Euthanasia Should Not Be Legalized Philosophy Essay.
Methodist: Methodists generally accept the individual’s freedom of conscience to determine the means and timing of death. Some regional conferences have endorsed the legalization of physician assisted dying.‘Euthanasia’ or ‘mercy-killing’ of a patient by a physician or by anyone else, including the patient himself (suicide) is murder.
In conclusion, the only humane choice is to allow individuals who are suffering to choose to end their suffering. Further, the discrepancies in the laws as they exist and how they are being enforced have led to uncertainty. This uncertainty leaves the doctors, their patients and patient's loved ones unprotected. If we do not address these issues openly and head-on, we will have continued uncertainty and unregulated practice of euthanasia or assisted suicide with the fear of prosecution hanging over the heads of all concerned.
Allah said, ‘My Slave hurried to bring death upon himself so I have forbidden him (to enter) Paradise.’ “Sahih Bukhari 4.56.669 Even those who are atheist they believe euthanasia to be against moral values of our society as it will cause further legal issues.
Euthanasia Should Not Be Legalized Philosophy Essay [Internet].
It is not all people who are terminally ill wish to end their lives implying that the decision made by family members on their behalf is against their will and right to life. In various instances, there have been instances of tragic cases where people who suffer from terminally illnesses want other people to assist them to end their lives. However, there is also a huge number of people who might lose sight of this and think that everyone wants to end his/ her life. For example, it has been established that a large number of people who have found the richness as well as the purpose of life despite the pain as well as the hardship they go through (Sulmasy et al. 252). Different pieces of research like the survey published in the British Medical Journal in the year 2011 demonstrated that majority of the patients who were completed paralyzed but fully conscious of the situation showed happiness and did not want to die. Therefore, caregivers and relatives of such people would be violating the rights of terminally ill patients. Besides, studies have demonstrated that about 32% of the assisted deaths in Belgium are carried out on request while about 47% of assisted deaths are not reported. Since the establishment of the euthanasia law, the number of assisted deaths has increased by about 25%. This illustrates that making it legal for medical practitioners to assist patients to die will enable others to take advantage of the situation and end the lives of their relatives when they know they will benefit from their death.
Even without it being explicitly stated, legalizing euthanasia by NHS would mean that the state is offering it as an alternative to people who are seeking benefits for sickness or unemployment or to pensioners, to refugees and people with disabilities.
People in the UK have the right to deny treatment which could cause death within a matter of weeks - it may be a better option for them to end their life sooner (this could be seen as a form of passive euthanasia).
The arguments pro-euthanasia disregard an important aspect of life regarding the right to protect society from actions that are degrading to human life. Such people point out that assisted suicide and euthanasia is a personal choice which should be embraced on the basis of autonomy. If this was supported, it would imply that patients have a right to terminate their lives. However, it should be noted that this is not a debate about the right to die but the right to assist people to kill themselves. Besides, legalizing the act means giving other people the freedom and legal power to terminate other peoples' lives (Gorsuch 84). Therefore, assisted suicide is not a private act since there is no person that can choose assisted suicide in isolation. Other people are involved in the decision making including the health care providers, relatives, and friends hence the decision has wider ramifications. The cases of specifically autonomous considerations would be in very special conditions where few people would be eligible. An example is a disease that is chronic but not necessarily terminally. However, when the law is passed, it would hardly differentiate such situations on the basis of autonomy. Besides, it should be noted that some considerations to come up with such a law would lead to varying interpretation where the 'right to die' can easily become 'the duty to die.' Therefore, attempts to alter the law to establish clauses that support euthanasia or assisted suicide should not be allowed as social consequences are inevitable as long as the act involves many stakeholders.
Another common argument for euthanasia, is that suicide is legal.
Legalizing euthanasia an assisted suicide is an act of devaluing life which offends even people who are not directly associated with the patient. It should be noted that legalizing assisted suicide is like telling the elderly and the disabled persons that their life is not valuable. The medical practitioners who support the issue illustrate the hopelessness that the patient has on life. Besides, the very medical practitioners demonstrate hopelessness with life as opposed to compassion that they should show to their patients. Such an action, therefore, devalues human life which is against the morality of preservation and promotion of human life at whatever circumstances. According to Sulmasy et al. (249), it is illegal to offend other people due to personal decisions whether one does them singly or is assisted. This offense could be in the form of an attack, resentful displeasure, or violation of certain moral and ethical rights. When one is assisted to end their life, this can be deemed by some people to devalue their life against some people who value the life of the victims. Therefore, this is offensive to such people and should not be tolerated. The affected people can have lasting mental and psychological problems. It is fundamental to note that human beings are relational beings under the natural law and every decision made in society and in law should be viewed to promote that relational good. In this respect, euthanasia and assisted suicides are moral questions and actions that have moral consequences and hence should not be legalized.
Euthanasia and why it should be legalized
d) Allowing euthanasia will not necessarily lead to unacceptable consequences. Pro-euthanasia activists often take examples of countries like the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, etc. where euthanasia has been legalized to justify that it is mostly trouble-free.
There are two types of euthanasia, active and passive.
c) The distinction between passive euthanasia( which is frequently allowed) and active euthanasia is not substantive (the underlying principle–the doctrine of double effect is unreasonable) and