Human Euthanasia: Yes or No? Essay

Have you ever wanted to end it all? Many people who have chronic illnesses, such as cancer, would rather die than endure one more day of suffering. They want to die by assisted suicide, or euthanasia. Euthanasia should not be legal for many reasons. There have been drastic advances in medicine. Also, the decision making process can easily be compromised. There is major risk of abuse. Furthermore there are many religious issues. Lastly, if done incorrectly, euthanasia can fail, causing the person to suffer more. For example, drastic improvements have been made in the medicinal field. Doctors now have the power to save more lives than ever. â€Å"Using new medications, they can reduce the suffering of, or even cure a chronically ill human being† (Andre, Velasquez). Why should a person end his or her life if they can be cured of their disease? People who can be treated with medication should not be given the means to end their lives early. Hematologists and oncologists are exposed to terminally ill patients daily. A 1994 survey of physicians in Washington showed that these doctors opposed euthanasia most strongly. Psychiatrists were also surveyed. They had much less contact with the terminally ill, yet they strongly supported euthanasia (Boyko). This shows that those who are around these ill patients daily do not think euthanasia is a practical practice. Next, the decision making process can easily be compromised. If a patient is terminally ill, there is no way to know if they are thinking as they would if they were not sick. The patient may not know the exact situation he or she is in. â€Å"The patient needs to be capable of understanding the decision and its implications. The presence of depression is relevant if it is distorting rational decision making (Blank, Bonnickson 192). Also, a doctor could be pushing a patient to a choice, simply because the doctor no longer wants to care for that person. There are many variables for a person to consider, so legalizing euthanasia could cause many issues. Furthermore, there is major risk of abuse. If euthanasia is legalized, people would be able to abuse it easily. â€Å"Vulnerable patients could feel obligation to accept it [euthanasia] in order to reduce the burden on their families and caretakers† (Battin, Lipman 29). The abuse is not necessarily done by the patients. Families could easily pressure a person into choosing to be euthanized. Not wanting to cause more issues, the patient could simply agree to the decision others seem to have made (Andre, Velasquez). People who do not want to be responsible for someone else are likely to try and force that person into ending the responsibility. The decision to be euthanized needs to be 100% the patient’s idea, and there is no way to prove that would be the case. Additionally, there are many religious issues associated with euthanasia. â€Å"Arguments to prohibit assisted suicide on the grounds that only God gives life, so only God can take it away are equally relevant to euthanasia† (Tittle). The Roman Catholic Church believes that any form of suicide implies that the person is in charge of their body, when God is supposed to be (Declaration of Euthanasia). Article Five of the Fifth Commandment states: Suicide contradicts the natural inclination of the human being to preserve and perpetuate his life. It is gravely contrary to the just love of self. It likewise offends love of the neighbor because it unjustly breaks the ties of solidarity with family, nation, and other human societies to which we continue to have obligations. Suicide is contrary to love for the living God. Christianity is just one of the many religions that opposes suicide, assisted or unassisted. Finally, if done incorrectly, euthanasia can be ineffective, causing a patient more suffering. If someone is injected with too little morphine, the most popular form of euthanasia, major brain damage can occur (Battin). If this were to happen, the families of these patients, not to mention the patients themselves, would have to endure more suffering than they had to before the attempted euthanasia. If euthanasia were legalized the failure rate would cause unnecessary pain for all people involved. As for other methods of assisted suicide, such as a doctor prescribing medications with high dosages of depressants, the patient is not monitored throughout the process. This means there is no guarantee the patient will be successful. If a patient decides that after he or she has already started the euthanasia process he no longer wants to die, major side effects would occur, such as brain damage, and even forms of cancer in some situations (Battin, Lipman). There is no way to assure failure will not happen. In conclusion, euthanasia should not be legalized for many reasons. There have been drastic advances in medicine, allowing doctors to cure those with chronic illnesses. Also, the decision making process of a patient facing euthanasia can be easily compromised. Additionally, there is major risk of abuse by families. There are many religious issues, too. Lastly, if done wrong, euthanasia can be ineffective, causing serious harm. Euthanasia in human beings should not be legalized. Works Cited 1.Andre, Clare and Manuel Velasquez, Assisted Suicide: A Right or Wrong? scu.edu. Santa Clara University, 2010. Web. Dec. 7, 2012 2.Battin, Margaret P., Arthur G. Lipman, Drug Use in Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia. London, New York, Pharmaceutical Products Press, 1996. Web. 3.Blank, Robert H., Bonnickson, Andrea L., Medicine Unbound: The Human Body and the Limits of Medical Intervention. n.p, n.d. Web. 4.Boyko, Edward J., Attitudes Toward Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia Among Physicians in Washing State. nejm.org. New England Journal of Medicine, July 14, 1994. Web. Dec. 6, 2012 5.Declaration on Euthanasia. May 5, 1980. newadvent.org. New Advent Church.