Persuasive Speech: Euthanasia
Everyone, at least know one person that drinks. There is nothing wrong with having a beer or two every now and then.
It gets dangerous when people mix it with other substances. And that’s exactly what Karen Quinlan did when she was only 17 years old. She mixed alcohol and valium. This bad combination put her in a persistent vegetative state. After fighting the New Jersey’s Supreme Court for over ten years, her parents were finally able to remove all artificial forms of life and allow her to die with dignity at the age of 31 years old.
Karen Quinlan is the symbol of the right to die.
A coma or a terminal illness can come anytime. And this is going to affect us even though we feel that at this age it cannot. You must be ready to deal with these instances and know exactly where you stand when it comes to life and death.
Today I’d like to discuss the difference between being alive and living. Explain more about the right to choose. And expose the necessity of having a living will.
In 1983, Paul suffered a brain aneurism. His brain dissipated in swelled, forcing him to a persistent coma. For 3 and a half year he remained in this state. At the beginning, friends and family members came to visit but after a few years, people stopped asking about him, people stopped to visit him so his wife, Patricia, knew that something had to be done. The doctors refused to remove his feeding tubes. Therefore she created a petition to end his life. But the pro life supporters argued that she was abusive and cruel, inhumane and no better than Nazi murderers.
So, in that case, my question to those people and to everyone here today is what is our definition of life? Wouldn’t you agree that life is being able to have a mind? Being able to make decisions? Being able to be an active member of our society? To me, living implies being able to play different roles.
On the other hand, being alive is just a beating heart and functioning organs. It’s being a doll lying down on the bed with a lot of tubes. Clearly, everyone would agree that is a state where the intrinsic value of the human worth is absent.
That’s the reason I believe we have the right to choose in some cases. Sometimes we have to make hard decisions that we know are the best in the long run. I think we should ask some questions to determine if it is right to unplug the feeding machines or not.
First of all, According to the bible, we don’t have the right to take our lives because that it’s Gods duty to determine when you die. But sometimes the question is: Would the person still be alive if it wasn’t for the feeding machine? What if somebody gets in a car accident and has brain death before getting to the hospital? In that case, it would have been just a matter of minutes probably to have a complete death if it wasn’t for the machine. So my point is that in some cases there is pointless to try to delay getting away from the body that once belonged to a loved one. The person that you knew is gone already.
Another question. Would the family be able to take care of all the medical bills? I don’t know about the situation in the US, but in developing countries it cost a fortune to keep somebody alive for years. I’ve seen people losing everything trying to avoid the inevitable. It sounds crazy but sometimes it is also important to think about the family and their quality of life after losing a loved one.
That’s why it’s important to be prepared and avoid all that extra stress to your family. The way you can do it is by having a living will.
A living will is a document that states that you want the doctors to remove all life support after exhausting all possibilities and after a prudent period of time.
I think it is our responsibility to be ready. Nobody likes to think about this difficult topic. But just in case it’s always better to be prepared.
Today I explained to you the difference between living and being alive. I told you some questions you should include in your decision making and an easy way to avoid the agony of your loved ones in case something happens to you.
So now, to summarize I want you to imaging this situation with me.
Imaging that something happens to you. You have a car accident and you have brain death on the way to the hospital. Would you like to be kept alive? Have you ever thought about it?
What if the situation requires you to decide? Everyone should be ready. I hope you don’t have to go thru that, but just in case, what would you choose?
Thank you!

Name:
General Purpose: To persuade
Specific Purpose: To persuade people to think that euthanasia is the right thing to do under certain circumstances.
Central Idea: Show my classmates why euthanasia could be, in some cases, a way of dying with dignity and morally right. 1. Attention Step: a. The story of Ann Quinlan. 2. Need Step: b. It could happen to anyone anytime. 3. Satisfaction Step: c. Initial Summary i. The difference between living and being alive. ii. The right to choose under certain circumstances iii. The importance of a living will d. Satisfaction Step iv. The difference between living and being alive. 1. What do we mean by living 2. Being alive and its v. The right to choose under certain circumstances 3. Moral questions 4. Economic questions vi. The importance of a living will 5. What is a living will 6. Why everyone should have one e. Closing summary vii. The difference between living and being alive. viii. The right to choose under certain circumstances ix. The importance of a living will 4. Visualization Step f. Imaging being in that situation g. The importance of being ready h. What would you choose
Bibliography:
http://euthanasia.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=000126