Preview

Euthanasia should not be legal

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1571 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Euthanasia should not be legal
Euthanasia Should Not Be Legal
An English Composition Practice Paper At the beginning of 1990, Dr. Death, Jack Kevorkian, assisted over 130 patients die. He was sentenced 4 times for murdering. On March 26, 1999, Kevorkian was caught by second degree murder after he injected a death drug to Mr. Youk. Kevorkian was sentenced to 10-25 years in jail. But Kevorkian was paroled in 2007 after serving just 8 years. With medical science offering, more and more ways to help people live longer, there are still a lot of patients who can not make their life better, then Kevorkian’s opinion is that one should have the right to die. Unfortunately, Kevorkian is wrong because he is prejudiced against the life. Kevorkian was completely entranced by death and he also was affected about death a lot from his mother who had fled and survived the Armenian death marches organized by Muslim Turk during the early part of 20th century (Ablow,2011 ). Some people may have a lot of questions about Kevorkian’s murdering and his assisting suicide. Why did Dr. Kevorkian get into the jail? Why should terminal ill people not have the right to end their lives? Should euthanasia be legal? Who is responsible for these lives which Kevorkian assisted suicides? The sick people or Kevorkian? Not either of them! The law should be responsible. Dr. Kevorkian should go to the jail for assisting suicide. Euthanasia should not be legal because the patients and Kevorkian do not have the right to end any lives, because the people who try to die by euthanasia are selfish and egocentric. Moreover, preventing euthanasia would also prevent murdering and protect people from unscrupulous doctors and others. Some people think they have the right to die; unfortunately, they are self-centered and just think of themselves and they are not responsible for others. The people who think they have the right to die when they are suffering from terminal illness should think of their family and friends,

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Powerful Essays

    Shatzer, J. (2010). Between the Dying and the Dead: Dr. Jack Kevorkian 's Life and the Battle to Legalize Euthanasia. Ethics & Medicine, 26(2), 128. Retrieved May 19, 2011, from Research Library. (Document ID: 2015897771).…

    • 1087 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Dr. Jack Kevorkian, Dr. Death, believed he was ethically right by assisting terminally ill people to end their life by prescribing and "pushing" life taking drugs. Dr. Kevorkian argued that by assisting these people with their suicide, the final outcome would end their pain and suffering and the patient has that right through the principle of Autonomy. As cited in Scholarly literature Dr. Kevorkian was only ½ correct. The theory is "Practitioners are considered to be acting ethically in their primary intention of relieving pain, regardless of secondary result" (Pierce, 1999). Therefore that is partly where Dr. Kervorkian lost his bid for being ethically right. He was prescribing the drugs for the sole intent and purpose to end the life of the patient. Secondly was the fact that he went from just prescribing the drugs for pain and comforting the patient while they administered them to themselves, to actually administering the lethal doses his self with the secondary results to become the primary intentions.…

    • 756 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The ending of one’s life, terminally ill or not, should not be done purposely by another man’s hands. If such procedures were considered acceptable, every ill person with no will to continue living would try to find ailments that deem assisted suicide. Jack Kevorkian, also known as “Dr. Death,” was a lifelong activist for physician-assisted suicide. Kevorkian was said to have assisted in 130 suicides of terminally ill patients during his life and is looked at as a sick and twisted killer to many, but as a brave, respected pathologist to others. To look back on his history and past activity, is extremely bizarre and unusual; there is everything from leaving pathology in the 70’s to make a movie, to advocating for the usage of medical experiments on criminals during execution. Assisted suicide violates the Fourteenth amendment, which prohibits government from depriving a person of life, liberty and property without ensuring fairness. The act is also by a general consensus, seen as morally and ethically taboo. However, if the patients asked Dr. Kevorkian to assist in their suicide, is he deserving of the criminal charges he has landed, or should he be seen as merely a doctor obeying his patients’ wishes? The facts that present themselves show that Dr. Kevorkian’s actions were arguably unjustified.…

    • 1776 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Dr. Jack Kevorkian was the face of the assisted suicide movement in the 1990s, and his practices in assisted suicide and euthanasia are shrouded in controversy. According to (Preface p.1), “He invented a killing machine called the mercitron which incapacitated or debilitated people could use to take their own lives: All they had to do was flip a switch.” He became known as Dr. Death and assisted over 130 people in their deaths from 1990-1998. In attempt to bring attention to the Right to Die movement, Dr. Kevorkian was public about his self-described “mercy killings.” In doing so, he had several murder charges brought against him by the state of Michigan. He was never convinced, until his attempt to ratchet up the debate resulted in him taping…

    • 219 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Jack Kevorkian

    • 872 Words
    • 4 Pages

    I think that one of the biggest miscarriages of justice that I witnessed in my lifetime was that of Dr. Jack Kevorkian receiving a 10 to 25 year sentence for wanting to help end the suffering of a helpless human-being. Dubbed "Dr. Death" by the media frenzy that followed the actions of the controversial physician, he received this sentence for helping to end the life of 52 year old Thomas Youk, who was fighting a hopeless battle with Lou Gehrig's disease. Dr. Kevorkian set up his "suicide machine" in order for the person to knowlingly and voluntarily disperse the chemical concoction that would end the suffering of the victim his family. Although Dr. Kevorkian assisted in the death of 35 people, it was the Thomas Youk case that brought national attention and thus the wrath of the criminal justice system of the state of Michigan. Similar to phsycian-suicide is the issue of both voluntary and involuntary active euthanasia. Both of these involve carrying out the death of another human being, who either knowingly or unknowlingly makes that decision. What makes the case of Dr. Kevorkian different is that he met with all of his patients and recorded the fact that they were coherent and able to make their own decision about the ending their life. I am guessing that when the Thomas Youk story aired on 60 Minutes in 1998, it brought national scutiny and a mockery of the laws in the eyes of the Michigan criminal justice system. I wanted to better understand this concept the particulars about this case and what the overwhelming public opinion on the topic was nationally and within the state of Michigan.…

    • 872 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Best Essays

    Weeds vs. Flowers

    • 4681 Words
    • 19 Pages

    Dr. Jack Kevorkian is a firm believer in physician-assisted suicide, giving his patients the dignity and respect that they deserved in making this last major decision for their life and how they wanted to end it. His patients thought of him as a hero because he aided them in their major time of need, and they felt very comfortable with him because they didn’t have to worry about feeling awkward when bringing up this method of help. The family members of Kevorkian’s patients were ultimately happy that he provided such ease to their loved ones, and showed nothing but care and respect for those individuals. This decision is a heavy burden to bear because of the feelings that the majority of people feel is wrong and immoral. Dr. Kevorkian was convicted of second degree murder in 1999 because of assistance with euthanizing one of his patients Thomas Youk, who suffered from Lou Gehrig’s disease in 1998. He was provided with financial support by an organization called “The Hemlock Society” for his lawsuit, and they also referred patients to him for their aid in finding a caring physician that would end their suffering.…

    • 4681 Words
    • 19 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Better Essays

    Humphry, Derek. “Evaluating Dr. Kevorkian’s Contribution to the Right to die Movement in America – Assisted Suicide.” Evaluating Dr. Kevorkian’s Contribution to the Right to die…

    • 1342 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Living is more valuable than dying and threatening to diminish the value of life is dangerous. Euthanasia, also called mercy killing, is the practice of doctors intentionally ending a terminally ill patient’s life in what is purportedly a gentle and dignified manner. The term originated in ancient Greek and means “easy death.” Doctors perform euthanasia by administering lethal drugs or by withholding treatment that would prolong the patient’s life. Physician-assisted suicide is also a form of euthanasia, but the difference between the two methods is that in euthanasia, doctors end the patient’s life with lethal injections, whereas, in physician-assisted suicide, patients kill themselves with a lethal amount of drugs prescribed by the doctors.…

    • 1537 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Euthanasia advocates Patients are constantly receiving criticism from those who believe that euthanasia is not ethical and should be illegal everywhere. Euthanasia can be defined as the painless killing of a patient suffering from an incurable and painful disease. The practice of euthanasia is illegal in most countries. Euthanasia can be either voluntary, non-voluntary, or involuntary. Voluntary euthanasia occurs when the patient requests to die. Non-voluntary euthanasia occurs when a patient is either unconscious or unable to make a choice regarding their death and an appropriate person makes this decision for them. Involuntary euthanasia occurs when the patient wishes to live but is killed anyway and is considered murder. There are different…

    • 991 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Physician Assisted Death

    • 2942 Words
    • 12 Pages

    On the day of March 26 in 1999, a man by the name of Dr. Jack Kevorkian was charged with first-degree homicide and the delivery of a controlled substance to Thomas Youk, a man terminally ill with Lou Gehrig’s disease. This disease made the man physically incapable of moving so Dr. Kevorkian himself had to insert the lethal injection into the patient. His previous patients, however, were able to inject themselves. “Kevorkian, being hailed as the champion of the right-to-die movement and denounced as a ghoulish cheerleader for suicide, has helped lead over 130 people to their deaths” (Braddock). Due to his eight year imprisonment, some rejoiced, but others were outraged. Some held rallies for keeping him in jail while others tried to change the…

    • 2942 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Assisted suicide is defined as a controversial medical and ethical issue based on the question of whether, in certain situations, medical practitioners should be allowed to help patients actively determine the time and circumstances of their death. An assisted suicide is usually a situation where a patient is terminally ill, and a doctor prescribes a lethal dose of medication for the patient to ingest when they choose. Another way this is done is when the doctor discontinues giving certain treatment, at request of the patient. The conflict of whether assisted suicide is right or wrong has many different branches in the aspects of ethical, social, and legal issues, often with two main arguments; on the supporting side, people say that everyone should have the right to decide the time, place, and circumstances of his/her death, while the opposing side of this issue state that assisted suicide infers that certain people’s lives are…

    • 1261 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Exploratory Paper

    • 1189 Words
    • 5 Pages

    In 1997, Doctor Kevorkian made his most public debut by receiving a 10-25 year sentence by the U.S. Supreme Court for committing assisting suicides. All one-hundred and twenty situations where Doctor Kevorkian “helped” these people are described in detail on his website. There are statements from the family members of the deceased that have made positive statements about the act, the doctor, and the matter in which it was performed. All the patient’s family members realized how much pain or a painful death would have been in the near future and contacted someone to help with the suicide. Kevorkian helped forty-seven of his suicides poison themselves, either with carbon monoxide gas, a lethal injection of drugs or both (Anstett, 2007).…

    • 1189 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Currently, in the United States, 12% of states, including Vermont, Oregon, and California have legalized the Right to Die. This debate around whether or not to help patients who have terminal illness end their lives has been and is still far from over. The definition of Right to Die is, “an individual who has been certified by a physician as having an illness or physical condition which can be reasonably be expected to result in death in 24 months or less after the date of the certification” (Terminally Ill Law & Legal Definition 1). With this definition, the Right to Die ought to be available to any person that is determined terminally ill, as determined by a professional.…

    • 2370 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The concept and practice of physician assisted suicide is a highly debated topic in today’s news. People often question the morals of the physicians who practice euthanasia and there are some who believe that they should not even be considered doctors. Euthanasia is the ending of someone's life through a doctor's help and is still illegal in most countries. One of the most well known advocates for the practice of euthanasia is Jack Kevorkian, who has also been referred to as Dr. Death. He was tried and convicted of second degree murder, however his practice gained a lot of support from the publicity of his trials. Although he is responsible for over 130 deaths, Kevorkian is a hero in today’s standards because of his involvement in the practice…

    • 1044 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    According to West’s Encyclopedia of American Law, between 1990 and 1999, a well-known advocate for physician assisted suicide, Jack Kevorkian helped 130 patients end their lives. He begun the debate on assisted suicide should be legal or should be illegal. Kevorkian believed in the right to die, “The voluntary self-elimination of individual and mortally diseased or crippled lives taken collectively can only enhance the preservation of public health and welfare” (Kevorkian). He created his own machine that would be used to give the patient a mixture of pain killers and poisons to end a patient’s life. Kevorkian was charged with first degree murder for the death of one of his patients he had helped end their life. Kevorkian tried to get a ballot…

    • 715 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays