There are many different types of euthanasia. First off, the general definition of euthanasia is the intentional killing of another person by act of negligence of a dependent human being for his or her own benefit. (World Book Encyclopedia, 421) There are many more definitions of different types of euthanasia that branch off this one general definition. One is Voluntary euthanasia, which is when the person who is killed asked to be killed. Opposing that is involuntary euthanasia, which is when the person who is killed doesn’t, or is unable or incapable of giving consent or permission. An example of this is a comatose patient. When someone provides another person with the information, guidance, and means to take his or her life is assisted suicide. Similar to this is physician-assisted suicide, which is when a doctor helps another person kill him or her self. Active euthanasia is when one person deliberately kills another person. Opposite of this is Passive euthanasia. There are two totally different definitions of passive euthanasia. One is the act of removing medical treatment from the patient’s request. This is done not to intentionally cause the death of that person, but to relieve that person of pain and/or suffering, which ultimately means death. The other definition of passive euthanasia is intentionally causing death by withholding or withdrawing necessary and customary care or food and water. (Euthanasia.com, 4)
Some people think that euthanasia is right and there is not morally wrong with it. It is just one of the many practices done by doctors. In a survey concerning euthanasia there was a statement: Euthanasia should be legalized so doctors can follow specific guidelines and record each patient to ensure safety; sixty percent of the teens who took a survey agreed to this. They feel that it is the patient’s choice whether to stop the pain and just end their life or live on. (Kim, survey) [As shown on Graph one in the index] One very passionate person about this topic is Cassie Dean. She once said, “What the freak?! It’s the person’s choice whether they wanna die or not! Geez, I mean these people are like, “Well, they are playing God by being able to decide if the person can die or not. Psh! What is that? I mean the doctors are playing God by curing diseases and making fake hearts and lungs so the person can stay alive. If the person is sick enough to die then maybe they were just mean to die. Like in nature, natural selection.” (Dean)
Opposing this point of view is the people who feel that euthanasia is morally and ethically wrong. They think that it puts too much power in the hands of medics. (Euthanasia.com, 6) They feel that there is too much risk of abuse and misuse of the power over life and death. (Kim, survey) [As shown on Graph two in the index.] They feel that people in suffering pain and severe terminal illness won’t be able to make rational decisions, therefore they could choose to die but it could be just because they cannot bear the pain for that one moment and they really don’t want to die.
If in fact euthanasia does get legalized, problems will still arise from this sensitive topic because there are human feelings incorporated into it. In a few other countries euthanasia is legal. In the Netherlands two percent of all deaths each year are a result of euthanasia. In the northern territory of Australia was the first to legalize voluntary active euthanasia. But the federal parliament of Australia overturned the law in 1997. (Beauchamp, 5)
There are different viewpoints for this touchy subject. Some people like Cassie Dean are very passionate about and all for this topic, while others are totally against it. This topic seems to never get any easier to deal with. But hopefully it will become easier to deal with as the time passes.
Bibliography
“AMA: Anti-Euthanasia, Pro-Pain Control.” (Copyright 1997 by Life Issues Institute)
Beauchamp, Tom L. “Euthanasia” Encarta Encyclopedia 2000. Microsoft Corporation, 1993-1999
Dean, Cassie “Quote pro euthanasia” May 22 2002
“Euthanasia Definitions” (copyright 1997)
Kim, Lilian “Survey” 28 May 2002
The World Book Encyclopedia Scott Fetzer Co. World Book Inc. Chicago: 2002