Euthanasia Discursive Essay By Zach Taylor

Euthanasia
For my topic I have chosen Euthanasia because it’s an important issue today because a lot of terminally ill people want euthanasia as they don't want to endure the pain. Also a lot of people think that no one, no matter what circumstances should have a right or the power to take someone’s life away because you have to take into consideration how it would affect the family's of those who wish to do euthanasia and also how it would affect health care on those that do not have a terminal illness. Although many people think that it is a very good idea that they will end pointless sufferings for the terminally ill they need to see how it would affect everything from families to health care and how it will affect normal people as well.

One of my main arguments against Euthanasia is religious people think it's wrong because the bible tells them not to kill, and they believe that only God can take life away. Also it could just lead to abuse by doctors, but legal voluntary Euthanasia could just open the way for non-voluntary Euthanasia. That would mean doctors could decide that a patient’s life is basically not worth wasting their time on, and just use euthanasia on them. It has already happened before in the Netherlands in the 1990’s when the law was relatively new, but over a thousand people had died of non-voluntary Euthanasia. A lot of people were also worried that if it were to be legalised in the UK in the same way as the Netherlands, double the amount of people would lose their life.

Another one of my main argument against Euthanasiais if it legalised the terminally ill and sick treatment would not be as good because doctors would just use euthanasia to just get them out of the way. But many patients who feel that they have no purpose in life or are a burden to their families can just lead them to wanting to take the easy way out.

The hospice cares for the patients and their families a lot too.There is also an addition to these arguments because the fact there is alternative treatments which are available such as a palliative care and hospices. They do not kill the patients, they just make sure that their last months or year is comfortable and as painless as possible to make the person forget they are going to die. This lets the family of their patients have more time with their loved ones and make sure that their last moments are the best they ever had.

Euthanasia could never really be controlled and this point is actually proven. A study indicated that 2010, 23 per cent of all Euthanasia deaths had gone unreported in the Netherlands. This made an increase from 20 per cent in 2005. Also the study showed that the Netherlands were really struggling to control the amount of Euthanasia that was being used, and who says this couldn’t happen to the rest of the world.

Another argument against Euthanasia, would that doctors be might make a mistake about someone’s diagnosis. This could lead to the person choosing Euthanasia after being wrongly told that they have a terminally ill condition, meaning they basically have died for no reason. This could also lead to the doctor feeling guilty for taking someone's life who did not have to die. Another argument for Euthanasia is the pragmatic argument as people believe Euthanasia is already a big wide spread practice, and it is just that some people are not willing to admit it. But they also believe Euthanasia would be perfectly fine if regulated. An example would be that people could refuse treatment if their heart fails, so many people feel the exact same as Euthanasia but in a different form.

The ethical argument basically suggests that life should only continue as long as a person feels their life is worth living. An example would be that if someone who supports the use of Euthanasia based on the ethical argument could possibly believe that a person should be able to choose to end their life now and if they were living in so much pain and their quality of life is not want they want it all to end rather than have to bare the pain day in day out.

I am fully against Euthanasia because I hold the same view as the religious groups that it’s not our place to take human life away, and that we should just let them die of natural causes. In conclusion, the negatives outweigh the positives because arguments like this could never really be controlled. The topic is so controversial because both sides have strong arguments. Although the positives suggest it would help a person end needless sufferings and they would be able to die peacefully, I defiantly say that the negatives are the strongest because they are looking at euthanasia from all aspects and not just how it would affect the person with a terminal illness but how it would have a ripple affect on everyone's life - not just the dying person.

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Sources ethical argument – that people should have freedom of choice, including the right to control their own body and life (as long as they do not abuse any other person’s rights), and that the state should not create laws that prevent people being able to choose when and how they die pragmatic argument – that euthanasia, particularly passive euthanasia, is allegedly already a widespread practice, just not one that people are willing to admit to, so it is better to regulate euthanasia properly

religious argument – that these practices can never be justified for religious reasons; for example, many people believe that only God has the right to end a human life
‘slippery slope’ argument – this is based on the concern that legalising euthanasia could lead to significant unintended changes in our healthcare system and society at large that we would later come to regret medical ethics argument – that asking doctors, nurses or any other healthcare professional to carry out euthanasia or assist in a suicide would be a violation of fundamental medical ethics alternative argument – that there is no reason for a person to suffer either mentally or physically because effective end of life treatments are available; therefore, euthanasia is not a valid treatment option, but represents a failure on the part of the doctor involved in a person’s care