Euthanasia

EUTHANASIA

Introduction

As medical technology lengthens man’s natural life-span, the right to die with dignity has moved to the forefront of contentious American issues (Parks, 2000).  This paper delves into a “3 value” analysis of the legal, moral and social responsibility of Euthanasia. The Merriam Webster’s Dictionary defines “euthanasia” as the act or practice of killing or permitting the death of the hopelessly sick or injured individuals in a relatively painless way for reasons of mercy”, from the Greek for “easy death” (2000).

There has been a great deal of recent activity in the courts for the right to die. More and more patients seek enforcement of their right to determine when they have suffered long enough and the medical bureaucracy can no longer impose itself upon them (Carl, 1988). In spite of all the arguments for and against euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide, it remains that we as a society must come to a solution (Panke, 1993). This paper will analyze the American debate on the legalization of euthanasia.

The Hippocratic Oath is the moral basis of medical ethics.  It is an oath taken by physicians to treat the ill to the best of one's ability, to preserve a patient's privacy, to teach the secrets of medicine to the next generation, and so on (Somerville, 2003).  The longstanding prohibition of the Hippocratic Oath that enjoins physicians not to give “deadly drugs to anyone if asked for it , nor suggest any such counsel” illustrates the temptations of euthanasia are not new, and that associated roles  for the medical role are not inconsiderable.”  Absolute prohibitions of physician assistance in suicide have long been canonical in medical ethics, but a powerful reformation of views on euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide is now underway in several countries (Beauchamp, 1999). Proponents of euthanasia are already condoning a form of suicide by recognizing the right to refuse care (Cassity, 2009). Opponents of euthanasia, attack...