Euthanasia Should It Be Legal?

Euthanasia Should It Be Legal?

Introduction

One of the most controversial issues in the world today involving societal, ethical and moral debate is the legalization of euthanasia. Euthanasia is a general term for “mercy killing,” which in other words is taking the life of a person with an incurable disease or illness to end his or her suffering (Lesser, 2010; Pereira, Anwar, Pralong, Pralong, Mazzocato, & Bigler, 2008). Even though there have been discoveries in treatments and technology, there are still many illnesses that have no cure. By the time there is a significant breakthrough in science, it might just be too late for many patients who are currently struggling with extreme physical and psychological pain. Due to the incapability of having any control of their lives, high costly treatments and the only option of endless pain, people should have the right to end their lives to stop suffering of their incurable disease (Saaty & Vargas, 2012; Gielen, Branden, & Broeckaert, 2009). Therefore, euthanasia should be legalized so that patients don't have to go through unbearable pain in this world and to be utterly faced with an undignified death.

The term euthanasia refers to a deliberate act by a person of putting himself or herself to death in a painless manner, the need for which arises from the fact that the person is suffering from incurable and terminal illness (Adams & Weyers, 2012; Karlsson, Milberg, & Strang, 2012). Voluntary euthanasia is the related term which refers to the act of ending a person's life upon his or her request. Whereas the assisted suicide implies the act of deliberately putting oneself to death with the assistance of another person who typically helps the person being killed in terms of provision of knowledge, means or both in some cases (Sebastian, 2012; Lesser, 2010).

The law of paternalistic nature such Euthanasia Laws Act 1997 (an Australian statute of the Commonwealth Parliament) are typically enacted to prevent the subject of the state to engage in any activity that could possibly hurt them (Pereira, Anwar, Pralong, Pralong, Mazzocato, & Bigler, 2008; Saaty & Vargas, 2012). There is vast research behind the validity of such laws that provide philosophical and legal foundations for the state to implement such laws. The first and foremost reason behind such legal framework is the element of ethics that also govern the rules of legally permitting someone to kill himself or someone else on the basis of judgement of person being killed (Gielen, Branden, & Broeckaert, 2009; Adams & Weyers, 2012). There are many implications regarding the issue as the person could be emotionally or physiologically disturbed at the time of deciding to end his or her life for the reason of being terminally ill, completely ignoring the fact that there might be the possibility to cure his or her illness or at least there might be a treatment that could help lessen his or her pain.

Discussion and Analysis

Voluntary euthanasia and assisted suicide is presently illegal in all regions of ...