Should Dying with Dignity be Legalized - Research Paper Example

Should Dying with Dignity Be Legalized? In Greek, the word “euthanasia” means “a good death”; however, today it has obtained a new meaning, which is the act of intentional killing of a person who is terminally ill and who or whose relatives feel that death is the best option. Despite the fact that modern medicine has achieved never yet seen success in treating serious diseases, some of them stay incurable and terminal. In this regard, consideration of the issue of euthanasia and, more importantly, its legalization are of utmost importance. For the last several decades, this problem has been a subject of a great number of discussions, debates, and arguments, especially since euthanasia and assisted suicide became legal in a range of countries. While the opponents of legalization claims that is its, in fact, legalization of a murder as well as devaluation of a person’s life, I believe it should be legalized because it frees people of pain and suffering they cannot endure. History of euthanasia extends back over thousands of years, namely to the 5th century BCE. Despite the fact that in Ancient Rome and Greece doctors were obliged to follow the Hippocratic Oath, a lot of them could give poison to their patients if the latter asked them to. In the times of the Middle Ages, the issue of euthanasia and assisted suicide was not even discussed due to the fact that the church was quite an influential institution. With the rise of the Enlightenment in the 17th and 18th centuries, euthanasia again became the question for discussions and debates; the majority of people were against it. However, there was no law that made it illegal until the 1830s when the first American law on the illegal status of euthanasia was passed (The Life Sources Charitable Trust). In the first half of the 20th century, euthanasia started gaining support in the American society as well as in England. With the beginning of World War II, the global society changed its attitude towards the issue due to the fact that the Nazis killed a great number of people with the help of euthanasia (The Life Sources Charitable Trust). In the late 20th, the points of view on the matter under consideration changed again; in fact, the last several decades may be regarded as the revival of the discussion as well as the reconsideration of the necessity of euthanasia legalization as the modern society is getting more and more supportive of making it legal. The following are the arguments for legalization of euthanasia; most of them are based on the needs of those who call for it. The first reason why euthanasia should be legalized is that the alternatives to it are horrifying. In other words, euthanasia and assisted suicide can help people avoid needless pain and suffering. The matter is that while many people die peacefully in their beds surrounded by the family, death of terminal illness is not like that at all. It is usually painful and slow so that people who actually go through it say that they feel like they are in a living hell. At the terminal study of a disease, patients take drugs, such as morphine, to reduce pain and suffering they experience; however, very often pain is so intense that even such strong drugs cannot relieve it. What is more, there are cases when people, who suffer from a terminal disease, cannot bear pain any longer so that they choose to commit suicide without doctor’s help. Often, they choose to starve themselves to death and refuse to drink water than to prolong their lives and suffer more. For example, in October 2014, the citizens of the United Kingdom, 86-year old Jean Davies starved herself to death “when she reached the point where she didn’t want to go on” as it was her only legal way to stop pain (Dolan). Instead of making terminally ill patients suffer, it is better to legalize euthanasia so that they have an opportunity to consider such variant and choose what they feel they need at the moment. Moreover, in accordance with latest statistical data, the average percentage of terminally ill patients who die in pain is about 55 percent (Statistic Brain). Legalization of euthanasia could help get rid of pain to those of them who would choose to die in dignity instead of waiting for their organisms to give up. The second reason why euthanasia should be legalized is based on rights. More specifically, people have a right to choose what to do with their lives. Despite there is no definite right to die, all other right imply that a person does have such right. A person who suffers from a terminal disease should have an opportunity to exercise his / her right to die and, by this, avoid suffering and pain. In fact, the exercise of this right is directly connected to the concept of personal autonomy, which is one of the central American values, and it should not be left without attention. People should not be and cannot be forced to stay alive. In fact, death is a private issue, and in case there is no harm to other people, no one, whether it is other people or authorities, has a right to interfere and decide whether a terminally ill person can die or he / she should wait and suffer. The right to die is a private issue. People have an opportunity to decide where to work and study, who to marry, whether to have children or not and a range of other things associated with their lives. Death is also a part of a life cycle and, thus, one should have a choice about what will happen in the future. It does not mean that everyone should choose death; it rather means that there should be particular changes in the law so that one has a choice. Apart from that, today the economic argument for euthanasia is also considered. It is not a secret that there are problems within the medical sphere in the United States. In accordance with Sprague and other specialists, legalizing euthanasia can “save billions of dollars without affecting health care quality at all”. The matter is that end of life care is very expensive due to a wide range of factors. Among them are the increased need for care and specialists’ attention, more expensive health care needs compared to other patients, the increased frequency of hospitalization etc. In addition to this, money that is spent on health care activities for terminally ill people, who do not want to suffer anymore and would like to choose euthanasia is a way to stop pain, may be used to help those who want to live and whose diseases are curable. This is a utilitarian argument based on the idea of greater good for a greater number of people. For some people, such an argument may seem inappropriate because it is human lives which are at stake. However, when it comes to passing a law or changing it, all the aspects of the issue should be carefully weighed and considered. Finally, the Hippocratic Oath should be taken into consideration in this case as well as all the other arguments. Throughout the history, it has been changed for a great number of times because some its principles were not acceptable by the society. For example, such instructions that forbid doctors break skin and deny women in studying medicine and becoming health professionals have been eliminated. Perhaps, today, “do not harm” should be also taken into consideration and explained in more details. Usually, people perceive this phrase as the instruction not to harm a patient so that he / she survives. However, does not harming terminally ill patients mean that doctors should do everything to prolong their lives so that they suffer from pain? From this, it follows that the maxim “do no harm” should also be reconsidered. In this very case, it means that to help patients in a terminal stage of a disease a health specialist should let them die to free them of the painful burden. Such a help will be also consistent with the idea of appropriate medical end-of-life care. Euthanasia has been a debated issue for a significant amount of time. Now that a range of countries in the world and in several states of America have legalized it, the society pays even more attention. Moreover, it has divided into two groups: those who argue for legalization of euthanasia and those who oppose this idea. The benefits of its legalization are important primarily for patients who are terminally ill. It is up to them to decide whether they want to continue struggling and hoping or die and get relief from pain. Therefore, they should be given a chance to choose for it is their lives that are at stake and it is they who are responsible for their lives at that very moment. Moreover, death, just like other choices a person makes in life, is a private matter, and nobody should be able interfere, whether it is relatives, doctors or even government. Works Cited Dolan, A. "Grandmother Aged 86 Starved Herself to Death Over Five Weeks in Right-to-Die Battle.” Daily Mail 20 October 2014, n. pag. Web. 6 Dec. 2014. . Sprague, C. "The Economic Argument for Euthanasia."CMCForum. N.p., 08 Jun 2009. Web. 6 Dec 2014. . Statistic Brain. "Euthanasia Statistics." Statistic Brain. Statistic Brain, 13 Jul 2014. Web. 6 Dec 2014. . The Life Sources Charitable Trust. "A General History of Euthanasia." The Life Sources Charitable Trust. N.p., 2011. Web. 7 Dec 2014.  Read More