Euthanasia

Euthanasia

Introduction

Euthanasia is "the act of putting to death painlessly or allowing to die, as by withholding extreme medical measures, a person suffering from an incurable, esp. a painful, disease or condition." Euthanasia can be traced back as far back as the ancient Greek and Roman civilizations. It was sometimes allowed in these civilizations to help others die.

There are many forms that Euthanasia can take. Euthanasia can active voluntary, passive voluntary, active involuntary or passive involuntary. Voluntary euthanasia was approved in some ancient societies. Today, the practice of euthanasia causes great controversy, so much so that it has been legalized in a few countries and remains illegal in the majority. What all the different types of Euthanasia have in common is that they are all relevant to today's modern society.

Euthanasia is divided into four types: active voluntary, passive voluntary, active involuntary, and passive involuntary. Voluntary means that a patient has decided to end his life. Involuntary means that a patient is not competent enough to make the decision and some else is to decide what is best.

Active euthanasia is an actual lethal action is taken to end the patient's life. Passive euthanasia is to stop giving medication and to let the patient die by the illness.

Active voluntary euthanasia is a situation where a patient has decided to have a doctor assist in his death by some kind of lethal action. Intentional overdose or morphine drip, are example of lethal prescriptions for the patient. This method of euthanasia is clearly a form of suicide.

Passive voluntary euthanasia is when the patient's choice is made to end his life by withdrawal of any help of prolonging his life. A living will is an example of passive voluntary euthanasia. A living will says that a patient is planning to die if he becomes incompetent. A do not resuscitate order (DNR) that is given by the patient is another example of this type of euthanasia.

Active involuntary euthanasia is to induce death without the consent of the patient. This is when the patient is not competent and the choice is made by the doctor or family to mercifully end the patient's life. Again an act of killing s involved. Passive involuntary euthanasia is also a type of induced death without the consent of the patient. An example of this would be when a family decides to not proceed with an operation for a patient in an irreversible coma. The family will withdraw medical help when it is deemed to be not beneficial.

Arguments against euthanasia

Many religious people believe that choosing the time and place of a person's death is nature's decision, it has already been decided. In most major religions of the world, people believe that God should decide the time and place of your death and nobody else should ever interfere with your death.

Euthanasia is a violation of medical ethics. The Medical Association has consistently condemned euthanasia as an unethical practice. As noted in Appendix A, a study published October 3 in the Annals of Internal Medicine found ...