Why Should Euthanasia Be Legalized Essays - Euthanasia,

Why Should Euthanasia Be Legalized? It is apparent that euthanasia should be permitted everywhere for the following reasons: individual liberty; one's undesired pain, suffering, and misery; and the individual's frustration from having a valueless life. First of all, one should be able to understand the term euthanasia. ?In ancient Greece, eu thanatos meant ?easy death.' Today's euthanasia generally refers to mercy killing, the voluntary ending of the life of someone who is terminally or hopelessly ill? (Euthanasia 1). Knowing that, it is seemingly appropriate to say that one has the right to die an easy death if, and only if, he is terminally ill. Otherwise, different situations should not play any part in this issue. To understand more about the pro-euthanasia side of this issue, it is best conceived through the viewpoints, strong beliefs, and perspectives of proponents of euthanasia. An individual has liberty, which includes the right of owning his life. He is the possessor of his life. Just as he can do whatever he wishes with his possessions, such as selling his new house, he can also wish to discontinue his life if the reasons were rational. In a typical situation, a person has some terrible, deadly disease. He is trapped in a hospital bed, with all sorts of medical equipment connected to him, unable to move or do much of anything except exist. He is in terrible pain; he begs to have these machines disconnected so he can go home and live out whatever life he has left and die in peace. He does not want to endure the pain, but instead, to assuage it. However, the doctors refuse because to turn off the machines would surely result in his death, and they have a presumed bias against doing this. If a person decides that he wants to die, and someone does not think that this is a good decision, what right does the opposing person have to tell him that he cannot do th is? ?It is clear that a patient's decision to ask for a cessation in treatment, reflecting his own preference for death rather than for a continuation of discomfort or suffering, must be respected, barring exceptional circumstances? (Behnke 17). Therefore, that individual's decision should be carried out because he has that right to his own personal decision, which is only one of many reasons why euthanasia should be legalized. In addition, one should have the right to end his life by euthanasia because of the unsolicited pain, suffering, and misery he feels due to the disease he has or the condition he is in. People in this position would most likely want to alleviate their pain, suffering, and depression?just to name a few?partially because of the inconveniences, emotional and physical burdens, and drawbacks imposed on family members, relatives, and friends. Furthermore, family members ?may be sensitive to the costs accumulating during terminal care? (Hagen 91). Consequently, patients may feel guilty in this entire ordeal. Even more, people who, maybe because of a serious illness, are extremely depressed partly because they want to live their lives to the fullest by perhaps participating in energetic and active events but know that that is not possible now that they are severely ill and sick. Since they recognize that enjoying life in those ways is no longer possible, they may want an easy way out?euthana sia. Others simply do not want to sustain suffering. Everybody has different amounts of pain and suffering that he/she can tolerate (Behnke 17). In considering suffering of terminal patients, one cannot exclude from thought the grief due to distress, fear, and agony. Nor must anyone underestimate the bearable level of pain in the periods between doses of medication or simply from being turned over in bed. There is still too little known about what is actually experienced by patients as they approach death so it is evident that the individual, and only the individual, has the right to choose when he wants to die. These factors, along with unwanted suffering, pain, and misery are only some of the components considered in allowing the act of euthanasia. The final element worthy of discussion in legalizing euthanasia is an individual's frustration in living, in his opinion, a valueless life after becoming