Euthansia
The term “Euthanasia” is derived from ancient Greek, and means “good death.” But while the debate over mercy killing has ancient origins, many observers believe that it is harder today to achieve a good death than ever before. Advances in medicine have increased people’s health and life span, but they have also greatly affected the dying process. For example, in the early twentieth century the majority of Americans died at home, usually victims of pneumonia or influenza. Today most people die in the hospital, often from degenerative diseases like cancer that may cause a painful, lingering death.
“Euthanasia” is a broad term for mercy killing taking the life of a hopelessly ill or injured personl in order to end his or her suffering. Mercy killing represents a serious ethical problem. People do not always die well. Some afflictions cause people to suffer through extreme physical pain in their last days, and euthanasia may seem like a kind way of ending of pain. Other people may request euthanasia to avoid the weakness and loss of mental faculties that some diseases cause, and many feel these wishes should be respected.
Euthanasia also seems to contradict one of the most basic principles of morality, which is that killing is wrong. From a traditional Christian point of view, euthanasia is murder and a violation of the biblical commandment “Thou shalt not Kill”. From a secular point of view, one of the principal purposes of law is to uphold the sanctity of human life. Euthanasia is so controversial because the difficulty of suffering, dying individuals against religious beliefs, legal tradition, and in the case of physician-assisted death and medical ethics.
Most observers trace the modern euthanasia debate back to the court case of Karen Ann Quinlan, and her story is a poignant example of medical technology’s ability to prolong life. In 1975, after consuming alcohol and tranquilizers at a party, Quinlan collapsed into an irreversible coma that left her unable to...
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