Eutahasia and Physician Assisted Suicide
Uploaded by Nemo on Jan 13, 2004
Euthanasia and Physician
Assisted Suicide.
Discussions about euthanasia often get mired in a mountain of emotional accusations, such as charges that the “most vulnerable” of humans are “besieged by euthanasia practitioners” and that families must fight “anti-life assaults on their loved ones” which “threatens the lives of those who are medically vulnerable.”
In reality the basic question that should be posed by euthanasia and physician assisted suicide to any person should be, should a person who is terminally ill and feels that their life is not worth living because of intractable pain, loss of dignity, loss of capability (disabled in any kind of way) and who repeatedly asks for help in committing suicide, is of sound and mind and not suffering from depression be given the choice of physician assisted suicide?
Ultimately, euthanasia is a question of choice empowering people to have control over their own bodies. Most arguments against from a religious aspect are that “God gave life, only he should take it away.” Why should people be given the choice to play god. To choose whether it is acceptable to murder a living person. No living man in the world should ever in their lives ever make a decision to take away someone’s life. I urge you at this moment to think, would you like the responsibility to make such a fatal decision, the choice to choose someone’s fate?
Luckily there are people who stand firmly against euthanasia and physician assisted ‘MURDER’ such as groups concerned with disabilities, who fear that euthanasia is the first step towards a society that will kill disabled people against their will. If a law to allow euthanasia was passed the devastation could be endless. It could just begin with terminally ill patients but extend to allow the state to kill anyone they deem worthless. Dr Dobson states, “We will eventually be killing those who aren’t sick, those who don’t ask to die, those who are young and depressed, those who someone considers to have a poor quality of life, and those who feel it is their obligation to ‘get out of the way.”
Groups that promote access to assisted suicide seem to publicize cases where people have a terminal illness, are in intractable pain, and want to end their life. Although such cases do exist, they are in small minority. Many dying patients who are in serious pain have adequate access to pain-controlling medication. I urge you to...