Your thoughts about euthanasia

[mauzip]

The other day I had a discussion with English about Euthanasia. Euthanasia is that a docter gives a terminally ill patient his (or her) last shot. I noticed that a lot of Americans have something against euthanasia. I think it's a good thing. Consider yourself in the situation you're terminally ill and it is sure that you will die a painful death. Wouldn't you wanna decide about when your last moment is?

In the Netherlands euthanasia is legalized by the law. In Columbia, Belgium, Switserland and the state of Oregon have a law that allows docter assisted suicide.

[Trauma-san]

I don't really have an opinion on it.  

[infinite59]

My religion is againt Euthenasia, I'm all for it, but I am not wiser than Allah... so for the record, I'll go with him on this one.

[Don Jacob]

it's assissted murder/suicide

i'm against it

[bLaDe]

I have mixed feelings towards this.  But for the most, im against it, it is not right for us to take Gods authority, peace

  -{bLaDe}

[Doggystylin]

I have mixed feelings towards this.  But for the most, im against it, it is not right for us to take Gods authority, peace

  -{bLaDe}

[tnp]

I'm for it. Just on the basis of being able to live (and die) how you want to. I can understand people being morally opposed to it but I can't understand how a country can make laws against it. I've had to watch someone I love with a terminal illness deteriorate before my eyes, and I certainly would have liked for that person to have that option.

peace,
tnp

[Ant]

Opposition to euthanasia is based primarily on moral convictions.  Furthermore, it is determined by people who are not in the shoes of the person asking to be euthanized.  

Let's put it this way.  Every member of society has moral convictions.  Even murderers do.  It impossible for all of our moral convictions to be correct.  The likely counter to that is, well the moral conviction opposing euthanaisa is determined by the whole of society.  How can you oppose that?  Well you have to first consider who the whole of society is.  A minority portion of society can be deemed truly intelligent, and knowledgeable.  Even out of those knowledgeable people many are irrational.  I'm sure anyone here as witnessed a highly successful person that you find to be irrational.  Quite simply many people that are successful get by on knowledge and not on reason.  Many people never even gain a large amount of knowledge.  The amount of rational and knowledgeable members of society is relatively small.  You need both to make semi sound decisions.  Reason without knowledge constrict your thinking to the limited amount of stuff you know, knowledge without reason just means you can repeat well.  Still most people go with what "the public agrees on."  Having said all that.  Just because a moral conviction is agreed upon by the general public does not prove its validity.  Yet, publicily held moral convictions are the primary assumptions we go by to deem euthanasia wrong.  

Now lets consider another problem in our assumption that euthanisia is wrong.  "We", being people who are not seriously ill, determine euthanasia to be illegal for people who are seriously ill.  If I was a highly pessimistic individual I might say that this is a sick form of power struggle where the weak want to make decisions for the weaker.  That's a little extreme, but I do think I would be fair to say that we all desire a sense of importance.  Even the irrational and unknowledgable members of society would like to feel that do at least "something" right.  So hey why not take a stand for moral convictions (which sprang from my irrational, unknowledgeable, public opinion guided mind) and tell people who are terminally ill they can't do as they please because "I" said so and the "public" backs me.  Euthanasia does not affect most members of the general public, in fact they could completely ignore it their whole lives and it really wouldn't matter one bit.  So why even make a political issue about it?  

Personally there is no question of is it legal or illegal to me.  Its a question left only to the individual.  Perhaps if doctors were going around enticing people to be euthanized with superbowl ad's featuring britney spears being shot with lethal injection then the public can comment.  Otherwise, what doesn't affect you leave it alone.  Especially if you are not adequately informed to make such a decision.

[mauzip]

The other day I wrote an essay about euthanasia for English. I post it here and let me know if you're still against it or if I convinced you that it is absolutely not wrong.

Euthanasia

   It was April, 1996, when BV was a terminal patient of the Amsterdam medical center. The AIDS patient had overcome several diseases. One day B's doctors discovered cancer. B received several coarses of chemotherapy, but they all did not work out for him; the cancer could not be cured. B still had a couple of months to live and it was obvious that his death would be slow and painful. He already had extremely bad days, that alternated with ‘healthy' days. B asked his doctors if they could euthanize him because he wanted to decide when his last moment would be, and he did not want to suffer anymore. The doctors granted his request to be euthanized and on April 26, surrounded by his four brothers and his mother, B said good bye to the world. His mother did not really know if she supported B's decision or not. On one hand she did not want him to suffer, but on the other hand she hoped scientists would find a medicine against his cancer and AIDS, but B's request had been granted. In the United States this could never have happened. Euthanasia is still illegal in the United States, with the exception of the state of Oregon. Although there are some counterarguments against euthanasia, people should be able to die with dignity, like B, therefore euthanasia should be legalized all over the United States.
   There are a lot of people who have arguments against euthanasia. Those people have several reasons for opposing euthanasia. The main reason is, of course, abuse: a lot of people think euthanasia could lead to abuse and that innocent could people die. Some even think that "some hospices kill [their patients] before (...) the patient dies a natural death" (Panzer 2). This is nonsense because in countries where euthanasia is not illegal they do it for the patient and only if the patient agrees. When the euthanasia bill passed the Dutch lawmakers, several Christians protested because as 19-year-old Henrico van der Broek said, "we don't have the right to decide about matters of life and death, but God does" (Deutsch 1). It is obvious that certain religions are against euthanasia because God had to decide about life and death. God wants everybody to have a good life, so the point that these people have, makes no sense. The Second World War is for some people another reason to be against euthanasia. Hitler wanted to get rid of "the psychically and mentally handicapped [to who he] viewed as "useless" to society" (Panzer 1). There is no way euthanasia can be compared to the cruel holocaust of World War II. Most of B's ancestors were murdered during the homicide; he had no grand-parents anymore, and most of his cousins, uncles, and aunts were murdered too. B never even thought about the holocaust, but he knew this was the best for him. As the years passed by, scientists found better medicines against AIDS; the actual AIDS will come later in with the medicines the HIV carriers take now, than the medicines the HIV carriers took back then. In some cases it probably happened short after the patient had been euthanized, a medicine against the particular disease had been found. However, doctors can never tell; a lot of medicines are suddenly found, for example antibiotic. Of course, this is unfortunate for the patient, but life can be hard sometimes.

[mauzip]

   There is only one country in the whole world where euthanasia actually is legalized: The Netherlands. The law passed only one and a half years ago, but several countries "tolerate euthanasia, although it has not been legalized" (Deutsch 1) for several years already. The Netherlands is "the first country [though] to allow doctors to end the lives of patients suffering unbearable and without hope" (Deutsch 1) and to actually pass the bill and legalize it. The public approval for legalizing euthanasia was nearly 90%. Now, the public approval is probably higher since there have not been reports of abuse. Before the Senate voted for the bill, (ex-) "Health Minister Els Borst gave a final assurance that the law could not be abused by doctors because of careful supervisory provisions" (Deutsch 1). That was also one of the major conditions the bill had to pass through. A lot of people outside of the Netherlands do not understand the conditions for euthanasia. Like mentioned earlier in this essay the patient has to be terminally ill and there is no doubt the patient will die, this even has to be stated by two doctors. A licensed doctor must do the action himself or herself. Unless the patient is not able to, the patient makes the decision about getting euthanized. Family and friends have officially no word in it. Like in the case of B, his mother had peace with her son's decision, until B's last day. They even got in a fight and his mother also got in a fight with the doctor. B still got euthanized. Euthanasia is only possible for Dutch residents. If somebody who has not a Dutch passport wants to be euthanized, that person has bad luck, because his or her wish is not going to happen.
   It happens very often that a patient becomes terminally ill. In these cases it is sure that the patient will die a painful death. If the particular patient knows this and he wants to die with dignity, and he wants to decide himself when he wants to die, he should have the chance to be euthanized. "We all know the difference between intentional killing and ‘letting die'" (Deutsch 2), so if this is really what the patient wants, there should not be anybody against the euthanasia of the patient, even the family. It could also occur that there is a patient and he can be cured, but there is no chance of a total recovery and a good life. For instance: a man has had a major car accident. He broke several parts of his body, including his skull. He will never walk again like a ‘normal' person, but that is not the biggest problem. Because of his broken skull, his brain was damaged. Now the man is a psychopath, not because he wants to, but because he cannot help it. The man is a danger to his environment and to himself. Since "hospices are not licensed to take care for chronically ill" (Panzer 2), the man should be euthanized. Also because the man will always be like that, no matter what; he will never get a life in which he will be happy. Another example of someone who has been euthanized is Maria, a Dutch woman who suffered from anorexia for 14 long years. According to he pediatrician, who euthanized Maria, she asked three times for death. "Dr. Kors, [the pediatrician], was charged with murder" (Kavanaugh). However, Dr Kors was acquitted by the judge because "the judge agreed with Maria [that] her suffering had made her life unbearable" (Kavanaugh).
Another important reason to legislate euthanasia in the United States is the law that basically says euthanasia should be possible. The 14th Amendment offers "equal protection under the law" (Deutsch 2), but there is no treatment possible to relieve someone from pain by killing. ‘Killing' is first of all the wrong word used here; it should be assisted suicide. Secondly, if everyone has the right to be protected equally, everyone should be able to protect themselves from a painful death. The European Union made a law that states people do have "the right not to be forced to suffer" (Diaz 3). This is contained in the European Declaration of Human Rights to be exactly. Besides all the laws, everybody is the boss of his or her own body. Everybody should be able to "choose freely between life and death" (Diaz 2), just as everyone has the right to walk in his own house.
   This all leads to the conclusion that citizens of the United States should be able to choose whether they want to be euthanized or not, if the situation arises. This should be a right, legislated by the Congress. Everywhere in the United States (read: world) euthanasia should be legalized because everyone is the boss over his or her own body, so if somebody gave a doctor the task to end his or her life, that should not be wrong, and the doctor should not be prosecuted for that. Legislate euthanasia all over the United States!

[jeromechickenbone]

euthanasia? the cd released by megadeth in 1994? straight classic cd. (anybody ever listened to it?)

no really. i think if someone wants to make that choice, they should be able to. where does euthanasia start? if a guy beats off, busts a nut in a napkin, throws it in the trash, is that euthanasia? i mean he's literally killing millions of sperm. so people say its ok if its the first 3 months of pregnancy, but not later. what the fuck is that? legislation wasted on these type of topics is what fucks a lot of things up. if people want to have abortion, or want assisted suicide, i say let them do it.

[min0rity]

against it..who are we to judge??