The Injustice of Euthanasia Euthanasia is a word that is not used every day, the meaning goes way deeper than some people understand. Euthanasia, also called mercy killing or painless death, is the act of putting to death without pain or allowing to die, as by withholding extreme medical measures (dictionary. Com). Because there is no specific condition for it in most legal systems, it is usually looked upon as either suicide (if performed by the patient himself) or murder (if performed by someone else).
A physician may, however, lawfully decide not to prolong fie in cases of extreme suffering; and he may administer drugs to relieve pain, even if this shortens the patient’s life (article-9033299). It is a sensitive topic to discuss because there are so many different views and opinions floating around. Some think that it is perfectly fine to kill someone because they do not want to be in pain anymore. Others feel that it is morally incorrect to take the life of another person just because they “think” that they cannot handle the pain.
It seems like people in support of euthanasia make it sound as though the superhuman efforts made to keep people alive are not worthy f human beings rather than the rats that the research is done on. What could be more respectful of human life, than to maintain life against all odds, and against all hope? Euthanasia is wrong because it De-values human life by taking it away like it means absolutely nothing. Mercy killing is homicide in technical terms, which is the killing of one human being by another. It is rejected in traditional Christian belief, mainly because it disregards the prohibition of murder in the Ten Commandments.
Genesis 916 says: “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood e shed for in the image of had has God made man. ” Homicide is illegal eve”/here you go. In most places, one goes to prison or will lose their own life because they have committed a homicide. Hence there are three types of euthanasia: voluntary-active, passive, and non-voluntary. Voluntary-active euthanasia is when the request comes directly from the person that they want to die. This can only happen when the patient has given full, informed consent.
Passive euthanasia involves a death that is intended in order to benefit the person who dies. It involves a final act by someone other than the attain (the physician) in order to end the patient’s life. Non-voluntary euthanasia is when the person cannot make the decision for themselves. The person could possibly be too young to make the decision for themselves. They could also be in a coma, have severe mental retardation, are severely brain damaged, is mentally disturbed to where they should be protected from others as well as themselves, etc.
Human life deserves to be secure and protected and that is virtually impossible for someone who cannot make the decision on whether they want to live or not on their own. When the person an no longer or have never been able to make an important decision on their own, it gives someone else the power to make whatever decision THEY see fit. Jack Sovereign, also known as Dry. Death, was born in Pontiac, Michigan on May 26, 1928. He attended the University of Michigan and graduated in 1 952 from the University of Michigan Medical School (article-9115137).
He is a former pathologist who is most known for publicly supporting a terminal patient’s right to die through physician-assisted suicide. He claimed to have assisted at least 1 30 patients in dying without natural cause. He famously said hat “dying is not a crime. ” Sovereign gained international attention when he made it for possible Janet Adkins of Portland, Oregon, who was 54 years old and in the early stages of Alchemist’s disease, to kill herself by using his so- called Micron machine in 1990. Over the following 3 and a half years he was associated with the deaths of 20 others (article-911 5137).
On the November 22, 1998 broadcast of 60 Minutes, Dry. Sovereign allowed the airing of a videotape he had made on September 1 7, 1998, which showed the voluntary euthanasia of Thomas Yuk, a 52 year old adult male with full decisional ability who was in the final stages of Metamorphic Lateral Sclerosis also known as Lou Geris disease. After Yuk gave his fully-informed consent on September 17, 1 998, Sovereign himself administered the lethal injection. During the videotape, Sovereign boldly challenged the authorities to try to convict him or stop him from carrying out assisted suicides.
This action made the district attorney bring murder charges against Sovereign, arguing he had single-handedly caused the death. On March 26, 1 999, Sovereign was charged with first-degree homicide and the delivery of a controlled substance (the Ethel injection given to Thomas Yuk). Dry. Asseveration’s license to practice medicine had been revoked eight years earlier to the assisted suicide incident; which meant that he was not legally allowed to have a controlled substance in his possession. As a doctor, one is required to take the Hippocratic Oath.
It requires a new physician to swear on a number of healing gods that he will uphold a number of professional ethical standards. One Of the best known prohibitions is, “to do no harm”. Dry. Sovereign violated this standard as well as the one that states: “Whatever see or hear in the lives of y patients, whether in connection with my professional practice or not, which ought not to be spoken of outside, will keep secret, as considering all such things to be private”. Instead of keeping his antics a secret, he purposely allowed one of his many affairs to be aired on national television to be viewed by millions of people.
Euthanasia is legalized for only the terminally ill. Things are rapidly changing in the united States. Things are happening that were thought to be impossible. Moves are being made that affect everyone. Since euthanasia is legalized only for the terminally ill now (in certain states), later laws could sibyl be changed to allow it for other people which means that it could be done non-voluntarily more often. Everyone is different on all levels. It is virtually impossible to find people who are exactly the same. People go through so much on a daily basis that it sometimes seems unbearable.
According to 1 Corinthians, 6:19-20 (King James Version), “What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are notary own? For ye are brought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s. This has the indication that we belong to God. He chose for us to live so that we may have eternal life with Him. Suicide is wrong, but it is sometimes the only way people see fit is to get away from all of the pain. If euthanasia is made legal for everyone, then that could very well become a way for people in those positions to get away from it all.
It would be legal and in the eyes of the people, it would not be so bad because technically they did not kill themselves but in actuality they did because they had to give their permission in order for the procedure to be done. Advanced medical technology has made it possible to make the human life span longer and to also make the quality of life better. Instead of death being the first option, there are now rehabilitation centers that are by far better alternatives to help disabled patients approaching death live a pain-free life.
The main reason for euthanasia is because the person is in some sort of pain whether it is physical or mental. There are also other alternatives like medications, mediation, and pastoral and spiritual support. Medication may only relieve the pain for a short period of time but it does relieve the pain. Family could play an important part in a person’s thought process. Family members influencing the patient’s decision into euthanasia for personal gains like wealth inheritance is another issue. There is no way one can be really sure if the decision towards euthanasia is voluntarily or heavily influenced by others.
There are some indecent people in this world and it is hard to determine where a person’s heart is. You cannot judge a book by its cover and you cannot believe everything a person says. Following your instinct is the best thing to do but how can a person do that when they are incapable Of asking decisions on their own? How are you sure that your instinct is the right way to go? Many decisions are not based off of instinct. People are heavily influenced by others and in this case, there is no difference. Emotional and mental pressures could become intense for depressed or people who are dependent on others.
If the choice of euthanasia is considered as good as a decision to get the care needed, many people would most likely feel guilty for not choosing death. Financial situations, added to the concern of being a “burden”, could be a powerful force that could lead a person to “choose” assisted suicide. Our economy is in a recession at this point. It is much harder to get a job that pays well today than it was years before. Everyone does not have a college education which ultimately gives one a better chance at better pay. Bills rise in the winter time because extra money has to be spent in order to keep housing warm and livable.
This makes it even harder to pay bill and one’s stress level rises. Stress can play a major role in depression which leads to many other detrimental things that people go through on a daily basis. We spend more than a billion dollars a day for health care while our teachers are underpaid, and our industrial plants are rusty. This should not continue to keep happening. There is something fundamentally weak about a society that moves its basic value-producing industries overseas yet continues to manufacture artificial hearts at home. We have money to give smokers heart transplants but no money to renovate steel mills.
We train more doctors and lawyers than we need but fewer teachers which are necessities. On any given day, 30 to 40 percent of the hospital beds in America are possibly empty, but our classrooms are overcrowded and our transportation systems are failing. We are great at treating sick people, but we are not that great at treating a sick economy. And we are definitely not succeeding in international trade. When you really look around and try to find industries the United States is succeeding in, you discover that they are very few and far between.
According to 1 Corinthians, 6:19-20 (King James Version), “What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are brought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s. ” This as implications that we belong to God. He chose for us to live so that we may have eternal life with him. Euthanasia is wrong because it devalues human life by taking it away like it mean nothing. Granted, everyone goes through pain and giving up always seems easy but it hardly ever is the way to go.
Sticking it out and showing perseverance is a way to gain confidence and gives a brighter outlook on life. Knowing that one can get through something that was thought to be impossible is refreshing because it gives assurance. Pain and suffering are part of being human. It is what makes us strong. God as a plan for us. Taking away a life because of pain is irrational. With euthanasia, no one’s life is being saved. Life is only being taken and that is not fair to the Lord and to those who care about the “victim” In conclusion, I think that it is important to reiterate that everyone is ultimately different.
Everyone has different opinions about when it comes to death in general. The topic of euthanasia is difficult. However, I believe it is an issue that society needs to address and confront. The question is, do we go that one step further and legalize acts of direct euthanasia? The power to ruminate life at this point solely rests in the hands of the Lord Jesus Christ. The law needs to confront the matter of euthanasia, but needs to be careful not to give physicians the power that comes closely to the power of God. Since it is said that our count;ass built upon the Word of God then we should abide by what it says at all times.
The Bible verses above are only a couple examples of how death is supposed to be handled. I just feel that if we as a people refer to the Bible to determine how we live and how some things are unethical such as homosexuality and homosexual marriage, then we would refer to it when it comes to more common things like: tithing (which people still do not do regularly like they are supposed to) Deuteron 26: 12, overcoming stress (lob 3027), tattoos (Leviticus 1 9:28 Amplified), masturbation (Hebrews 1 NIB), as well as something the United States cannot stay out of which is war (Revelation 12 7-1 1).
If we are going direct attention to the Bible in one instance then we need to for everything else including assisted suicide. Annotated Bibliography “A Culture of Death: Scientific American. ” Science News, Articles and Information Scientific American. 1 Mar. 2009 . In the underworld of assisted suicide and euthanasia, Russell Ogden examines the means and methods– even as he is shunned by academia and chased by the law. Ogden has faced legal and ethical roadblocks. The authorities have repeatedly pressured him to identify his informants. “deciding When Death Is Better Than Life – TIME. Breaking News, Analysis, Politics, Blobs, News, Photos, Video, Tech Reviews – TIME. Com. 31 Mar. 2009 . This article is about the unavoidable uncertainties in both active and passive euthanasia. Doctors may disagree over a prognosis. A patient may be so depressed by pain that one day he wants out, while the next day, with some surcease, he has a renewed will to live. There is the problem of heirs who may be thinking more of the estate than of the patient when the time to pull the plug is discussed. Doctors will have to live with these gray areas, perhaps indefinitely.
Attempts to legalize active euthanasia-?under severe restrictions-have failed in the U. S. And Britain but will doubtless be revived. “Dry. Death Strikes Again – TIME. ” Breaking News, Analysis, Politics, Blobs, News Photos, Video, Tech Reviews – TIME. Com. 31 Mar. 009 . In the vanguard IS Sovereign, a retired Michigan pathologist who appeared on every television talk show and news program in the country last year in the 24 hours after he helped Alchemist’s patient Janet Adkins commit suicide. Humphrey, like Sovereign, has urged physicians to assist in patient suicides.
But much of the medical community remains deeply divided over this issue. This is an article explaining Dry. Asseveration’s career and how it has sparked up debates on if it is morally correct or not. Encyclopedia – Britannica Online Encyclopedia. 31 Mar. 2009. This article provides the definition of euthanasia and gives the origin of where it comes from. It briefly gives details of where euthanasia is legal and how it is a controversy among many people. Encyclopedia – Britannica Online Encyclopedia. 31 Mar. 2009 . This is dedicated solely to Dry.
Sovereign and his antics. It describes his whole life and life in prison. It tells about his method(s) of assisting patients to die. Encyclopedia – Britannica Online Encyclopedia. 31 Mar. 2009 . TO-Program also called TO Euthanasia Program Nazi German effort-?framed as a euthanasia program-?to kill incurably ill, physically or mentally disabled, notionally distraught, and elderly people. Doll Hitler initiated this program in 1 939, and, while it was officially discontinued in 1941 killings continued covertly until the military defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945.
Doll Hitler empowered his personal physician and the chief of the Chancellery of the F;here to kill people considered unsuited to live. Encyclopedia – Britannica Online Encyclopedia. 31 Mar. 2009 . Harold Frederick Shipman British doctor and serial killer who murdered at least 21 5 of his patients. His crimes raised troubling questions about the powers and responsibilities of the medical immunity in Britain and about the adequacy of procedures for certifying sudden death.
His motives were unclear; some speculated that Shipman may have been seeking to avenge the death of his mother, while others suggested that he thought he was practicing euthanasia, removing from the population older people who might otherwise have become a burden to the health care system. A third possibility raised was that he derived pleasure from the knowledge that, as a doctor, he had the power of life or death over his patients and that killing was the means through which he expressed this power.
