Life branches into many subjects that can be discussed and criticized thoroughly. One of the most complicated and broad branches is ethics and human rights. As life proceeds, people are getting more aware of their rights and whether they are practicing them in an ethical way or not. We might think that it’s our right to live and end our life any time we want. But is it ethical to do so? Here comes the idea of euthanasia – mercy killing- that permits the ending of a person’s life that is suffering to death. Euthanasia exists in two types: active euthanasia, which is the administration of a lethal drug by the physician to kill the suffering patient, and passive euthanasia that includes the removal of the probes and devices that are connected to the patient to allow his death. (Mclnerney, 175) Euthanasia became a highlighted ethical topic in medical science specifically and in the society generally due to the progress of medicine accompanied by technology that gave birth to devices and techniques that promote an artificial prolonged life that can convey suffering at one hand, and expensive costs for some families on the other hand. A person suffering from a certain severe disease might think that ending his life is better than living in torture. But is this a right thing to do? Euthanasia is the easy way, but not the right way.
Euthanasia is a controversial topic that carries different opinions and points of views within it. These views can be classified as with or against. Proponents of euthanasia argue that euthanasia is the mercy act for suffering and dying patients rather than prolonging their misery. As life is a right, so does its ending. So it’s the patient’s right to end his life after balancing the benefits to live with the suffering he may encounter. So it’s not wrong for a person to ask others to help him achieve his right.
Moreover, the desire to include one’s physician in carrying out a decision to end one’s life can be viewed as an extension of the natural reliance of terminally ill patients on their physicians for help with most aspects of their illness, as well as reasonable mechanism to ensure that they do not become more disabled and burdensome to their family or friends by attempting suicide unsuccessfully. (Sinha and Sarkhel2, 178)
In addition, proponents argue that euthanasia must be legalized under certain conditions: the patient should be at least twenty-one years old; he must be under the supervision of a physician that in turn has consulted another physician; and a period of time between the request for euthanasia and the act itself is required in which the patient might change his mind.( Michael Petrou, 23) So, this means that if a person has the right to end his life, then no one should be able to stand up against his will, and we should let him die with dignity instead of being helpless and watch him suffer.
On the other hand, if we look deeply into what have been proposed to support euthanasia, we might see that...
