Euthanasia - Whose Life is it Anyway?
Euthanasia
Whose Life is it Anyway?
The issue of euthanasia has become progressively known about in America as well as in many other countries. There are many different questions that are asked about the legalization of euthanasia. One specific question frequently asked about euthanasia is whose decision should it be to end a life?
People's judgments about euthanasia are based on misunderstanding of information, history, and misinterpretation of data that is presented (Emanuel 1). Definitions of specific terms should be clarified in order to understand and argue the issue. Euthanasia is the decision by the patient that his or her life will come to an end even when the life could be prolonged (Emanuel 1). According to Emanuel, this decision may include direct interventions, active euthanasia, or withholding life prolonging measures, passive euthanasia (1). People tend to make incorrect assumptions such as: euthanasia is the refusal of a respirator or artificial nutrition, the administration of drugs to a patient by a doctor who is aware that the patient will die but the patient is not, or when a doctor provides lethal medicine to a patient so they can perform the life ending process on their own (Emanuel 1). Historically euthanasia is rare because those who wanted to die simply committed suicide on their own and those who were seriously ill
Smith 2 died anyway because of lack of technological advance (Heifetz 102). Therefore people cannot depend on history or information they hear because the correct information on euthanasia is not always given.
I believe it is sometimes acceptable for doctors to stop a life sustaining treatment when there are grounds for assuming that it is in the best interest of a severely incompetent patient or one who is terminally ill. Of course there should be some guidelines to prevent the matter from going out of control. Otherwise people would be using doctors to end their lives for no real reason and then the issue would become unethical in the eyes of many.
One thing one must worry about when deciding to legalize euthanasia is what criteria should the patient fit into before the process can be considered. According to Doyal, treatment must be said to be no medical benefit or too burdensome, but that may not be linked to the claim that the patients life is no longer worth living (1). We must ask ourselves what makes a life sustaining treatment no benefit to...