Preview

Euthanasia: Is It Humane?

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1262 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Euthanasia: Is It Humane?
Introduction
Is mercy killing humane? Do we have the right to assess whether a life is worth living? Euthanasia also known as mercy killing is a way of painlessly terminating one’s life with the "humane" motive of ending his suffering. Albania, Belgium, Netherlands, Oregon, Switzerland and Luxembourg are some places where euthanasia or assisted suicide has been legalized. Should Euthanasia be legalized in Russia or not?Let's have a look at the arguments that will help us understand the reasoning for / against mercy killing.
Resolution analysis
Euthanasia- Euthanasia is the termination of a very sick person's life in order to relieve them of their suffering.
Futile treatment-Treatment that the health care team think will be completely ineffective.
Indirect euthanasia-This means providing treatment (usually to reduce pain) that has the foreseeable side effect of causing the patient to die sooner.
Involuntary euthanasia-This occurs when the person who dies wants to live but is killed anyway. It is usually the same thing as murder.
Living will-A document prepared by an individual in which they state what they want in regard to medical treatment and euthanasia.
Non-voluntary euthanasia-This is where the person is unable to ask for euthanasia (perhaps they are unconscious or otherwise unable to communicate), or to make a meaningful choice between living and dying and an appropriate person takes the decision on their behalf, perhaps in accordance with their living will, or previously expressed wishes.
Palliative care-Medical, emotional, psychosocial, or spiritual care given to a person who is terminally ill and which is aimed at reducing suffering rather than curing.
Voluntary euthanasia-This is where euthanasia is carried out at the request of the person who dies.
Hedonism (al-Greek.. Ἡδονή - «enjoyment", "fun") - an ethical doctrine that pleasure is the highest good and purpose of life.
Value
Morality, the value of life.
Criterion
1. Legalize euthanasia

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    Unit 8 Assignment

    • 342 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Palliative care is aimed at reducing pain and suffering as a person nears the end of his or her life…

    • 342 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    Involuntary euthanasia is also more commonly referred to as Mercy Killing, and it is the act of painlessly killing someone suffering from an incurable and painful disease or someone in an irreversible vegetative condition with very little quality of life.…

    • 1532 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Euthanasia is the performance of ending a person’s life so that a person can become free from a pain and illness. Euthanasia is also a contravention issue that some people are in favor of or against it.…

    • 705 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Rough Draft On Euthanasia

    • 863 Words
    • 4 Pages

    What is euthanasia? Euthanasia is the painless killing of a patient suffering from an incurable and painful diseases, in other words assisted suicide. There are different types of euthanasia that can be distinguish, the performing of killing with drugs or life-saving treatment because the patient…

    • 863 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Euthanasia is an act or omission intended to cause the death of a person in order to eliminate suffering, allegedly for his/her benefit. Euthanasia can be voluntary (at the request of the person), involuntary (against the person’s wishes), or non-voluntary (when the person is unable to refuse…

    • 2028 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    The word 'euthanasia' comes from the Greek words 'eu' and 'thanatos', together translating as 'good death'. The Oxford Concise Medical Dictionary defines euthanasia as the 'act of taking life to relieve suffering'. In practice euthanasia proves to be far more complex, as it comes in a variety of forms. Passive euthanasia is the deliberate withdrawal of treatment and nourishment for the terminally ill patient. Active euthanasia is on the authority or for the best interests of the patient who perhaps is unable to speak for him or herself. For example, a hospital could decide when to take someone off a life support machine. Voluntary euthanasia is when the patient makes a request to have their life terminated, through the administration of a drug or other means. There is also involuntary euthanasia, which is when a life is taken away without and individual's consent and against their will and is one of the many causes for the sensitivity and distress surrounding this matter.…

    • 510 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Euthanasia is known as the practice of deliberately ending a life which releases an individual from an incurable disease or intolerable suffering. This mercy killing is often referred as an easy and painless death. This can be done from the request of a dying patient or that person’s legal representative.…

    • 964 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    voluntary euthanasia, and passive euthanasia. Voluntary active euthanasia is as Robert Young said “Those instances I euthanasia when a clearly competent person makes a voluntary and enduring request to die.” (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy- Voluntary Euthanasia.) Non- voluntary euthanasia is when the person cannot make a decision or cannot make their wishes known. This includes cases where a person is in a coma, is too…

    • 1833 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Living is more valuable than dying and threatening to diminish the value of life is dangerous. Euthanasia, also called mercy killing, is the practice of doctors intentionally ending a terminally ill patient’s life in what is purportedly a gentle and dignified manner. The term originated in ancient Greek and means “easy death.” Doctors perform euthanasia by administering lethal drugs or by withholding treatment that would prolong the patient’s life. Physician-assisted suicide is also a form of euthanasia, but the difference between the two methods is that in euthanasia, doctors end the patient’s life with lethal injections, whereas, in physician-assisted suicide, patients kill themselves with a lethal amount of drugs prescribed by the doctors.…

    • 1537 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Euthanasia ( Assisted Suicide) is the practice of intentionally and directly ending the life of the life of a person who has a severe and incurable disease or medical condition (Wolf, Susan M.) Euthanasia (Assisted Suicide) has been around for thousands…

    • 343 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Physician Assisted Suicide

    • 1899 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Physician-assisted suicide this is distinguished from euthanasia. Euthanasia is the performance of putting to death a person suffering…

    • 1899 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Pro Euthanasia for the Win

    • 1582 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Euthanasia is categorized in different ways, which include voluntary and involuntary, and is further divided into active or passive variants. Voluntary euthanasia is euthanasia performed at a patient’s explicit request and with fully informed consent. Involuntary euthanasia is euthanasia conducted when the patient is competent but without the patient 's explicit request and/or fully informed consent. (Boyd) Active euthanasia is the intentionally administering of medication or other interventions to cause a patient 's death, i.e. lethal injection. Passive euthanasia entails the withholding of treatments necessary for the patient’s continuance of life, i.e. medication or life support. There is also a category termed non-voluntary euthanasia which is when the patient is incompetent or not able to explicitly request death. (Boyd) Euthanasia is also referred to as physician-assisted suicide often. The main terms I will focus on in this paper are voluntary active and passive euthanasia as well as involuntary passive euthanasia.…

    • 1582 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    The term ‘euthanasia’ derives from the Greek language meaning ‘a good death’. Euthanasia is the process in which a person who is suffering from a painful or crippling ailment or disability decides to end their own life, or a persons life being legally ended by another person.…

    • 1295 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    There are two main types of Euthanasia - Voluntary and Non-voluntary. Voluntary euthanasia is carried out with consent from the patient whereas non-voluntary euthanasia is carried out without consent. The decision is made by somebody else because the patient is incapable of doing so.…

    • 829 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    One of the biggest controversies of this decade is euthanasia. Euthanasia is “inducing the painless death of a person for reasons assumed to be merciful?(Henrickson and Martin 24). There are four types of euthanasia voluntary and direct, voluntary but indirect, direct but involuntary, and indirect and involuntary. Voluntary and direct euthanasia is “chosen and carried out by the patient.? Voluntary but indirect euthanasia is chosen in advance. Direct but involuntary euthanasia is done for the patient without his or her request. Indirect and involuntary euthanasia occurs when a hospital decides that it is time to remove life support (Fletcher 42-3).…

    • 737 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays