The pros and cons of euthanasia/ assisted suicide and my own opinion |
Should the use of euthanasia or physician- assisted suicide be legal?
"The right of a competent, terminally ill person to avoid excruciating pain and embrace a timely and dignified death bears the sanction of history and is implicit in the concept of ordered liberty. The exercise of this right is as central to personal autonomy and bodily integrity as rights safeguarded by this Court 's decisions relating to marriage, family relationships, procreation, contraception, child rearing and the refusal or termination of life-saving medical treatment. In particular, this Court 's recent decisions concerning the right to refuse medical treatment and the right to abortion instruct that a mentally competent, terminally ill person has a protected liberty interest in choosing to end intolerable suffering by bringing about his or her own death. I have to agree with this statement from ACIU (American Civil Liberties Union). There is a lot of controversy when it comes to this topic; it is amazing how people could have such different perspectives on assisted suicide. Proponents of euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide contend that terminally ill people should have the right to end their suffering with a quick, dignified, and compassionate death. For years doctors have been prohibited to helping patients end their life. Most of us remember Dr. Jack Kevorkian he was known throughout the world for assisting in 130 suicides illegally from 1990 to 1998. In the 1980’s Jack wrote articles for a German journal called Medicine and Law this is where his thinking started about poor ethics in euthanasia. Dr. Kevorkian used two different kinds of machines that he had made himself, the first one was called Thanatron (The death machine) this
References: http://www.theuniversitystandard.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=93&Itemid=57 http://euthanasia.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=000126 "Top 10 Pros and Cons." Euthanasia - ProCon.org. The Orange County Register, 5 Apr. 2005. Web. 08 Jan. 2012. <http://euthanasia.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=000126>. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Civil_Liberties_Union "American Civil Liberties Union." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., 8 Jan. 2012. Web. 08 Jan. 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Civil_Liberties_Union>. http://www.buzzle.com/articles/pros-and-cons-of-euthanasia.html M, Dr. Maisie. "Pros and Cons of Euthanasia." Buzzle Web Portal: Intelligent Life on the Web. 1 Jan. 2011. Web. 08 Jan. 2012. <http://www.buzzle.com/articles/pros-and-cons-of-euthanasia.html>. http://www.terrisfight.org/facts-about-euthanasia/ "Facts About Euthanasia." Terri Schindler Schiavo Foundation. Web. 08 Jan. 2012. <http://www.terrisfight.org/facts-about-euthanasia/>.