Sign Up Now
Get instant access to over 1 million+ study documents
OR
Already registered? click here to login
By creating your account, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and student honor code.
Euthanasia
Law of Euthanasia in California and New York
Types of Euthanasia
Is Euthanasia Justified in any Case?
Effect of Euthanasia on Special Population
Laws of Euthanasia in California and New York
Euthanasia
The old saying life is not a bed of roses is as true today as it was centuries ago. There are uncountable joys in life which make life worth enjoying, while there are many hardships which make it tough. At times, the difficulties become so severe that people prefer death to life. One of the difficulties in life is in the form of disease. Sometimes diseases become so painful that the patients lose hope for their recovery and plan death. Sometimes, they ask the doctors to help them in getting relief from pain. This practice of ending one's life with the help of physician is known as physician-assisted suicide. It is also known as euthanasia.
This paper casts light upon various aspects of euthanasia or physician-assisted suicide. The paper explains its various types and highlights its various legal implications. The paper also contains personal opinion about euthanasia and the situations in which it can be considered as legal in personalised opinion. The paper also compares the laws of euthanasia prevailing in California and New York.
Types of Euthanasia
There are various types of euthanasia which are determined by the level of participation by the physician and the patient. If the physician deliberately makes efforts to kill the patient, to save him from pain or whatever reason, it is known as active euthanasia. If the physician does not make any deliberate effort to save patient from death, it is known as passive euthanasia.
It is interesting to mention that in euthanasia, patient is willing to die. As mentioned earlier, patients are fed up of their miserable condition and request physicians to give them relief from the...
If the physicians find no way of treating them and lessening their pain, they opt for the last possible option to kill them. In this form, it is also known as mercy killing. The physicians kill the patients as the pain becomes intolerable for them.
The passive form of euthanasia can be best described narrating the situation when a patient has difficulty having breathing and his heartbeat is not stable. It is the duty of physician to put the patient on oxygen mask so that his breathing process continues. If he does not make arrangements for this breathing, means he does not make efforts to save his life, it implies that he tries to kill him or helps him in suicide. Though he does not deliberately try to kill the patient, he does not try to save his life hence he participates in killing him. As the effort is not direct, the euthanasia is referred as passive euthanasia.
Is Euthanasia Justified in any Case?
In my view, euthanasia must be discouraged. In order to understand the reason, one must refer to the core concept of creation of human being. The start of life does not depend on human's will. Despite all the developments in life style and technological advancements, man is still incapable to convert a dead body into a live human being. Similarly, a piece of flesh cannot be made a live baby by human beings. There are many people who are physically healthy and fit, still they die. There are many people, who are at deathbed but still alive. Their breathing process continues. It shows that there is an element of life which is beyond the physiology of human being and when it exits the body, one dies. This element is beyond the control of human beings. Hence the practices of suicide are considered undesired in the world.
It is interesting to mention that despite all efforts made by physicians, the patients die. The patients will die eventually, and it is better to let them die naturally. There is an argument…
References
Department of Health. (2011). Chapter 4 -- Decisions at Life's End: Existing Law. Retrieved from http://www.health.ny.gov/regulations/task_force/reports_publications/when_death_is_sought/chap4.htm
Euthanasia Procon. (2012). Top 10 Pros and Cons. Retrieved from http://euthanasia.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=000126
FindLaw. (2012). California Euthanasia Laws. Retrieved from http://statelaws.findlaw.com/california-law/california-euthanasia-laws.html
The committee then informs the family about the decision and, when the request is granted, discusses with the patient how he or she will go through the procedure of euthanasia or PAS. When possible, the patient is asked to sign a declaration of will, which, together with a report on the procedure, will be included with his or her hospital records (Scheper 1994). Some debaters have called attention to the
Euthanasia (against) In North America most people die that can be called a bad death. A study found that "More often than not, patients died in pain, their desires concerning treatment neglected, after spending 10 days or more in an intensive care unit" (Horgan, 1996). The term Euthanasia has originated from the Greek language: eu meaning "good" and thanatos meaning "death." However, according to the Netherlands State Commission, another meaning given to
Power to Kill Ethics in modern medicine are still grounded in a document that is thousands of years old: the Hippocratic Oath. The Hippocratic Oath states, "I will neither give a deadly drug to anybody who asked for it, nor will I make a suggestion to this effect," (Tyson 1). Clearly, the Hippocratic Oath warns against the practice of physician-assisted suicide or euthanasia. Physician-assisted suicide is generally considered to be
Euthanasia comes from the Greek phrase meaning "good death," ("Euthanasia" 112). The various practices that fall under the general rubric of providing a person with the means for a "good death" include physician-assisted death, also referred to as physician-assisted suicide. Until recently, all forms of euthanasia were illegal in the United States and in most other developed countries but within the past generation, these laws have been liberalized so that
E. The exceptions made for impairment and age would open a Pandora's Box of legal precedence. The Death with Dignity Act and any other forthcoming active euthanasia laws will likely continue to follow the same line of reasoning, i.e. that it is the unimpaired individual who must shoulder the full responsibility of the decisions he or she is making regarding the end of his or her life. That is in
Against Euthanasia Death has always been shrouded in mystery, the constant litanies of myth, science, curiosity, magic, fear, and of course, religion. Just as myths have always wound down to the pragmatic, the real, and core accurate factual reporting - summarily losing the romantic, whimsical, and magical elements - so has the inevitability of human death. Death is the central theme to life, vitality, order of society, and even powers - through