Get premium membership and access questions with answers, video lessons as well as revision papers.
1. Unbearable pain as the reason for euthanasia Probably the major argument in favor of euthanasia is that the person involved is in great pain. Today, advances are constantly being made in the treatment of pain and, as they advance, the case for euthanasia/assisted-suicide is proportionally weakened. Euthanasia advocates stress the cases of unbearable pain as reasons for euthanasia, but then they soon include a "drugged" state. I guess that is in case virtually no uncontrolled pain cases can be found - then they can say those people are drugged into a no-pain state but they need to be euthanasiaed from such a state because it is not dignified. See the opening for the slippery slope? How do you measure "dignity"? No - it will be euthanasia "on demand". The pro-euthanasia folks have already started down the slope. They are even now not stoping with "unbearable pain" - they are already including this "drugged state" and other circumstances.
Nearly all pain can be eliminated and - in those rare cases where it can't be eliminated - it can still be reduced significantly if proper treatment is provided. It is a national and international scandal that so many people do not get adequate pain control. But killing is not the answer to that scandal. The solution is to mandate better education of health care professionals on these crucial issues, to expand access to health care, and to inform patients about their rights as consumers. Everyone - whether it be a person with a life-threatening illness or a chronic condition - has the right to pain relief. With modern advances in pain control, no patient should ever be in excruciating pain. However, most doctors have never had a course in pain management so they're unaware of what to do. If a patient who is under a doctor's care is in excruciating pain, there's definitely a need to find a different doctor. But that doctor should be one who will control the pain, not one who will kill the patient. There are board certified specialists in pain management who will not only help alleviate physical pain but are skilled in providing necessary support to deal with emotional suffering and depression that often accompanies physical pain.
2. Demanding a "right to commit suicide" Probably the second most common point pro-euthanasia people bring up is this so-called "right." But what we are talking about is not giving a right to the person who is killed, but to the person who does the killing. In other words, euthanasia is not about the right to die. It's about the right to kill. Euthanasia is not about giving rights to the person who dies but, instead, is about changing the law and public policy so that doctors, relatives and others can directly and intentionally end another person's life. People do have the power to commit suicide. Suicide and attempted suicide are not criminalized. Suicide is a tragic, individual act. Euthanasia is not about a private act. It's about letting one person facilitate the death of another. That is a matter of very public concern since it can lead to tremendous abuse, exploitation and erosion of care for the most vulnerable people among us.
3. Should people be forced to stay alive? No. And neither the law nor medical ethics requires that "everything be done" to keep a person alive. Insistence, against the patient's wishes, that death be postponed by every means available is contrary to law and practice. It would also be cruel and inhumane. There comes a time when continued attempts to cure are not compassionate, wise, or medically sound. That's where hospice, including in-home hospice care, can be of such help. That is the time when all efforts should be placed on making the patient's remaining time comfortable. Then, all interventions should be directed to alleviating pain and other symptoms as well as to the provision of emotional and spiritual support for both the patient and the patient's loved ones.
4. Autonomy- Autonomy is defined as the "the right of self government or personal freedom"1. Every person has the right to make personal and private decisions about their own lives defined in the American Constitution as "the right to privacy". Since death is the most personal of all things, the individual should have the right to dictate when they die and in what circumstances they do so. To deny people the choice of death by active euthanasia is to force them to do something that is against their will and may well prolong their suffering, and therefore lose human dignity and decency. Death should be with dignity but modern medicine has prevented nature running its natural course. Not allowing a patient to end their life with dignity and free from pain is inhuman and leads to an increase in the callousness of society and a development of a disregard for the quality of life in the face of a choice with quantity of life Those against euthanasia claim that patients are often too affected by their illness to make adequate decisions about their future, but this denies them their true autonomy because every decision that is made regardless of the context is always influenced by internal and external factors. If "society recognises the autonomy of individuals by granting them the right to pursue their views about the good life and create their own lives" then the logical consequence is to allow people to decide their own death.
Wilfykil answered the question on March 13, 2019 at 11:28
- Discuss Pro Euthanasia Arguments(Solved)
Discuss Pro Euthanasia Arguments
Date posted: March 13, 2019. Answers (1)
- Which are the Reasons against Euthanasia?(Solved)
Which are the Reasons against Euthanasia?
Date posted: March 13, 2019. Answers (1)
- Discuss Euthanasia as understood in religion and science(Solved)
Discuss Euthanasia as understood in religion and science
Date posted: March 13, 2019. Answers (1)
- Which are the disadvantages of Genetic Engineering?(Solved)
Which are the disadvantages of Genetic Engineering?
Date posted: March 13, 2019. Answers (1)
- What are the Applications of Genetic Engineering?(Solved)
What are the Applications of Genetic Engineering?
Date posted: March 13, 2019. Answers (1)
- What are the advantages and disadvantages of Genetically Modified Organisms?(Solved)
What are the advantages and disadvantages of Genetically Modified Organisms?
Date posted: March 13, 2019. Answers (1)
- Discuss the moral Issues of Cloning as argued by religionists(Solved)
Discuss the moral Issues of Cloning as argued by religionists
Date posted: March 13, 2019. Answers (1)
- What are the reasons why church is against In vitro fertilization?(Solved)
What are the reasons why church is against In vitro fertilization?
Date posted: March 13, 2019. Answers (1)
- Discuss the advantages and risks of In Vitro Fertilization(Solved)
Discuss the advantages and risks of In Vitro Fertilization
Date posted: March 13, 2019. Answers (1)
- Discuss the Concept of person-hood in religion and scientific view of point(Solved)
Discuss the Concept of person-hood in religion and scientific view of point
Date posted: March 13, 2019. Answers (1)
- Discuss religion and the use of dangerous weapons(Solved)
Discuss religion and the use of dangerous weapons
Date posted: March 13, 2019. Answers (1)
- What is the influence of technology on religion?(Solved)
What is the influence of technology on religion?
Date posted: March 13, 2019. Answers (1)
- What is the role of religion in promoting modern warfare?(Solved)
What is the role of religion in promoting modern warfare?
Date posted: March 13, 2019. Answers (1)
- What role does religion play in reducing modern warfare?(Solved)
What role does religion play in reducing modern warfare?
Date posted: March 13, 2019. Answers (1)
- Which are the effects of modern warfare on humanity?(Solved)
Which are the effects of modern warfare on humanity?
Date posted: March 13, 2019. Answers (1)
- What are the uses and impact of information Technology in religion?(Solved)
What are the uses and impact of information Technology in religion?
Date posted: March 2, 2019. Answers (1)
- Why did Science win over Religion?(Solved)
Why did Science win over Religion?
Date posted: March 2, 2019. Answers (1)
- Explain the creation of the world in both Science and Religion(Solved)
Explain the creation of the world in both Science and Religion
Date posted: March 2, 2019. Answers (1)
- Explain the virgin birth in both Science and Religion perspectives(Solved)
Explain the virgin birth in both Science and Religion perspectives
Date posted: March 2, 2019. Answers (1)
- How do Christians defend Biblical miracles?(Solved)
How do Christians defend Biblical miracles?
Date posted: March 2, 2019. Answers (1)