Euthanasia

Euthanasia

[Name of the Writer]

[Name of the Institution]

Euthanasia

Abstract:

Euthanasia is a well-known term which is now broadly used in many parts of the world in many contexts, although with the passage of time there are various countries where euthanasia is being legalized and most of the people are willing to practice it if they are at the last stage of any disease. Having said that there is still a large proportion of people who belong to various ethnic and religious backgrounds and they are opposing this method saying that this is playing god and it should be banned right away but the debate is still in its way and there is a long way to go till it becomes legal in other parts as well.

Euthanasia is a process in which a physicist or a doctor is allowed to end the life of a person by painless means but the one condition here, in this case, is the patient family and the patient must agree to the process. Euthanasia is classified as voluntary and involuntary euthanasia and it is because of the involuntary euthanasia that it is currently banned in most of the countries. Voluntary euthanasia is basically conducted by the consent of the patient and his or her family. This is currently legal in many parts of the world including Switzerland, Netherlands and Washington in the United States of America (Banović & Turanjanin, 2014). While the involuntary euthanasia is performed by a person who would be able to provide informed information but does not because of reasons like either they do not want to die or they were not even asked about the procedure.

This in most of the cases is called murder and it is absolutely against the patient's will. In many parts of the world, euthanasia is allowed because of the fact that there are people who suffer from various painful and deadly diseases which are incurable so in order to relieve them it is important to undergo this process by the consent of the patient and the family involved. The supporters of euthanasia also argue that the patient who is mostly bedridden and also at the mercy of the nurses and other hospital staff, at times this entire experience can be quite degrading for the patient and they may not want to be a burden on their family giving them this opportunity to choose that when to die or how to die will also make them able to take control of their own lives and also the ability to say something to their family before death. The frees up medical funds are then used for other people. But having said that there are some of the cons of these methods and it is mostly the cons that it is banned in most countries because the people who are against of this method argue that the giving and taking the life of individual must be in the hands of God and no human should intervene in this method (Albert-Lorincz, 2015).. They also argue that some people can even use this without the consent of the patient for their own good so at that time it is more like killing the individuals, therefore, they argue that practicing this in any country must be banned.

As this is a very sensitive issue and there are a bunch of people who are against this practice and there are certain religious groups who are also against this practice therefore in most of the countries there are proper laws in order to ban the practice of euthanasia. Therefore a vast majority of states do not allow the patients to end their lives either that is on their own or with the help of a doctor. But in 1990 the United States Supreme Court ruled that patients or certain healthcare providers can refuse to a specific medication to save their lives including feeding tubes. A healthcare agent is someone from the healthcare department who is basically specified by the patient to make healthcare decisions on their behalf usually through a durable power of the attorney. It is noteworthy here that while all the states allow the patients to withhold the treatment only a few states are there who allow doctors to play an active role in assisting patients' death. And even if by introducing such laws the doctors still play a role in euthanasia in the banned country then it is in the hand of government to specify a punishment for it but mostly it is a heavy fine and also imprisonment for up to five years (Franklin, 2014).

The belief system that effect euthanasia and the religious beliefs of a particular group are usually against euthanasia. These religious groups believe that practicing euthanasia argue that this practice is primarily an intervention in the system of nature and the giving or taking of life if fell in the hands of human beings then it will disturb the balance and eventually men will consider himself a supreme power which is again a huge power in the natural system. The views of all the ethnic and religious group are the same and they all agree on this that it should not be allowed. Human beings are somehow inappropriately used in this method especially those who are in the advanced stages of diseases if it is allowed without proper legislation then there are chances that the healthcare providers and also the relatives of the patients will start using it for their own good, therefore, it is banned for the own benefit of the people.

On the basis of all these arguments, it is safe to say that euthanasia is although a good method for a certain group f people at the same, the cons of this method is overweighing the pros. Therefore before legalizing it, it must be asked who are the people who will take great advantage of this method? Will the rights of the patients will be secured while legalizing this method or not.

References

Banović, B., & Turanjanin, V. (2014). Euthanasia: murder or not: a comparativeapproach. Iranian journal of public health, 43(10), 1316.

Albert-Lorincz, C. (2015). Pros and cons of euthanasia. A qualitative study. Revista Romana de Bioetica, 13(3).

Franklin, K. (2014). Physician-Assisted Death, Dementia, and Euthanasia: Using an Advanced Directive to Facilitate the Desires of Those with Impending Memory Loss. Idaho L. Rev., 51, 547.