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The Social Issue and Ethical Values of Euthanasia

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The Social Issue and Ethical Values of Euthanasia
The Social Issue and Ethical Values of Euthanasia A current event or contemporary social issue that involves ethical values would be the debate about Euthanasia and weather it is ethically right or wrong. “The term Euthanasia originated from the Greek word ‘good death’ (Dictionary).” It is the act or practice of ending the life of a person either by lethal injection or the suspension of medical treatment. There are three different types of Euthanasia, voluntary Euthanasia, involuntary Euthanasia, and active Euthanasia. Some of the different types may seem more ethical and socially acceptable than the others. Voluntary Euthanasia is when a competent person makes a voluntary and enduring request to be helped to die. “I can agree with lots of Professor David Richmond’s assertions about social issues and age but he seems to miss the main point of voluntary euthanasia- it is for terminally ill, or those suffering an irreversible and unbearable condition (SundayStar).” This type of Euthanasia, unlike the other two, seems much more ethical and socially acceptable because the person is actually alert and aware of their disease and aware of their own quality of life. Reasons for an individual to make this decision could be that they are in extreme pain or their quality of life is low. Others beg to differ; some believe that a person should not make these decisions especially most religious individuals because they believe that the decision is solely up to a higher power rather than oneself. Involuntary Euthanasia is to end a person’s life without their knowledge or consent which seems to be rather unethical, and morally wrong. However, in this case, the individual is more than likely unable to make this decision because they are connected to breathing machines and life support keeping them alive. In some cases, these types of individuals could completely turn around and recover without life support keeping them alive, unfortunately that is not always the case for


Cited: Retrieved February 7, 2014 from http://terrisfight.org/facts-about-euthanasia Retrieved February 7, 2014 from http://euthanasia.com/reasonsofeuthanasia.html South University http://myeclassonline.com Free Dictionary http://Legal-Dictionary.com Euthanasia. (2014, Jan 19) Sunday Star-Times. Retrieved from http://search proquest.com/docview/1478477743?
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