Essay on Assisted Suicide
The Ongoing Historical Debate Of Euthanasia
The word euthanasia originates from two Greek words, meaning “good death”. In the most natural state, euthanasia defines a death positively sought after for mankind, in the act of dying and ultimately death. Unfortunately, the term historically and currently leads to debate and manipulation to insinuate a criminal act. World civilizations must remember the crimes of the past, and fear misplaced power as currently occurring in Darfur, however, the horror of genocide does not belong in the euthanasia debate. The arguments originate from cultural, religious and social values and dictate as well as interfere with the ability to experience a “good death”. For decades, the world has been experiencing a battle between the advocates and opponents of legalizing euthanasia. While the Euthanasia Act released November 2011 by the Royal Dutch Medical Association outlined new guidelines, there are histories and past cases that need to be studied to fully understand possible implications.
The legalization of assisted suicide has increased debate regarding a slippery slope effect due to a turbulent history and the misguided dogma that it will lead to involuntary euthanasia. Historically, the ongoing controversy regarding the slippery slope effect and its pertinence to those who are curable, have surrounded euthanasia placing the experience of dying with dignity, for the terminally ill in jeopardy. An article titled, The Unleashing of the Destruction of Life Devoid of Value, categorizes people who are to be eliminated. The book written by two Germans in 1920, Carl Binding, a doctor of jurisprudence and philosophy, and Alfred Hoche, a medical doctor, labeled burdensome people as “incurable idiots, mere caricatures of true men whose death create no vacuum.” The book and its contentions are later exemplified, by both the defense and offense, as the origin for condoning the genocidal Holocaust of Nazi Germany in the late 1940’s.
The word euthanasia originates from two Greek words, meaning “good death”. In the most natural state, euthanasia defines a death positively sought after for mankind, in the act of dying and ultimately death. Unfortunately, the term historically and currently leads to debate and manipulation to insinuate a criminal act. World civilizations must remember the crimes of the past, and fear misplaced power as currently occurring in Darfur, however, the horror of genocide does not belong in the euthanasia debate. The arguments originate from cultural, religious and social values and dictate as well as interfere with the ability to experience a “good death”. For decades, the world has been experiencing a battle between the advocates and opponents of legalizing euthanasia. While the Euthanasia Act released November 2011 by the Royal Dutch Medical Association outlined new guidelines, there are histories and past cases that need to be studied to fully understand possible implications.
The legalization of assisted suicide has increased debate regarding a slippery slope effect due to a turbulent history and the misguided dogma that it will lead to involuntary euthanasia. Historically, the ongoing controversy regarding the slippery slope effect and its pertinence to those who are curable, have surrounded euthanasia placing the experience of dying with dignity, for the terminally ill in jeopardy. An article titled, The Unleashing of the Destruction of Life Devoid of Value, categorizes people who are to be eliminated. The book written by two Germans in 1920, Carl Binding, a doctor of jurisprudence and philosophy, and Alfred Hoche, a medical doctor, labeled burdensome people as “incurable idiots, mere caricatures of true men whose death create no vacuum.” The book and its contentions are later exemplified, by both the defense and offense, as the origin for condoning the genocidal Holocaust of Nazi Germany in the late 1940’s.
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