Euthanasia: Mercy or Murder?

According to the Collins Canadian English Dictionary euthanasia is defined as “the act of killing someone painlessly, especially to relieve his or her suffering” (2004). Not everyone agrees with this definition. I have always believed that euthanasia was the human choice of ending another person's life because of the excruciating pain they are suffering due to an incurable disease. Some disciplines think that euthanasia should never be an option no matter what the situation. While other disciplines question the validity of the actions of the person helping with the actual euthanasia. Still others support euthanasia in all forms as long as it is performed for the sake of the patient who is suffering. There are three types of euthanasia; voluntary active euthanasia, passive euthanasia and physician assisted suicide. In all cases where euthanasia is used the patient must be suffering from an incurable, fatal disease. Voluntary active euthanasia is a deliberate intervention by an individual other than the patient, with the pure intention of terminating that patient's life. Passive euthanasia takes place when the attending physician decides to discontinue therapy or treatment that would help to keep the patient alive, basically letting the patient die without the benefit of medicine or medical procedures. Finally, physician assisted suicide is where a physician helps to bring on the patient's death by providing the means to do it (narcotic prescription to overdose on) or by giving the necessary information on how to do it, but the patient performs the lethal act. Each of these methods is a form of euthanasia or mercy killing but each is different in the amount of involvement by the physician. A severely handicapped or terminally ill person should have the right to choose to live or die. The right to live; the right to choose to live or die should not only be a right allocated for bodied individuals of sound mind but for all human beings. Euthanasia is a

References: Collins Canadian English Dictionary. (2004). (p. 144). Toronto, Ontario: HarperCollins. Kondro, W. (2009). Quebec College of Physicians qualified endorsement of euthenasia in exceptional circumstances. CMAJ: Canadian Medical Association Journal, 181(12), E294. doi:10.1503/cmaj Robert Latimer case still garners fierce debate. (2010, November 30). www.ctv.ca. Retrieved March 1, 2012, from http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/TopStories/20101130/Latimer-Parole-101130/ The fight for the right to die. (2009, February 9). CBC News. Retrieved March 1, 2012, from http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2009/02/09/f-assisted-suicide.html