Euthanasia Debate

Good Death

Dr. Jack Kevorkian hooked up Alzheimer’s patient Janet Adkins to his thanatron on June 4, 1990 and watched her press the button that injected lethal poison into her and killed her.  She had been diagnosed as being in the late stages of Alzheimer’s disease.  Alzheimer’s is a slowly progressive disease of the brain that results in death.  People with this particular disease lose their memory and control over their body.  In the later stages of this disease, a person may become completely unable to take care of their self.  If Janet had not received the painless help from Dr. Kevorkian she would have been forced to unwillingly live he rest of her life suffering.

Euthanasia should be legal because it ends the suffering of terminally ill patients and gives all people the right to die. Wesley Smith explains, ”The word ‘euthanasia’ is translated from Greek as ‘good death’” (Smith 1).  There are two strong opinions surrounding legalized euthanasia. One side believes that intentionally ending the life of a person, even someone suffering from a terminal condition, is murder and any physician involved is in violation of the Hippocratic Oath.  Joe Messerli explains, “The Hippocratic Oath, says among other things, ‘First, do no harm’” (Joe Messerli 1).  The other side argues that to end the suffering of a terminally ill patient is humane, the ultimate expression of compassion, and should be legalized. Legalizing euthanasia continues to spark controversy among doctors and many other people around the world.  This topic is not very closely discussed until the problem of terminal illness appears in a person’s life.

When evaluating whether euthanasia should be legalized, people must have compassion for the suffering. Euthanasia should not be denied to a person who seeks relief from excruciating pain.  Many people who seek euthanasia are diagnosed with a terminal disease causing them pain both physically and emotionally.  People sometimes lose control over most of their body making it extremely difficult to do simple everyday tasks.  This physical pain affects them mentally in a sense that they know they are dying and there is nothing they can do about it.

On the opposing side, Jay Johansen says, “I have heard anecdotal stories that elderly people in the Netherlands are now afraid to check into hospitals, for fear they will be killed” (Johansen 1).  He believes that a hospital is a place where people go in seek of help and trust that their doctors to do what it best for them.  While this may be true, if a doctor is supposed to do what is best for the patient then by ending their suffering the doctor is doing the correct thing.   Patients go to hospitals for help and help is doing what the patient desires even if that includes euthanasia.

People should also take into consideration the quality of the patient’s life.  Sue Rodriguez was suffering from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.  Amis Lee says, “She would soon lose ability to speak, swallow, walk, and move her body without assistance” (Amis Lee 1).  Sue would eventually require a respirator to breathe, a gastrotomy to eat, and end up confined to a bed if the disease continued.  She wished that once she was in a stage where she could no longer enjoy life, she would be assisted in ending her life.  Unfortunately, the Supreme Court of Canada denied Sue’s request.

Humans should have control over their own body and have the right to die.  It is a freedom that every person should have.   It is also a part in some religious beliefs.  Joe Messerli announces, “A significant part of religious belief involves what happens in the afterlife” (Joe Messerli 1).  The government is imposing on these views by not allowing suicide.

Being hooked up to machines is not a pleasant way to live.  Sandhyarani says, “The ancient Greeks and Romans were of the opinion that there is no need to preserve the life of a person who has no interest in living” (Ningthoujam Sandhyarani 1).  Someone on life support probably is not enjoying their life.  They might choose to die because of their circumstances and in that case, euthanasia should be available to them.

People should not only think about the patient but also the patient’s family too. The cost of terminal care could be largely reduced if euthanasia were legalized.

The family shouldn’t have to watch their loved ones suffer.  Derek Humphry wrote a book about his wife called “Jean’s Way”.  The book describes his wife’s condition and how she died.  She was dying of breast cancer which was spreading to her bones.  She asked that Derek get lethal medications for when the pain becomes unbearable.  Humprphy describes this as, “It was her death by request” (Humphry 1).  When she was fighting to live and could no longer go to the bathroom by herself Derek knew it was time.  Humphry describes her as, “Fighting to live” (Derek Humphry 1).  She died peacefully within an hour of a drink.  Caruso states, “Each suicide intimately affects at least six people” (Kevin Caruso 1).  If euthanasia were a choice, this number might be greatly reduced.

The family should have a right to choose what is best for their family members.  When a person is ill, they are not the only ones who have to deal with it.  The family is included too.  As members of the family, people such as mothers, fathers, wives, husbands, daughters, and sons should have the choice of death for their loved ones if it means less suffering.

There are benefits of having medically assisted euthanasia rather than a person attempting suicide on their own. Caruso declares, “In 2005 on average one suicide happens every sixteen minutes” (Kevin Caruso 1).

People are already allowed to decide if they want to stay on life support or not so they should be able to decide to die also.

People should be able to die with dignity.  As a terminal disease progresses, a person slowly loses the freedom to move.  Once that is gone, they may feel as though they are worthless and nothing matters.  They should at least have the freedom to choose whether or not to die. Amis Lee says, “They need to know they still have control over their life” (Lee 1).  Even though they no longer have control over their body, it is important to control at least something such as their death.  Some people might choose to die before they ever have to experience this state of the disease.

Suicide attempts are often very painful and legalizing euthanasia would allow for a gentle death.  People have attempted suicide by jumping off of buildings, hanging themselves, shooting themselves, and overdosing on pills however, these attempts do not always turn out the way people plan them.  Many suicide attempts often fail, leaving the person worse off than before.  According to Caruso, in 2001 the amount of visits to the emergency room from self-inflicted injury was 400,000 (Kevin Caruso 1).  Dr. Jack Kevorkian created a machine called the Thanatron which allowed a painless death with the touch of a button.  It was created so that the patient could actually kill their self rather than have another person end their life.  By just the press of a button, lethal poison would be injected into them and they would die.

The best way to ensure a person’s rights and to enable them a peaceful death is to legalize euthanasia.  People already have the right to live so they should have the right to die also.

People need to be educated about terminal diseases and non-painful ways of dying.  Currently, there are very few places that allow euthanasia.  The Netherlands is the only place in the world to allow both euthanasia and assisted suicide.  In the US no states allow euthanasia however, Oregon allows assisted suicide.  Another place that allows assisted suicide is Switzerland.  In Belgium, voluntary euthanasia, which is based on a person’s request, is allowed.  Even though there are only a few places to officially allow euthanasia and assisted suicide, many others have taken the idea into great consideration such as the UK.

It is important that everyone discusses this topic and thinks about it deeply because nobody ever knows if they or family member or close friend will end up with a terminal illness.  Some can be unexpected and everyone needs to be prepared for that slight chance.  Patients should be allowed to choose whether they want to continue living in excruciating pain or die peacefully. Each person will have their own opinion on the topic but it is only fair to allow the choice of euthanasia to everyone.  Even if some people are against euthanasia they should still allow it to those who request it.  People who don’t have a terminal illness do not experience what it’s like to live with that.  They don’t know how a terminally ill person feels and have no right to decline them euthanasia.  If euthanasia were legal not everyone would have to commit to it.  The thing that is great about America is that people have freedom of choice.  If someone does not want assisted suicide they are in no way required to have it but those who do want assisted suicide should be able to have that choice.