Argumentative piece – The Euthanasia Issue

Good afternoon. Ladies and gentlemen, I am here today to put forward the case of Euthanasia. The definition of Euthanasia originally meant: ‘A gentle and easy death,’ but time has altered it to mean: ‘The Act of inducing an easy death.’ Both definitions refer to acts which terminate or shorten life painlessly.

There are five different categories in which euthanasia can be placed, they are:

∙Voluntary, which is often referred to as assisted suicide. In these cases the sufferer has made it clear that they wish to terminate their life and has requested help for a painless end.

∙Involuntary Euthanasia is when the patient expresses no wish to die and no consent is given, however the patient is in a state of mind where they are capable of expressing their wishes.

∙Non-voluntary Euthanasia is when patients can not express a wish to die but it is considered a mercy killing as the sufferer is in a coma, a vegetative state or may have senile dementia.

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∙Passive Euthanasia is widely carried out in the UK and is generally accepted as being legal. The patient is allowed to die by the withdrawal of treatment or nourishment. Hospices support this and help patients to die slowly and painlessly, it is sometimes referred to as a slow overdose.

∙Active Euthanasia is when the patient takes part in the decision which involves specific actions such as lethal drugs or injections which are intended to cause death.

Arguments about euthanasia often revolve around two beliefs; ‘The right to life,’ and ‘the right to die.’ The first is widely accepted as ...

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