Jack Kevorkian and Euthanasia
Euthanasia The thin line between life and death has become an ethical issue many health care providers and the government have long tried to ignore. The understanding that life begins at birth, and ends when the heartbeat and breathing have ceased has long been deemed factual. Medical technologies have changed this with respirators, artificial defibrillators, and transplants (Macionis, 2009). “Thus medical and legal experts in the United States define death as an irreversible state involving no response to stimulation, no movement or breathing, no reflexes, and no indication of brain activity” (Macionis, 2009, p. 436). The process of deciding when a terminally ill patient should die lies within the patient, family members, and the medical staff. Patients who are terminally ill have the right to refuse treatment and nourishment at the time of the illness, or for the future through a living will. The right to not be resuscitated or use any extraordinary measures to prolong life also lies within their rights. The dilemma being faced by patients, medical personnel, and the government is whether or not someone has the “right to die.” A patient has the right to refuse treatment to prolong their life, but do they have the right to choose to end their life at their discretion is the question (Macionis, 2009). Euthanasia, also called “mercy killing,” dated back to 1869, is the act or practice of killing or permitting the death of hopelessly sick or injured individuals in a relatively painless way for reasons of mercy (Merriam-Webster, 2010). Euthanasia is an ethical dilemma because it is both an act of kindness and an act of harm. The desire to have euthanasia legalized varies from doctor to doctor, while some want to help end their patients inevitable misery, others state they became a doctor to prolong life not to end it (Stolberg, 1998). There are many forms of euthanasia, including oral medication overdose, lethal injection, and palliative sedation. Although
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