++COPYRIGHT STEPHANIE NYSSA GOMEZ++
Euthanasia means the intentional killing by act or omission of a
dependent human being for his or her alleged benefits (Schindler 2011). If death is not intended, then it’s not called
euthanasia. Euthanasia is usually done to end or escape pain and suffering of
the patient’s life. Another word for euthanasia is Mercy Killing. There are
many types of euthanasia which are voluntary euthanasia, non-voluntary
euthanasia, involuntary euthanasia, assisted suicide, physician assisted
suicide, euthanasia by action and euthanasia by omission.
Euthanasia
should be legalised. This is because it’s the person own request so we should
accept that as they have been suffering for a long time. We don’t know what
they are going through and what their feelings are while going through the
suffering. We should put our self in other’s shoe. Then we can know how the
patients who suffer feel. The patients who request for euthanasia usually
because they cannot take the pain any longer, they don’t want to burden others
or they have lost hope in continuing his or her life. If we force them to
continue to live, what kind of life would that be for them. An unwanted life
full of sufferings and sadness. It doesn’t mean that everyone should be supporting
suicide here. Euthanasia and suicide is completely different. Suicide as defined by Desai (2008) means an
act or instance of intentionally killing oneself. Mostly, it’s because of
depression. Euthanasia or mercy killing is committed on the basis of medical
reasons, where the death of a terminally ill person is brought about by another
person, who believes that such person’s existence is so bad that he or she
would be better off dead; also when his actions are based on the conviction
that unless he intervenes and ends the ill person’s life, it shall become so
bad that he or she would be better off dead.
Secondly,
euthanasia should be legalised because it’s the right of a competent,
terminally ill person to avoid excruciating pain and embrace a timely and
dignified death to avoid unendurable pain (Answers Corporation 2011). If there
is already no other way or medication to cure the person or if the person has
been in the same state for a long time, what should they be waiting for? All
religions believe in God and miracles. Yes, and people also believe that maybe
that patient would one day get healthy and walk around like a normal person. For
the person who is waiting for the patient to get well they don’t feel anything.
All they feel is hope and faith. What about that poor, sickly patient who is
lying on the bed for a long time not being able to do anything? Wouldn’t they
feel useless not being able to conquer their own body? They have to be
dependent on other people for a long time and in some cases maybe for the rest
of their life. For example, Dianne Pretty was suffering from motor neurone disease
and wanted to die. She and her husband petitioned the courts to give immunity
from prosecution to her husband if he were to help her to kill herself. He did
not get immunity, the disease took its inevitable course, and Dianne Pretty
died in hospital under exactly the sort of conditions she had wanted to avoid
(rsrevision 2011).
Thirdly,
euthanasia should only be done if the person requests it. It shouldn’t be done
without the person’s permission. The family members, relatives, friends,
physician or doctor neither of them have the rights to take the patient’s life
without his or her permission. It’s the patient who is going through the
sufferings so they are the one who know whether they can still go through all
the pain and hope for the best or the pain is too unbearable that they just
want to die. Priority should be given to the patients.
In
conclusion, euthanasia should be legalised but there should be very strict
guidelines before a euthanasia request could be filed. There is no point of waiting for
the person to die or heal if there is nothing the doctors can do about it. They
patient should be given euthanasia if they really request it and their
condition is really bad. Euthanasia should be done to make the person’s excruciating
pain end immediately.
++COPYRIGHT STEPHANIE NYSSA GOMEZ++
