Euthanasia is a process of painlessly bringing about the death of an individual who is suffering from terminal or incurable disease or condition. In most cases, it is done at the request of the person. However, there are times when they may be too sick, and the decision is made by doctors, relatives, and in some circumstances, the courts. Euthanasia has been at the core of very heated debates for some years and is surrounded by ethical, religious as well as practical considerations. Euthanasia is a critical issue since it deals with the purposeful ending of a person’s life (Ebrahimi, 2012). Many individuals believe that life should be preserved and safeguarded at all costs while others feel that it should be morally right for a person to end his or her life because of circumstances beyond their control. The paper will address the question, Should terminally ill patients be allowed to end their lives through assisted suicide?
One of the major arguments supporting assisted suicide is based on individual autonomy. Autonomy is the right of a person to have control over his or her own body and decisions in life. Individuals are autonomous and free and hence may choose a painless death instead of bearing the indignity of life that is not worth living (Strinic, 2015). Such patients believe that they are better off when they are dead than alive since they no longer value their lives. Because of the existence of individual autonomy, people suffering from incurable condition should be allowed by the law to choose a quick and painless death if this person so desires. Supporters of euthanasia argue that it should be seen as a human right and not as solely an act of mercy. An autonomous individual has control over his or her life or death.
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The second argument is that assisted suicide should be acceptable because of less suffering. According to utilitarianism, people should pay more attention to increasing happiness and decrease suffering as much as possible. Euthanasia is ethically right as it reduces the misery of everyone involved: the terminally ill patient, friends, family as well as caretakers of the patient. When a very sick patient is kept alive only to die painfully and slowly, suffering is largely increased for the people involved. Euthanasia allows human beings to have an honorable exit from pain and suffering thus it should be authorized by the law. The act alleviates pain that is unnecessary. According to the principle of beneficence, relieving a terminally ill patient from suffering and agony by performing assisted suicide will do more good than harm. No patient should be allowed to suffer unbearably.
Supporters of euthanasia also argue that people have a right to die and freedom to choose what they desire (Pakhu, 2010). People should be granted euthanasia if they opt to die because that is their right. Individuals have the freedom to choose whatever they want with their bodies. The right to die must be respected hence euthanasia should be legalized in America. All persons are always ready to accept death when it comes to pain and suffering.
Those who oppose euthanasia argue by sanctity of life. Core to the argument against assisted suicide is the view of the society of the sanctity of life which implies that life is sacred and therefore calls for respect. This view has both a religious and secular foundation. The underlying ethos is that life must be preserved and respected. The view of Christians is that life is a gift from God, who should not be offended by taking another individual’s life. Similarly, Islamic religion also says that God is the one who bestows life and is the only one who has a right to cause death. Therefore, euthanasia should not be legalized at all cost.
Euthanasia also violates the physician’s role as a healer and violates professional ethics. If a doctor accepts the role of the “executioner,” his role as a doctor who is considered to be a healer is corrupted, and the relationship and trust that exists between the patient and doctor will be violated. Allowing assisted suicide goes against the Hippocratic Oath which states that “I will never give a deadly drug to anybody who asked for it, nor will I make a suggestion to this effect (D. Harris, 2008).” Doctors are demanded by their code of ethics not to do any harm but to bring relief to their patient hence in the case of assisted suicide; it will be considered as a violation of ethics.
It is also argued that better palliative and terminal care service development are what is required instead of euthanasia. If terminally ill patients have access to high-quality palliative care, then euthanasia becomes unnecessary. Suffering and pain experienced by patients can be eased by giving appropriate palliative care which will make assisted suicide a futile measure (Crocker, 2013).
In a nutshell, euthanasia remains debated and topical, both in the medical and public arena. In my opinion, terminally ill patients should not be allowed to end their lives through euthanasia because life is sacred and therefore should be respected. The argument on individual autonomy is a distorted belief of freedom which annihilates our solidarity with other people. According to Christianity, everyone has a right to life. However, this right is not absolute since life is a gift from God thus there is no absolute autonomy. Human beings are stewards of their lives. God demands us to take care and value our lives rather than taking away our own life. Everyone has a duty to preserve life and to make it bear fruit. Assisted suicide is seen as murder and thus goes against our religious beliefs.
The argument that assisted suicide reduces suffering is not applicable as granting appropriate palliative care can relieve the suffering and pain of patients suffering from incurable conditions. If terminally ill patients are given appropriate and quality care, there will be no need for euthanasia. Also, no one has a right to death, and it is not even included in the Constitution as part of the human rights. Therefore, no one should be allowed to procure assisted suicide hence my argument remains that terminally ill patients should not be allowed to end their lives via euthanasia. It should be illegal in the United States of America.
References
Crocker, K. (2013). Why Euthanasia and Physician-Assisted Suicide are Morally Permissible. Florida State University Libraries , 10-13.
D. Harris, B. R. (2008). Assisted Dying: the ongoing debate. Postgraduate Medical Journal , 479-482.
Ebrahimi, N. (2012). The ethics of euthanasia. Australian Medical Student Journal , 115-117.
Pakhu, J. (2010). Debatte on Euthanasia (Pros and Cons). Universidade Catolica Portuguesa Faculdade de Teeologia , 16-15.
Strinic, V. (2015). Arguments in Support and Against Euthanasia. British Journal of medicine and Medical Research , 1-12.
