Euthanasia is unnatural and should be stopped immediately. The opposing side says that it is mercy killing, but it is still killing. There are three important points when discussing this issue: what is euthanasia, the decision, and the doctor who performs this awful task.

Oregon’s Death With Dignity Act has opened the door to a private matter that had been handled privately between doctors and patients for years (Siegel). Euthanasia is withholding vital medicine or providing means for the patient to ease him or herself into death. Active euthanasia is when someone else injects lethal doses of drugs into the patient. Passive euthanasia is when someone provides the poison for the patient to kill him or herself. Death is a natural process, and it is a part of life. It is a time to come to terms with our selves, and our last chance to become our best selves. Besides, miracles happen every day, and this may be your big chance!

The decision of euthanasia should not have to be made. No one has the right to say whether death should be inflicted on him or herself. That decision is left to someone of much higher power as it has been since the beginning of time. The patient may not be aware enough to make a sane decision. In this case, the decision would be left to the family. How would the family know whether the patient would want to live or die? No one has the right to judge that another person’s life is not worth living, and no one’s life should be taken because someone else thinks his or her quality of life is too low. There would be some cases in which family members would want the parent’s money instead of it being spent for hopeless medical treatment and request that the parent be put out of his or her misery. There have also been some cases in which the doctor performed the inhumane task without any form of consent (Katz).

Doctors should also disagree with this practice. Almost 2500 years ago, this idea of “good death” was thought about by Hippocrates and rejected. Hippocrates created an oath that is still taken by physicians now. In this oath, he wrote “I will give no deadly medicine to anyone if asked, nor suggest any such counsel” (Katz). Euthanasia breaks the oath that has stood strong for years in the M.D. profession. From the legal standpoint, this is simply legalizing murder if you have a Medical Doctor degree. Even the consent of the patient does not make it right to commit murder. The doctor also has to live for the rest of his or her life knowing they contributed to the suicide or committed the murder of one of his or her patients.

On November 22, 1998, there was a segment of “60 Minutes” broadcasting an interview with Dr. Kevorkian. Kevorkian admitted assisting about 130 people in killing themselves (Vatz). The term “doctor assisted suicide” is an oxymoron. “If someone

“assists” you with your death, you have not committed suicide. You have been killed” (Katz). They also aired a video of a man being assisted by Kevorkian in his own death. The president of CBS defended his station by saying it was their jobs to raise discussion and get people thinking about the important issues (Vatz). The tape aired on national television the process of the death of a human. If that isn’t inhumane, what is?

Euthanasia is unnatural and should be stopped immediately. They use the term mercy killing, and it is very true. Killing! Euthanasia is simply murder. No one should have to make that decision. Dying is a decision that should be left to someone in higher power, and I don’t mean the doctor, the president, or the Pope either!

Bibliography

Katz, Stephen. “Doctor Assisted Suicide – a Bad Oxymoron and a Bad Idea.” The

Connecticut Post 27 Apr. 1998. 13 Nov. 2000

Siegel, Barry. “A Legal Way Out- The New World of Physician-Assisted Suicide.” L.A.

Times 14 Nov. 1999. 13 Nov. 2000

Vatz, Richard. “Dr. Kevorkian on the Air: CBS and “60 Minutes” Dropped the Ball.”

U.S.A. Today May 1999. 13 Nov. 2000

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