Active Euthanasia free essay sample

In today’s society, health care is a major issue. Healthcare is preventions of illnesses. There have been debates on how to solve the problem. Early on before the phrase health care was popular, all the English-speaking countries called it either plain medicine or the health sector but it still meant a health service to treat and cure sickness and disease. Most developed nations have a system of health care for those who cannot afford to pay. Many professional doctors and nurses around the world have been discussing different topics to try to find cures for all kinds of health issues people are faced with. One main topic that has been discussed is Euthanasia, which is the act of killing or permitting the death of hopelessly sick or injured individuals in a relatively painless way for reasons of mercy. Euthanasia is also called medically assisted suicide by a lot of people. We will write a custom essay sample on Active Euthanasia or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page It was also originated from the Greek language and occurs in every race of people. Euthanasia should not be forced on anyone but has good reasons in some cases. â€Å"There are two types of Euthanasia, active and passive. Active Euthanasia is death by commission. Passive Euthanasia is death by emission. † (Mcmanaman 2). Active Euthanasia is very simple from a moral point of view. It is never justified though because it always amounts to murder. Passive Euthanasia can be of good and of immeasurable value regardless of the condition of the patient. (McManaman 2). If you are not very ill or in a dying state these actions will not be performed on you, because then it will just be just like murdering a patient. Either type of Euthanasia should only be able to be legally processed. If it is not legally processed whoever is a family member of one who has been killed by it can sue whoever was given the euthanasia to kill their family member. This is a very serious and offensive case so therefore the consequences will be highly looked at. A recent debate that has been going on is that everyone that is sixty years of age or older should be killed with a morphine overdose to save the cost of younger, healthier Americans paying taxes. The way of using Euthanasia in this particular article is wrong because it demoralizes human life. It gives people no hope towards retirement or a future family. Morals have a huge impact on the decision of ending someone’s life and the government should not have that power. Euthanasia can be good as well when used properly and respectfully. When a person is in a lot of pain or is a vegetable and seeks a resting place then Euthanasia is not frowned upon. Many times euthanasia is the best way to go even though it is a sad experience. The â€Å"Quick Fix-O for Those Over Six-O† Plan by Melanie Hann is a recent article that has gotten a lot of attention dealing with the new way of using Euthanasia. The argument she has is that government should take the lives of every American over the age of sixty years. The way she thinks of taking their lives is from morphine overdose because it is probably that most pleasant way of dying. She claims she is doing America a favor by reducing the trillions of debt we spend on Health Care. Hann makes an analogy pertaining to Euthanasia, taxes and the government. Overall, Hann believes mandatory Euthanasia would benefit America’s society. In a case in 1990, Nancy Cruzan went into a coma after a car crash and her parents wanted the machine that was keeping her alive to be removed. However, in this case the machine consisted of feeding tubes that provided her with hydration and nutrition. These tubes would give Cruzan extra hope of living so that the doctors could continue to do work on her to see if she would show any signs of coming back to life. Her parents viewed the removal of the machine as the termination of unwanted treatment. They had to make a very difficult decision that would not be easy for anyone. They did not want their little girl to die but they had little hope of her survival and wanted to do what was best. They end up choosing to discontinue the use of her feeding tube so she would not suffer anymore. They felt this was the best option for their daughter. There are many examples such as this one that proves Euthanasia is the best choice in most cases. Another case would be one in which performing CPR on a teen whose heart has stopped and a young man that can recover his 86-year old grandmother who has been in Palliative care (McManaman 2). A man named John Close also endured the painful deterioration of his body from Lou Gehrig’s disease for 2 years and by the time he died he could not walk or swallow. This was solved by Euthanasia (Knox 1). In Taiwan, a man killed his wife with a screwdriver and then tried to call it Euthanasia. It is not the same types of acts. Wang Ching-hsi, a retired engineer, killed his wife Sun Yuan-ping, 80, who suffered from Parkinsons disease, at their Taipei home Sunday. Wang gave her sleeping pills then used a hammer to knock the screwdriver in her skull. Wang then turned himself in to police, claiming he performed euthanasia to end her suffering. Wang said his two sons immigrated to the United Stat es, and he has been caring for his wife who had a broken leg in addition to Parkinsons disease. Not wanting to face old age and illness, they discussed committing suicide a decade ago, and he mentioned it several times in his blog (Financial Times LTD, 1). Prosecutors still need to make sure that the way the man said that he killed her is the actual way and Euthanasia can still be performed in Taiwan. One patient’s wish in Switzerland was die. The doctor that performed the act of Euthanasia on her was being look at as an attempted suicide assistant. Something that is different in Switzerland is that active euthanasia is legal but the other forms are not (UPI 1). â€Å"The doctor began a lethal drip for a patient suffering from an incurable degenerative condition who had expressed her wish to die. Since the patient was unable to perform the act herself, the doctor relied on a movement of the patients foot as a signal. The court ruled there was no doubt about the patients wishes and the doctor had a medical and moral duty to break the law out of compassion (UPI 1). â€Å" Several law enforcement and other types of people are involved with euthanasia at times. One judge plead guilty to accepting a charge and then requested that he receive Euthanasia. â€Å"Lawyer Chiu Chuang-shun, who formerly served as a high court judge, pleaded guilty of charges alleging that he accepted and arranged bribe payment to former colleagues. He also asked the Taipei District Court to let him have euthanasia to end his life. Chiu was summoned to a court hearing yesterday for a case involving Chang Bing-lung, another former high court judge, who was recently extradited back to Taiwan from hiding in China by the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB). Chang was convicted for accepting bribe to exonerate a suspect in an earlier case. But he managed to escape to China for hiding. Lawyer Chiu was indicted for playing a role in arranging bribe payment to Chang and other law enforcement officers. When the judge questioned him, Chiu said he was not interested in the court proceedings and had nothing to say. He also threw his plastic cup and water to a computer, asking the court for no more questioning concerning his part in the case. He told the court that he pleaded guilt for all charges concerning his part. Then he requested the court for an affidavit to sign and allow him to have a mercy killing (China Post27, 1). At the end of it all, he did not get the euthanasia that he wished for which is good because he was said to be not guilty in 2003. Those who promote Euthanasia often use the words â€Å"serious â€Å"burden. † (McManaman 2). It affects thousands even millions of Americans each year and the final decision is never easy, but it is if used correctly and for the right reason. That way it will benefit in everyone in the end. Some people will abuse Euthanasia such as a certain family member asking to â€Å"pull the plug† for selfish reasons. Some people omit ordinary treatment so that the patient will die (McManaman 2). Many have done that to their family members for the solely reason to gain inheritance. Seemingly, most families will use it in a good manner for the betterment of their loved one. If a family member is sick or facing a very deadly or painful future then it is best to go ahead and pull the plug. Euthanasia is a very controversial subject. The debate over legalizing euthanasia is more muted in countries such as Italy, Poland and Spain where the Roman Catholic remains strong. (Knox 2). Supporting or not supporting Euthanasia is a very important family and personal decision that should not be left up to doctors or any other adults but the ones most important to the situation that is happening at hand. Before resulting in Euthanasia, a person must consider the situation. There are a lot of circumstances under which euthanasia is a reasonable and responsible choice. Each case is different from another. Euthanasia is a very important, emotional issue. If Euthanasia is ever planned the place where the treatment is being received should be looked at, the people known to the person need to decide if they want to be in the room when the procedure is done, make arrangements for the body in advance and allow yourself grieving time to this sad, but peaceful process. Some people feel that euthanasia is right because they feel that there are circumstances where a person should consider allowing an individual to make the choice to end their life in a comfortable manner. Supporters of euthanasia feel that a person’s life is more important than just extending the length of someone’s life when they are in a miserable state of pain. A person might feel that it is better to end their life peacefully than live longer while in pain. Many believe that it is appropriate for a person to have a living will and request that no extraordinary measures be taken to preserve life. By making these wishes known ahead of time, a person can take the burden off the family members in making these hard decisions. The medical technology today, has in some ways gotten ahead of our ethical ability to sort it all out, and it ends up seeming as if either the people of the family member or the doctors and lawyers are trying to play God. Many say that they do not think they could ever bring myself to pull the plug but if they were ever in the situation they would probably think different. No one would force a person to insist on life-preserving measures for someone if I knew they wished otherwise. Many people do not take Euthanasia seriously and some do but the most important part is understanding why it is happening or being put on the back burner. Euthanasia should not be forced on anyone although there are reasons it could be used correctly and cases to prove it.