Euthanasia is an issue faced by a minority? SOME FAMOUS VOICES ON EUTHNASIA: 1. Mr. Ravi B Naik, former High Court Judge and Senior Advocate: (deccanherald.com) “When it is not possible for man to give life, who is he to take it away? We should leave death in the hands of God who gave life. There is no law that allows killing by force till a man dies naturally, nor should there be one. In a situation where it is ‘impossible to live’, people die naturally. When they don’t...
Words: 4456 - Pages: 18
...TOPIC SUBJECT HEADINGS For use in Online Catalog (OPAC) SUBJECT HEADINGS For Sample Database Searches Abortion Abortion; Pro-Choice Movement; Pro-Life Movement Abortion Acid rain SEE ALSO Pollution Acid Rain Acid Rain Adoption (interracial, unmarried persons, gays) Adoption; Gay parents; Interracial adoption Adoption AIDS AIDS (Disease); AIDS (Disease) in children AIDS (Disease); Pediatric AIDS (Disease) Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease Animal rights Animal experimentation; Animal rights Animal experimentation; Animal rights Anorexia and Bulimia SEE Eating disorders Athletes and drugs Doping in Sports Drugs and Athletes Banking Bailout (2008) Bailout Battered women SEE ALSO Wife Abuse Abused women Conjugal abuse Birth control Birth control; Contraception Birth control; Contraception Black Reparations Movement Reparations; Slavery--Law and legislation Reparations Body language Body language; Gesture; Nonverbal communication Nonverbal communication Bullying Bullying Bullying; Cyberbullying Business ethics Business ethics; Corporations - Corrupt practices Business ethics; Business enterprises, Corrupt practices Capital punishment (Death Penalty) Capital punishment; Death row Capital punishment Cancer Cancer--Prevention SEE ALSO types of cancer, such asBreast--Cancer Neoplasms--Prevention and Control;Cancer Treatment Censorship SEE ALSO Freedom of the Press Censorship; Prohibited...
Words: 1762 - Pages: 8
...and public policy as they affect nursing practice. Setting: This is a conference proceedings report augmented with a case study of Nelly from a local setting and compares it with two others from elsewhere which were also presented during the conference. Conference was organized by Federation of African Medical Students Associations (FAMSA), Eldoret 2011. The author was a presenter and discussant. This paper is a compilation of the ideas, inspirations and reflections of the significant sessions and also fulfills some of the recommendations resulting from the distinguished panelists. Objectives: - i) To explore ethical dilemma issues on end of life which have a heavy bearing on Nurses and other health care providers. ii) To explain euthanasia as it relates to...
Words: 5645 - Pages: 23
...THE LAW ON ASSISTED SUICIDE On July 26, 1997, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously upheld decisions in New York and Washington state that criminalized assisted suicide. These decisions overturned rulings in the 2nd and 9th Circuit Courts of Appeal which struck down state statutes banning physician-assisted suicide. Those courts had found that the statutes, which prohibited doctors from prescribing lethal medication to competent, terminally ill adults, violated the 14th Amendment. In striking the appellate decisions, the U.S. Supreme Court found that there was no constitutional "right to die," but left it to individual states to enact legislation permitting or prohibiting physician-assisted suicide. (The full text of these decisions, plus reports and commentary, can be found at the Washinton Post web site.) As of April 1999, physician-assisted suicide is illegal in all but a handful of states. Over thirty states have enacted statutes prohibiting assisted suicide, and of those that do not have statutes, a number of them arguably prohibit it through common law. In Michigan, Jack Kevorkian was initially charged with violating the state statute, in addition to first-degree murder and delivering a controlled substance without a license. The assisted suicide charge was dropped, however, and he was eventually convicted of second degree murder and delivering a controlled substance without a license. Only one state, Oregon, has legalized assisted suicide. The Oregon statute...
Words: 13101 - Pages: 53
...articulating the ethical theories, believes on the contrary that in every moment of our existence, every action or deed that we accomplish can be described as moral or non-moral according to the ethical principles underlying our behavior. The very important consequences arising from the two general theoretical horizons concern two different perspectives on “human nature”, or what we call the essence of the human being. Starting from this horizon we will have the consequentialist and deontological dimensions related to euthanasia. The bioethical dimension in which we will discuss the issue of euthanasia involves both dimensions or horizons. The arguments against euthanasia seem to rely rather on the Kantian deontological horizon, while euthanasia pros seem to rely on the consequentialist horizon. This text is intended as an open debate between the two horizons which cannot yet be harmonized. There is at least one class of existential situations in which euthanasia is described as “desirable” in a consequentialist view and there are situations...
Words: 9099 - Pages: 37
