What is Euthanasia?

Euthanasia is the taking of ones life. It is taken from the Greek meaning ‘easy death’. It may seem like suicide, but involves another person. It is a choice made either by the person in suffering or the other person involved, such as a doctor or a loved one.

There are many reasons why a person decides to end their life. Being physically and mentally ill can result in a person not wanting to carry on with their life, as it may be too hard to cope.

There are two types of euthanasia – compulsory and voluntary.

Compulsory euthanasia is when another person decides when a persons life is going to end-this could be a relative or doctor turning of a life support machine etc.  Sometimes it may be considered ‘mercy’, killing when it applies to someone with a serious illness. An example of compulsory euthanasia is when the Nazis decided to kill people due to their race, colour, religion, disability etc. They did this as they thought it was for the right reasons as these people were seen as a nuisance and a let down to Germany.

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        Voluntary euthanasia is when a person them self decides to die. This may be due to a terminal illness that they feel interferes with their life and deprives them of a good quality of life.        

An example of voluntary euthanasia is the court case of a woman named Jose. She was 30 years old when she requested for a doctor to end her life. Jose had been a diabetic since childhood, and as a result she was unable to digest food. Every alternative imaginable was tried, but with no effect, so Jose’s local doctor said he would be willing ...

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