Euthanasia: A Painless Deaceful Death Essay -- Argument for Euthanasia

Euthanasia is a painless peaceful death. Euthanasia is defined as the deliberate putting to death of a person suffering from a painful, incurable disease(New Standard Encyclopedia Dictionary). People use other terms to describe euthanasia: mercy killing, assisted suicide, and physician assisted suicide. Euthanasia can be unresponsive, (inactive) or active. Unresponsive euthanasia occurs when an incurably ill person refuses life sustaining medical support. Active euthanasia happens when another person deliberately causes the death of a terminally ill person, such as when someone gives a terminally ill person a lethal injection. Euthanasia can also be voluntary or involuntary. Voluntary euthanasia occurs with the consent of the dying person, while involuntary euthanasia happens when the dying person doesn’t give their consent. The right to die term used in the support of euthanasia started in the 1970s. It describes the rights of those that are terminally ill or those that are seriously injured. It started in the 1970s with the case of Karen Ann Quinlan from New Jersey. Karen fell into a coma from the use of drugs and alcohol. Being kept alive with a respirator and feeding tube, her parents decided on pulling the plug and ending her life. In 1976, Karen was hospitalized in a Catholic Hospital. The hospital refused the parents request to end her life. The Supreme Court of New Jersey ruled that the parents of Karen Ann Quinlan had the right to decide their daughter’s fate. This decision started the â€Å"right to die† issues (Charles E Hughes). Neutralization who’s against it and who’s for it, some of the arguments against euthanasia are that suicide no matter how or why is wrong. Under special conditions even the Catholic Church... ...e is a quote: â€Å"The care of human life and happiness and not their destruction is the first and only legitimate object of good government† (Thomas Jefferson). â€Å"There is no quality of life when the patient is dead† (Nurse). Conclusion There are good sides and bad sides to euthanasia. It all depends on which side you’re on. The main idea is that a patient should have a choice and that choice can’t be taken away from them. People make choices everyday, sometimes those choices are difficult, but those choices should not be taken away by the government, or buy a physician who thinks their patient cannot make a competent decision. The elderly and the terminally ill should be able to make their own choice. It seems as if everything else is taken away, so their rights should not be an exception. Given the choice, seniors might feel as if they are dying with dignity.