The Injustice of Euthanasia - Essay
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 life 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 of 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 9:6 says: “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed for in the image of had has God made man.” Homicide is illegal everywhere 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
Bibliography: "A Culture of Death: Scientific American." Science News, Articles and Information Scientific American. 31 Mar. 2009 . In the underworld of assisted suicide and euthanasia, Russel 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, Blogs, 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. "Dr. Death Strikes Again - TIME." Breaking News, Analysis, Politics, Blogs, News Photos, Video, Tech Reviews - TIME.com. 31 Mar. 2009 . In the vanguard is Kevorkian, 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 Alzheimer 's patient Janet Adkins commit suicide. Humphry, like Kevorkian, 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 Dr. Kevorkian’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 Dr. Kevorkian 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 . T4-Program also called T4 Euthanasia Program Nazi German effort—framed as a euthanasia program—to kill incurably ill, physically or mentally disabled, emotionally distraught, and elderly people. Adolf Hitler initiated this program in 1939, and, while it was officially discontinued in 1941, killings continued covertly until the military defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945. Adolf Hitler empowered his personal physician and the chief of the Chancellery of the Führer 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 215 of his patients. His crimes raised troubling questions about the powers and responsibilities of the medical community 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. "Europe 's Way of Death - TIME." Breaking News, Analysis, Politics, Blogs, News Photos, Video, Tech Reviews - TIME.com. 31 Mar. 2009 . These days in the Netherlands and across much of Europe, divisions over euthanasia have largely healed. Polls in the U.K. and France show up to 80% support for legal changes that would allow patients enduring extreme suffering from a terminal illness to request medical assistance to shorten their lives. The debate in Europe centers less on whether euthanasia is right or wrong than on how to regulate it. Yet there are striking differences in terminology and approach. In the Netherlands, a medical treatment can be terminated when it is no longer "meaningful." Also describes other ways other places in Europe feel about and handle the subject of euthanasia. "Ifeminists.com editorial Pro-Lifers Link Euthanasia to Abortion." Ifeminists.com: News. 31 Mar. 2009 . Pro- Lifers Link Euthanasia to Abortion. The definition of abortion and euthanasia and the ways they can be administered is given. It talks about the sanctity of life saying that it is wrong to take the life of yourself or another person. "Salon.com Books | "Professor Death"" Salon.com - Breaking news, opinion, politics, entertainment, sports and culture. 31 Mar. 2009 . Ira W. DeCamp also known as Professor Death is the Professor of Bioethics at Princeton University 's Center was given an interview about his views on euthanasia and abortion. The 54-year-old philosopher from Melbourne maintains that the life of an infant is not automatically more valuable than the life of a higher animal, say a pig, especially not when that infant has all kinds of "defects." Parents should be allowed to have the life of a severely disabled baby ended, according to Singer, just as a pregnant woman is allowed to have an abortion when she discovers her embryo will become a disabled child.