Euthanasia

Paper Summary:

This paper states that, under special circumstances, it is morally and ethically permissible for a physician to provide the knowledge or assistance whereby a terminally ill patient can have his life ended. The paper contends that physician-assisted suicide (PAS) and euthanasia, under the right conditions and circumstances, seems to be appropriate methods for the elimination of pain and suffering for those that are terminally ill. The paper explains that an individual who maintains his mental awareness while ill should be given the choice of PAS or euthanasia regardless of how family members or those in society feel about the matter. The paper presents the belief that a person should always have the opportunity to die with dignity and not suffer the torments of a particular disease which will eventually result in their death.

From the Paper:

"The reasons for allowing euthanasia are often very complicated and controversial, but overall, euthanasia provides the patient with the dignity to die as painless as possible and with some modicum of contentment. Those that are against euthanasia generally based their arguments on ethical or religious values that go against a physician being allowed to facilitate the premature death of a patient. However, it is obvious that a competent patient with a sound mind should be given the right to die with dignity when that patient is suffering from an incurable and debilitating disease. In support of this, Dan W. Brock maintains that euthanasia "is morally justified when voluntarily chosen by a terminally ill patient whose life has become unendurable" and when "motivated by respect for the wishes of the patient, provides. . . a dignified (and) humane death" (11)."

More papers on Euthanasia:

• Persuasive Essay # 140910 : "Euthanasia"
• Persuasive Essay # 26888 : "Euthanasia"
• Persuasive Essay # 37089 : "Euthanasia in America"
• Argumentative Essay # 3150 : "Justifying Euthanasia"

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