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Legality of euthanasia
Moral or immoral? Mercy or murder? Last hope or easy way out?
Euthanasia is mercy
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Table of content
Introduction............................................................................................................................................. 3 Arguments against euthanasia ................................................................................................................ 5 Arguments in favour of euthanasia ......................................................................................................... 7 The rules surrounding Dutch euthanasia are very strict ......................................................................... 8 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................. 10
Introduction
A few years ago, my great-aunt was terminally ill. She was in a lot of pain and knew that there was no chance of her surviving the disease, so she asked for euthanasia. Her request was granted, and her life was ended relatively painless and a lot quicker than it would've happened otherwise.
My great-aunt died a merciful death, but thousands of suffering patients all over the world can't enjoy the same privileges because they live in countries where euthanasia is illegal. Because I am wondering if this ban is really necessary, my hypothesis will be:
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Sources for this section (alphabetically organized): 1: CBS (11-7-2012), Euthanasie bij bijna 3 procent van de sterfgevallen. http://www.cbs.nl/nlNL/menu/themas/gezondheid-welzijn/publicaties/artikelen/archief/2012/2012-3648-wm.htm (Used 23-11-2013) 2: De Jong, M. and Borger, S. (No date known) Wat is euthanasie?. Euthanasie, http://borgerson.nl/page.php?id=2 (Used 23-11-2013) 3: MedicineNet (20-9-2012) Definition of physician-assisted suicide. http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=32841 (Used 23-11-2013) 4: WiseGeek (no date) Which countries have legalized euthanasia? http://www.wisegeek.com/which-countries-havelegalized-euthanasia.htm (Used 23-11-2013)
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The legalization of legal euthanasia will, according to some, eventually lead to involuntary euthanasia and legal murder. o After legalization of euthanasia terminally ill will be neglected[1] When euthanasia is legalized, palliative care will get worse. Doctors and nurses won't be as committed to their patients as they were before the legalization of euthanasia. They'll see euthanasia as a less costly way of taking care of their patients and encourage old and terminally ill patients to commit euthanasia. o Euthanasia gives doctors too much power[1] Some people are afraid that, when given the possibility to end a person's life, doctors will have too much power and misuse this power. o The only reason for euthanasia is the incapability of giving a patient hope and support[3] The article arguing this is specifically speaking about euthanasia in case of Alzheimer's disease. This is a brain disease in which the patient slowly loses his or her memory; since a patient has to appear lucid in order to get euthanasia, a patient has to ask for it in an early stage, while he or she could still be enjoying his or her family and other relatives. The writer argues that euthanasia should only be used when there is no other option left, and not when the people don't have the motivation to stand by a patient. To allow those people to commit euthanasia would be prematurely giving up hope, while those people are able to lead happy lives for the time being.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Sources for this section (alphabetically organized): 1: BBC (2013) Anti-euthanasia arguments. BBC, http://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/euthanasia/against/against_1.shtml#top (Used 11-12-2013) 2: Bergsen, W. (2010), Mijn man had blaaskanker. Ik-wil-euthanasie.nl, http://www.ik-wil-euthanasie.nl/verhalen-over-hetlevenseinde/mijn-man-had-blaaskanker/ (Used 11-12-2013) 3: Braams, R. (24-3-2013) Soms denk ik dat euthanasie voortkomt uit het onvermogen troost te bieden. De Volkskrant, http://www.volkskrant.nl/vk/nl/5270/Zorg/article/detail/3413727/2013/03/24/Soms-denk-ik-dat-euthanasiasmevoortkomt-uit-onvermogen-om-troost-te-bieden.dhtml (Used 11-12-2013) 4: Jorissen, M. (2010), Ik wilde euthanasie laten plegen. Ik-wil-euthanasie.nl, http://www.ik-wil-euthanasie.nl/verhalenover-het-levenseinde/ik-wilde-euthanasie-laten-plegen/ (Used 11-12-2013) 5: Meertens, K. and Bruntink, R. (27-3-2012), Euthanasiedoctrine is sterk misleidend. De Volkskrant, http://www.volkskrant.nl/vk/nl/3184/opinie/article/detail/3220753/2012/03/07/Euthanasiedoctrine-is-sterkmisleidend.dhtml (4-11-4/2013) Top five myths about euthanasia and assisted suicide. IMFC, http://www.imfcanada.org/issues/top-five-myths-about-euthanasia-and-assisted-suicide (Used 9-12-2013)
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In a Flemish survey, 1055 people were asked whether they would or would not want euthanasia in case of Alzheimer's. Nearly fifty percent (48%) answered that they would want euthanasia. [4] This shows that people actually want euthanasia and they're not afraid of it not as afraid as they are of the diseases that are the other option. It's more effective and cheap A research carried out by CNN has shown that in the United States, one-fourth of the Medicare (a social medical insurance program) money is spent on caring for people in the last stages in their lives; this adds up to more than 125 million dollars.[8] End-of-life care is very expensive and though it might be harsh to speak of the end of one's life in terms of financial benefits, euthanasia is much cheaper for both the government and the patient, who despite the insurance still has bills of thousands of dollars for end-of-life care.[8] Yet, end-of-life care often only prolongs life: it does not improve it. For many patients who need medical help for staying alive, the last months of their lives are painful and terrible. [6]
o Family Another conviction about euthanasia is that people will commit euthanasia with strain of their family, because the family sees the patient as a burden, or they're eager for the patient's heritage. In the case of Alzheimer's patients (for these are the ones who have the most difficulty with taking well thought decisions), this is very unlikely, says Peggy van Galen, who has worked with demented patients for several years. She ensures me that people aren't likely to be euthanized just because their family wants it. "We've had families that asked us to commit euthanasia on their relatives, but as long as you don't have the patient's approval, you can't. No one can decide about another 8
person's life; that would simply be murder. That's why demented patients aren't likely to get a euthanasia. You have to be mentally competent to get a euthanasia, and demented people aren't: they don't know what they're doing. They know that euthanasia will kill them and they know what death means, but they can't grasp the full consequences of euthanasia. Even in the early phases of Alzheimer's, their ability to make rational decisions is already declining, so unless they filled out a declaration before they got their disease, the chance of Alzheimer's patient getting euthanasia is minimal." o Consequences But of course, it would be easy to cheat with euthanasia, wouldn't it? Wouldn't it be easy for a doctor to simply not report the euthanasia? This doesn't seem to be the case. "As a physician, you don't want to take euthanasia lightly. As soon as a relative of the patient or someone else who's involved in the process suspects that the doctor has acted against the patient's will or done something wrong in the process of providing euthanasia, they can alarm the health care inspection." When the health inspection is alarmed, a research will be started to trace the steps the doctor took; thus, it is not as easy for a doctor to gloss over a euthanasia.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Sources for this section (alphabetically organized): 1: Author unknown (20-3-2008), Woman with disfiguring cancer lives, euthanasia debate lives. USA Today, http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/health/2008-03-19-cancer-euthanasia_N.htm (Used 14-12-2013) 2: CBS (11-7-2012), Euthanasie bij bijna 3 procent van de sterfgevallen. http://www.cbs.nl/nlNL/menu/themas/gezondheid-welzijn/publicaties/artikelen/archief/2012/2012-3648-wm.htm (Used 14-12-2013) 3: Day, M. (8-2-2009), A father's plea: let my daughter die in peace. The Guardian, http://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/feb/08/eluana-englaro-assisted-suicide (Used 14-12-2013) 4: Joosten, S. (3/20/2013) Helft Vlamingen verkiest dood boven dementie. Nieuwsblad.be, http://www.nieuwsblad.be/article/detail.aspx?articleid=DMF20130319_00510785 (Used 11-12-2013) 5: Laville, S. (13-5-2002), Diane Pretty dies in the way she always feared. The Telegraph, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1394038/Diane-Pretty-dies-in-the-way-she-always-feared.html (Used 14-122013) 6: Morris, M. (12-9-2013) 10 arguments for legalizing euthanasia. Listverse, http://listverse.com/2013/09/12/10arguments-for-legalising-euthanasia/ (Used 14-12-2013) 7: Regionale toetsingscommissies euthanasie (no date), Zorgvuldigheidseisen. http://www.euthanasiecommissie.nl/zorgvuldigheidseisen/default.asp (Used 12-12-2013) 8: Wang, P. (12-12-2012), Cutting the high cost of end-of-life care. CNN Money, http://money.cnn.com/2012/12/11/pf/endof-life-care-duplicate-2.moneymag/index.html (Used 14-12-2013)
Conclusion
In my eyes, my study proved my research statement right. Euthanasia holds many advantages; both ethically and financially. I've lived in the Netherlands, the first country to legalize euthanasia, for all my life and I have never encountered any problems regarding euthanasia. On the contrary, I'm grateful for knowing that, if I were to get terminally ill, my suffering could be finished prematurely. My study only strengthened this belief; in my eyes, the advantages to euthanasia strongly outnumber the disadvantages, especially since I found many reliable sources contradicting the claims some sources made against euthanasia, showing that those claims are probably mainly myths. I believe that much of the controversy surrounding euthanasia is a result of a lack of provided information about the topic. I do feel that the religious aspect of the discussion is an important point; faith is an important part of a religious person's life and their beliefs shouldn't be taken lightly. Frankly, I believe that despite the importance of religion this isn't a good argument either. After all, euthanasia is all but obligatory and when a religious person falls ill, they can reject euthanasia. No person should live one day too much with a serious, painful disease. Euthanasia might be seen as murder, but after all the articles I've read on the topic, it's my opinion that in many cases of horrible diseases, granting a person's request for euthanasia is the only just thing to do. Therefore, I think my statement is proven right: it would be a good idea for more countries around the world to legalize euthanasia.
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