The Right to Die? – Euthanasia

In this world, most of the people face problems more than happiness. One of the problems is how people able to face disease or death. Euthanasia, known as assisted suicide or term as mercy killing. "Euthanasia" comes from the Greek word eu meaning "good", and the Greek word thanatos meaning "death". Literally Euthanasia means good death English medical word, 2010). Euthanasia in Belgium, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Canada, Switzerland and Colombia are legal.

There are two main classifications of Euthanasia:

Voluntary Euthanasia - this is Euthanasia conducted with consent. It is means the patient is aware of what he or she doing and clear of his or her decision.

Involuntary Euthanasia - Euthanasia is conducted without consent. The decision is made by another person because the patient is incapable to doing so himself or herself.

The issue of Euthanasia is, should this system apply in this world? In this world, there are a lot of moral dilemmas of Euthanasia such as:-

Ø  Is it ever right to end the life of a terminally ill patient who is undergoing severe pain and suffering?

Ø  Is there a moral difference between killing someone and letting them die?

There are few points that why Euthanasia should or should not apply in this world.

Should

1)      Cost

Most of the patients that would like to end their life because don’t want to burden their family. Take care of a patient costs a lot such as medical fee; hire a maid to look after the patient, require a lot of time to take care patient and will affects the family members in mentally and physically.

2)      To Reduce The Suffering of Patient

Many cancer patients would not want to go through a lot of suffering such as loss weight, loss hair, vomit, immune dysfunction and body pain. Patients willing to die as the pain cannot torture them any more, even though family members may disagree.

3)      Freewill

Euthanasia shows basic human right and freedom for every individual to determine their lives.

4)      Dignity

Every individual should be given the ability to die with dignity.

Should Not

1)      People Might Take It For Granted

Human nowadays are fragile and not able to face difficulties of life in a positive way. They choose to escape from problems rather than solve the problems. More people seeking assisted suicides in the country do not suffer from any terminal disease (Thomsson, 2011).

2)      Moral Religious Argument

Religious people believe that life is given by God, and only God should decide when to end it.

3)      The legal Position

If Euthanasia was made legal, the laws regulating it would be abused, and people would be killed who didn't really want to die.

In Ethics class, we learnt about Oxymoron. It is the combination of two contradictory terms. Same goes to Euthanasia, people will think that is a murder while some people will think it is the best way to stop the pain and die peacefully.

As I mentioned above, there are two type of Euthanasia which are voluntary and involuntary. In Voluntary Euthanasia, for my opinion, every decision is under one’s willingness. If the patient is undergo extreme suffering from sickness, I also will suggest Euthanasia to take place even it is a cruel thing to do. But this must get the permission from the patient. If the patient has the possibility to get recover, I will not encourage patient undergo Euthanasia. To get a sickness to recover, it requires a lot of time, money and energy. But as long as there is a hope, we should not give up our lives. There are so many things in the world we are not yet try, discover and experience them.

For Involuntary Euthanasia, it is conducted without consent. For example, a patient that in coma and cannot make decision for himself or herself. So for this, usually family members are the one who make the decision. It this ethical? The patient willing to die in that way? Or how about patient that without family members? Government or hospital need to make a right decision as it costs a human life.

So, in conclusion, I personally will not encourage Euthanasia to takes place in human lives. Life is a treasure that we only have once for the entire life. So, stay healthy and be positive always no matter what circumstances come to our lives.

Thank You!