Nastya Kryukova, 1 EI.

" You matter because you are you.

You matter to the last moment of your life,
and we will do all we can,
not only to help you die peacefully,
but also to live until you die."

... Dame Cicely Saunders,

founder of Hospice

One of the most important public debates today surrounds the issues of euthanasia.
The final decision of that debate will considerably affect family relationships, interaction
between doctors and patients, and concepts of ethics.
Probably the major argument in favor of euthanasia is that the person involved is in
great pain. Everyone, whether it is a person with a life-threatening illness or a chronic
condition, has the right to pain relief. Euthanasia is very important for those who suffer in
extremely painful and hopeless situations. Also there is no compassion in allowing one to
suffer needless pain from a terminal condition. We should have compassion on the family
and friends as they watch their loved in such condition. Many people who are for
euthanasia consider that the modern society has developed to a point that makes it possible
to work out a humane policy toward death and dying. Moreover, it is an effort to make
possible a "gentle and easy death" for patients suffering from incurable diseases or injury
in its terminal stages. It is beneficent euthanasia if, and only if, it results in a painless and
quick death, and if the act is beneficial to the patient. And neither the law nor medical
ethics needs to keep a person alive. Insistence, against the patient's wishes, that death will
be postponed by every available medicine is contrary to law and practice. It would also be
cruel and inhumane. Every person has a freedom of choice.
In contrast, euthanasia violates moral codes and Hippocratic Oath. To quote the oath:
"I will neither give a deadly drug to anybody who asked for it, nor will I make a suggestion
to this effect." For some physicians the problem of euthanasia arises just because of a
certain ambivalence in the Hippocratic Oath. In fact, by this oath, a physician is committed
both to the treatment and cure of disease and to the relief of suffering. For this reason,
physicians and other medical care people should not be involved in directly causing death.
The most difficult questions of euthanasia may arise when patients are in an
unconscious state or coma and are unable to tell their wishes. Euthanasia should be here
administered only in carefully defined circumstances and as a last resort and with all
possible legal safeguards.
Another argument against euthanasia is that it will not be for people who are
"terminally ill".
It is virtually impossible to predict the life expectancy of a particular patient. Some people
diagnosed as terminally ill don't die for years. So euthanasia can be an unreasonable way of
relieving pain.
All in all, the problem of euthanasia in every country will take a lot of time to decide
whether it helps or destroys lives of terminally ill patients.