Euthanasia: People Should Have the Right to Choose Essay Example
Euthanasia: People Should Have the Right to Choose
There are many sides to the dilemma of whether or not euthanasia should be carried out. There is the question of morality, the question of active versus passive euthanasia and the question of when euthanasia should be put into use. None of these questions are totally cut and dry. There seem to be more gray areas within this issue than there are black and white. Yet when you look at the problem on a personal level with the actual individuals involved, some of those gray areas almost disappear. People are put on this earth to live. When it gets to the point where the quality of a person's life gets so bad that they can no longer function in the world, there is no reason to force that person to stay alive. Euthanasia is therefore a necessary evil for those whose practical life is in effect over due to a terminal illness or otherwise life devastating condition. If a person is in unbearable pain and close to death or is in a vegetable state and no longer able to function, their life is by all practical means over. There is no reason to keep them alive. The only way to end their physical life is by euthanasia. The question is whether to do this by way of active euthanasia or passive euthanasia. Many are against active euthanasia because in this case you actually kill the person rather than letting them die.
But both methods are used for the same end which is to end someone's life without further pain for the patient as well as for the family. The only choice to make after this fact is established is which of these means better carries out the end. James Rachels, a philosophy professor, says that, "if one simply withholds treatment [in the way of passive euthanasia], it may take the patient longer to die, and so he may suffer more than he would if more direct action were taken and a lethal injection given." (Rachels, p.111) This defeats the purpose of euthanasia which is to end suffering.
There are many sides to the dilemma of whether or not euthanasia should be carried out. There is the question of morality, the question of active versus passive euthanasia and the question of when euthanasia should be put into use. None of these questions are totally cut and dry. There seem to be more gray areas within this issue than there are black and white. Yet when you look at the problem on a personal level with the actual individuals involved, some of those gray areas almost disappear. People are put on this earth to live. When it gets to the point where the quality of a person's life gets so bad that they can no longer function in the world, there is no reason to force that person to stay alive. Euthanasia is therefore a necessary evil for those whose practical life is in effect over due to a terminal illness or otherwise life devastating condition. If a person is in unbearable pain and close to death or is in a vegetable state and no longer able to function, their life is by all practical means over. There is no reason to keep them alive. The only way to end their physical life is by euthanasia. The question is whether to do this by way of active euthanasia or passive euthanasia. Many are against active euthanasia because in this case you actually kill the person rather than letting them die.
But both methods are used for the same end which is to end someone's life without further pain for the patient as well as for the family. The only choice to make after this fact is established is which of these means better carries out the end. James Rachels, a philosophy professor, says that, "if one simply withholds treatment [in the way of passive euthanasia], it may take the patient longer to die, and so he may suffer more than he would if more direct action were taken and a lethal injection given." (Rachels, p.111) This defeats the purpose of euthanasia which is to end suffering.