Responsive Essay :Euthanasia Is Murder
Responsive Essay
According to “Euthanasia And Assisted Suicide: It’s Murder in The First Degree” essay that written by Autumn Buzzel on November 22, 1999 shows that euthanasia is murder and extremely wrong because unethical and not natural. So, euthanasia should not be allowed. Jonathan Gould and Lord Craigmyle, authors of Your Death Warrant?, put the suffering of pain in perspective. They say, “pain and suffering are inescapable at times in life, and sometimes attend its end “but” pain, it is to be remembered... Generally pain can be considered natural and wholesome although unpleasant.” And euthanasia should be against both the law of the nation and the law of the heart, because It is unethical. “this issue touches medicine at its very etika center; if this etika center collapses, if physicians become killers, or are even merely licensed to kill, the profession and emdash; and, there with, each physician and emdash; will never again be worthy of trust and respect, healer and comforter and protector of life in all its frailty. For if medicine’s power over life may be used equally to heal or to kill, the doctor is no more a etika professional but rather a morally neutered technician.” (opposing viewpoints, 89). Based on this, I share the same opinion with the writer.
The first reason is euthanasia same with taking another person’s right to life. Euthanasia is done to a person with his consent. It is the decision of that person if he wants to do it. People might decide to go for euthanasia because of emotional and psychological pressures. For example, a patient is suffering because of an illness and his doctor said to him that it is better for him to die. That person might go for it because he suffers too much and his doctor said that it is better. Murder is like the involuntary euthanasia. You take someone’s life without his consent. If euthanasia was legal, murderers would say that they killed a person because of euthanasia in their defense. Doctors should try to save lives and not to end them. Even though their patients are hard to cure, they should still try and not make euthanasia an option. Doctors should not decide as God. They do not have the right to decide whether their patients would live or die. As long as their patients are alive, there is a chance that they will be cured and that they will live.
Besides, every country there are laws that regulate the rights human life and murder for example in Indonesia, there are many clauses in law of Indonesia to regulate human right life.The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in Washington said "aiding a person who wishes to end his life constitutes a criminal act and subjects the aider to the possibility of a lengthy term of imprisonment, even if the recipient of the aid is a terminally ill, competent adult and the aider is a licensed physician who is providing medical assistance at the request of the patient" (Humphry;2000) Certain religions are against euthanasia. The Christian, Jew, and Islamic religions all cling to the fact that life is scared and should not be taken away. In some cultures, helping someone to die is the same thing as homicide and is treated so in a court of law. (Encarta, 98)
The second reason is the issue of euthanasia is a slippery slope. Pro-life groups contend that if we allow any type of euthanasia, sooner or later, we would begin killing off not only the terminally ill, but also the handicapped, the poor, the elderly and anyone else who becomes troublesome. Lord Walton, the chairman of a House of Lords committee on medical ethics looking into euthanasia spoke on the subject: “We concluded that it was virtually impossible to ensure that all acts of euthanasia were truly voluntary and …” (LawTeacher ;2013) The view that we should not make a decision because it could lead to other less prudent decisions later is not a reasonable foundation for setting policies, unless later decisions are definite, and are absolutely wrong.
On the other side of the debate, there is argument that people should have the right to terminate their lives, whenever, and however they may wish. Many supporters of voluntary euthanasia believe that everyone has the right to control their body and life, and should be free to decide at what time, and in which manner they will die. People generally avoid death because they enjoy and value being alive, but in the case of a terminally ill patient, they may be in a lot of discomfort and pain, and are unable to enjoy their life. This may cause the patient to devalue their life, and the patient may decide that they do not wish to endure their suffering any longer. There is also the fact that although the patient themselves may wish to be euthanised, it may have a very detrimental effect on the family of the patient. Those in favour of this argument believe that since the death of a patient in that situation could be a better option to keeping them alive; the patient’s wish should be respected.
In closing, I agree with the writer of Euthanasia And Assisted Suicide: It’s Murder in The First Degree” idea for two reason because of euthanasia same with taking another person’s right to life and the issue of euthanasia is slippery slope. Euthanasia should not be practiced because we all deserve to live; euthanasia is similar to murder and only God can take someone’s life. We all have the right to live. Death is not the solution to any problem. We still have chances to solve those problems while we are still alive.