Arguments against Euthanasia Essay

1) Applies to a very small number of situations, therefore unethical to make a doctrine based on this. Modern medicine can alleviate pain and suffering in almost all cases. Accepting euthanasia means accepting the fact that medicine is not advanced enough rather than looking at constructive solutions i.e. further advancements in medicine. 2) Signals giving up on a case, insult to determination and endeavor of the patient as well as the doctor, violation of Hippocrates oath 3) Value in suffering: teach the community perseverance. The community will care for the patient and will learn to go beyond its own set of autonomous goals. Show that human life has value behind personal happiness and absence of pain. 4) Focus is to alleviate pain: can be done through painkillers, euthanasia is unnecessary. 5) Life is a gift of God: each human being has intrinsic value and cannot be treated as means to an end i.e. a painless death. Shows sick and disabled as undesirable. 6) Thin line between eutha nasia and murder-can be misused. Cost cutting for terminally ill people. 7) Mistaken diagnosis-may affect a person’s life 8) Making voluntary euthanasia legal will lead to a domino effect: make involuntary euthanasia legal, which is equivalent to murder In June of 1990, Dr. Jack Kevorkian, a 63-year-old retired pathologist, was charged with first-degree murder after he helped an Oregon woman with Alzheimer’s disease commit suicide in June 1990. Kevorkian was also charged with helping two other women, Marjorie Wantz and Sherry Miller to commit suicide. Miller was incapacitated by multiple sclerosis and Wantz suffered from a painful pelvic condition. Neither condition was life threatening or terminal. Speaking to the National Press Club in 1992, Dr. Kevorkian defended himself by saying that a terminal illness was one that would curtail life by even one day and since all of his victims had ‘terminal illnesses’, therefore ‘euthanasia’ was justified. He has also referred to old age as a ‘terminal illness’ on multiple occasions. Euthanasia, or the right to die, is sought for those people who are terminally ill. Terminally ill†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦hmmm, how would you define people who are terminally ill? (Pause) Well, the definitions may vary from person to person and that is where the problem arises. People like Dr. Kevorkian effortlessly misuse this phrase to include illnesses, which are not necessarily terminal in order to fulfill their own vested interests. Good morning everyone. The motion on the floor today is â€Å"Voluntary euthanasia should be legalized† and we are going to speak against the motion. There is a very thin line between euthanasia and suicide or murder. In most cases, the two are no different from each other. People with non terminal or even trivial illnesses can misuse the legal sanction for euthanasia by using it to assist them with suicide. For a depressed, ill or elderly person, the emotional and psychological pressures, arising out of the feeling that they are a burden on the family or their caretakers, could push a person towards euthanasia. Such people may look for an exit from their guilt by approaching a doctor who is willing to help them, of course, for a handsome sum of money.