Should Euthanasia or Physician Assisted Suicide Be Legal Essay Example
Should Euthanasia or Physician Assisted Suicide be Legal? One day while interning at the Animal Clinic of Bay Ridge I witnessed something so cruel. This middle-aged shiatsu was dropped off at the animal clinic. Mind you, the owners didn’t even bother to come in the room with the dog. As I played with the dog until he would be “putdown” I wondered why in the world someone would put such a lovely dog down is unimaginable. Despite being sorry for the dog I feel euthanizing both animals and human should be legal with exceptions. For instance, if an animal or human is really sick and cannot stand the pain or is in a vegetated state I believe it is okay to euthanize. If the reason is that you don’t have enough money to nurture and take care of the animal or a human I believe it is not okay and it is inhuman to do so. If you cannot care for the animal or a human you should give it away or to a person your trust, euthanizing a human or an animal is not the way to go if you know they can be cared and loved by someone else.
Michael Manning, MD stated, “The term euthanasia … originally meant only good death, but in modern society it has come to mean a death free of any anxiety or pain often brought about through the use of medication. Most recently, it has come to be known as mercy killing – deliberately putting an end to someone’s life in order to spare the individuals suffering,” in his 1998 book Euthanasia and Physician-Assisted Suicide: Killing or Caring?
In addition there are three types of euthanasia Voluntary active euthanasia, non- 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