Compare Euthanasia And Assisted Suicide

Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide Euthanasia is the act of killing a patient in order to end their suffering. Similarly, assisted suicide is the act of committing suicide with the help of a caregiver and sometimes, a physician. Both are illegal in most countries, but are becoming widely accepted more and more. There are various types of euthanasia including voluntary, non-voluntary, and involuntary. One type of euthanasia is voluntary. This means that the patient chooses to die, but the physician is the one who ends their life. An example of this is if a patient requests a doctor to give a lethal injection due to being competent and in pain. A person who is terminally ill might choose this if they are sick of being in treatment …show more content…
While euthanasia generally only involves terminally ill people, assisted suicide can include anyone. In most places it is illegal, but like euthanasia, there are exceptions for patients in critical condition. The laws allow doctors to prescribe lethal doses, but leaves the patient to actually administer the medicine. In the United States, physician-assisted-suicide is legal in Oregon, Montana, Washington, Vermont, and California. Many regular citizens, as well as physicians are strongly against assisted dying. The World Medical Association created the Hippocratic Oath for physicians, which states, “I will give no deadly medicine to anyone if asked, nor suggest any such counsel" and "I will maintain the utmost respect for human life". The association agrees that assisted suicide goes against this moral code. The International Code of Medical Ethics also says that it is the doctor’s obligation to preserve and respect human life. Many fear that if more legalization occurs, the “right to die” would become the “responsibility to die”. This puts mentally vulnerable people at an even higher risk of choosing an early death, because suicide becomes a safe and legal option. For these reasons, the majority of the few physicians who do participate in assisted-suicide agree that patients seeking an early death should be referred to therapy before making the big decision. Family of …show more content…
This makes the process even tougher for the patient. Sometimes if a family member pushes to hard it could cut off connections with them and the patient. This would really stress out the family further than it might have if they did not worry about it to begin with. It could lead a patient to feeling like a burden and want to have euthanasia. Euthanasia has also had many effects on society. Depending on how people perceive this issue it can create a big controversy. Some people’s religious views on the issue make them believe a certain way. Most Christians disagree with suicide and killing themselves. In fact some would consider it going against God. Other religions may not have such a differentiating belief in this matter. Overall, Euthanasia has many pros and cons. It can be good if someone chose that option without being coaxed into it. However, if that is not what someone wants they should not feel pressured by family members or even doctors performing the injection. It can also have many negatives if someone is uncomfortable with the decision and cannot speak for themselves due to their health issue. The euthanasia could be viewed as biased and bad for the client and the client’s family. Considering the basic information, Euthanasia does not seem like the best choice for