The_Right_to_Die

Matt Fry Fry Pg1 English 1301- TR 9:10 Prof Clements 09Oct2011 Essay 1 The Right to Die The word “Euthanasia” (Singer). is a term used for mercy killing, by taking the life of an injured incurably ill individual in fact to end their pain and suffering. Mercy killing also shows a real ethical dilemma. Some adversities cause people to suffer through indescribable pain in their last remaining days, however people do not always die well and euthanasia may seem to be an appropriate way to end this pain. A number of other patients may want euthanasia to dodge the loss of mental functioning and weakness that quite a bit of diseases brings, and many perceive that all of these wishes should be admired. There are five basic categories of the practice of euthanasia: direct, indirect, voluntary, involuntary, and Fry Pg2 non-voluntary. The key explanation for euthanasia would have to settle upon the insufferable pain the patient endures. On the other hand, as the painkillers are continuously evolving in our world today, the favorable side of euthanasia is proportionally weakened. This moral dilemma is behind the times of being new. The most well known term “euthanasia” (Hamlon and Marker b). is calculated back from ancient Greek, and means “good death.” (Singer). But while the argument over mercy killing has ancient origins, many observers believe today that it is harder to have a better death than ever before. Many advances in medicine have increased people’s health and life span, but they too greatly affected the dying act. For instance, in the early twentieth century the bulk of Americans died in their own homes, usually it was from victims of pneumonia or influenza. Nowadays most people die in hospitals, frequently similar to degenerative diseases like cancer that may cause an agonizing, lasting death. The modern euthanasia debate dates back to the case of Karen Ann Quinlan. For the first time, Karen’s story had Fry Pg3 Americans think about valuable decisions that have to be made at the end of life. In 1975, a few days after moving into a new house with two roommates. Karen was invited to a friend's birthday party at a local bar where she was said to have had a couple drinks also with Valium. After seven days being in the hospital unable to eat without a feeding tube and breathe without a respirator, it was positive Karen was in an irreversible coma. She was then sent to St. Clare’s hospital for further care. The New Jersey Court case that followed was the first to carry out the issue of euthanasia into the public eye. In 1976 the New Jersey Court ruled in their favor and Karen’s parents had the respirator removed. Although she lived for another nine years in a nursing home until her death from pneumonia on June 11, 1985. This case sets a toll for patient’s refusal of unwanted medical treatment. You could argue that a loving family abortion shouldn't be reasoned, but the truth is, a loving family tends for the whole family, and if an unexpected birth can lead the family through pointless stress, as similar as Fry Pg4 drastically decreasing the choices for a family members' future, both to mother and child, afterwards abortion may be the best possible conclusion. For euthanasia the argument is simple, if going through life is too painful, and barely existing in a physical state where you can't kill yourself but must watch your family tend to all your desires and all the time the pain of life leads to your crave for death, then it's cold-blooded not to euthanize, however euthanasia, should simply be relevant to those who desire death due to one’s inability to handle living in a state of pain. Euthanasia has been a huge debate for legalization in the United States for over 40 years. Many people are for it, yet many are also against it. The people that are for it are the victims themselves and usually a loved one of a victim with a severe disease or heavily induced coma. The people who are against it are mostly very religious, they even take this matter all the way to the words of the Bible, and for instance it’s one of the Ten Commandments. Legalized euthanasia or assisted suicide raises the potential for dangerous situations in which the “choice” Fry pg5 (Hamlon and Marker b). of assisted suicide or euthanasia is the only affordable option for some people.