Should euthanasia be legal in the United States? Originating from the Greek terms "eu" (happy or good) and "thantos" (death), euthanasia literally means "happy death" or "good death". It is commonly defined as, “the act of bringing about the death of a hopelessly ill and suffering person in a relatively quick and painless way for reasons of mercy” (LeBaron 1). Assisted suicide is a form of euthanasia, when a person helps commit suicide or provides information of how to do so to another person. A person taking another person 's life without his or her request in order for that person not to have ample suffering is a mercy killing. Both are methods of euthanasia. We all have the right to die if it ends a person 's suffering or if a person is
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Being that Switzerland allows euthanasia, the number of people from other countries traveling to Switzerland to end their lives under the auspices of right-to-die organizations has increased. “Twenty-one arrived from the United States: five in 2010, nine in 2011, and seven in 2012” (Belluck 1). Obviously, the number is rapidly increasing throughout the years. We cannot regulate the laws of foreign lands. We must make provisions within our laws to regulate this issue within our boundaries under our control and supervision. We must not prosecute loved ones for "encouraging or assisting" suicide who enable or assist an ill individual to travel abroad to end their life lawfully. The ability of the wealthy to travel to countries where it is lawful for the terminally ill to end their lives has the impact of treating the haves and have-nots unequally. Another reason why euthanasia should be legal is because it, “justifies giving pain-relief treatment even if it has the effect of shortening lives, provided the primary intention was to relieve the pain, not to kill the patient” (Life Information 1). Therefore, euthanasia was intended to relieve pain from suffering people. The decision to live or not is personal, so the doctors and government should not have the power to decide for someone. “Not practicing euthanasia at the request of the dying person is …show more content…
“Opponents of euthanasia say that euthanasia enhances the power and control of doctors, not patients” (Life Information 2). It would make more sense for the patient to have more power especially since they are the ones with their lives on the line. We should not force people who are suffering to live in misery. The law should allow patients to choose what they believe is best for themselves. “A state 's categorical ban on physician assistance to suicide -- as applied to competent, terminally ill patients who wish to avoid unendurable pain and hasten inevitable death -- substantially interferes with this protected liberty interest and cannot be sustained” (ACLU Amicus Brief in Vacco v. Quill). Therefore, people do have the authority to end their lives. The actual euthanasia process is painless and can be done in two ways: actively or passively. Passive euthanasia involves gradually taking someone off of a medication that keeps them alive or disconnecting a person from a life support machine. This kind of euthanasia is the more accepted of the two. Active euthanasia, which is much more controversial, involves taking direct steps to cause a patient’s death like a lethal injection. However, the patient is always given the option by their doctor before
Being that Switzerland allows euthanasia, the number of people from other countries traveling to Switzerland to end their lives under the auspices of right-to-die organizations has increased. “Twenty-one arrived from the United States: five in 2010, nine in 2011, and seven in 2012” (Belluck 1). Obviously, the number is rapidly increasing throughout the years. We cannot regulate the laws of foreign lands. We must make provisions within our laws to regulate this issue within our boundaries under our control and supervision. We must not prosecute loved ones for "encouraging or assisting" suicide who enable or assist an ill individual to travel abroad to end their life lawfully. The ability of the wealthy to travel to countries where it is lawful for the terminally ill to end their lives has the impact of treating the haves and have-nots unequally. Another reason why euthanasia should be legal is because it, “justifies giving pain-relief treatment even if it has the effect of shortening lives, provided the primary intention was to relieve the pain, not to kill the patient” (Life Information 1). Therefore, euthanasia was intended to relieve pain from suffering people. The decision to live or not is personal, so the doctors and government should not have the power to decide for someone. “Not practicing euthanasia at the request of the dying person is …show more content…
“Opponents of euthanasia say that euthanasia enhances the power and control of doctors, not patients” (Life Information 2). It would make more sense for the patient to have more power especially since they are the ones with their lives on the line. We should not force people who are suffering to live in misery. The law should allow patients to choose what they believe is best for themselves. “A state 's categorical ban on physician assistance to suicide -- as applied to competent, terminally ill patients who wish to avoid unendurable pain and hasten inevitable death -- substantially interferes with this protected liberty interest and cannot be sustained” (ACLU Amicus Brief in Vacco v. Quill). Therefore, people do have the authority to end their lives. The actual euthanasia process is painless and can be done in two ways: actively or passively. Passive euthanasia involves gradually taking someone off of a medication that keeps them alive or disconnecting a person from a life support machine. This kind of euthanasia is the more accepted of the two. Active euthanasia, which is much more controversial, involves taking direct steps to cause a patient’s death like a lethal injection. However, the patient is always given the option by their doctor before