Pros and Cons of Euthanasia

Pros and Cons of Euthanasia

Introduction

Survival is unquestionably dear to everyone but at times and under certain circumstances life totally becomes unbearable, painful and impossible (Dowbiggin,2007). In that case survival seems nothing but like an abuse or curse. This is why euthanasia ever came into existence. Ever since its origin Euthanasia had been a hot topic of medical world. The issue has been scrutinized and criticized with every possible dimension. Dictionaries define Euthanasia as “painless killing of an individual suffering from painful and incurable illness or a never ending coma”. It's a Greek word that literally means “good death”. Of course, for fatality to be “good”, life would have to be worse than death. When life is not worth living several individuals are put to death through “mercy killing”. But can putting someone to death and calling it “mercy killing” ever be ethically and morally justified??

The fact that human life is the ever precious element makes Euthanasia the most dominant medical ethical issue of present times. With its increasing acceptance its negative and positive dimensions have been surfacing day by day. The article documents the pros and cons of Euthanasia. It explores all the positive and negative dimension of the activity with the perception of nursing field. Due to the nature of issue its posing grave challenges in the field of healthcare and thus needs strongly to be discussed

Discussion

Types of Euthanasia

Before starting our journey towards exploring the negative and positive aspects of Euthanasia it is better to get a comprehensive understanding of the types of euthanasia. Basically there are five distinct types of Euthanasia.

Involuntary euthanasia is actually the execution of life against the will of an individual exterminated.

Non-Voluntary euthanasia is defined by the extermination of life without the approval or resistance of the individual killed (Busè, 2008).

Voluntary euthanasia is basically the extermination of life at the appeal of the individual exterminated (Busè, 2008).

Active euthanasia refers to the direct steps taken to kill the person for e.g. by poisoning and individual that will cause instant death (Busè, 2008).

Passive euthanasia refers to the omission of procedures that might have otherwise been able to sustain life (Busè, 2008).

The Pros and Cons of Euthanasia

Before starting up with an argument, it is better to shed light on euthanasia. A critical dimension to euthanasia is that it is an action of taking human life. The action is of course deliberate and intentional. Therefore it is basically the “intentional” killing of an apparently hopeless individual. The proposal that euthanasia must be legalized by edict raises ethical, philosophical, religious and a moral issue; on top of that it also questions the constitutional and legal position of various laws. Due to its nature as an irreversible process its significance is increased and it remains as a recurring issue in medical ethics.

Moral, Philosophical and Legal Issues

The grave threat that euthanasia can pose is its possibility of abuse. Individuals could feel pressurized by families that do not want to look after them ...