Euthanasia Essays (373 words) - Euthanasia, Medical Ethics

Euthanasia Euthanasia in my opinion has many circumstances yielding many different opinions on this subject. The first circumstance that comes to mind is that of a person such as that discussed in the text, where a person, young or old is suffering from some type of terminal illness. This circumstance is obviously one in which the patient is destined to death and is in obvious pain. Though I would not want to make this decision myself I do not think that the patient should be denied of their right to die. I think that if all involved are consensual in the ending of the persons life the doctor should not be legally persecuted for their actions. There will always be the argument that doctors are not always correct in their assumption of a persons life. This argument is definitely valid in many cases, but in the circumstance where there is no doubt of the patients ultimate death the patient should not be denied of his or her wishes. I think that in the free and democratic society that we live in t oday a person should not be restricted by law that tells them that they must endure a painful death. In the situation where a person is on a life support machine the law should not decide the fate of a person, these situations should be left up to the patients family. Though it may sound greedy I dont think that a hospital should be able to profit by pinning someone with the legal binding of keeping a person facing inevitable death on life support. The argument of passive euthanasia is also very broad in my eyes. The circumstance where a person is the victim of a sudden accident or violent criminal act, yes I feel like if there is a capable and able person present at the scene that they should be held responsible for at least attempting to do everything in their power to save the victims life. Even if the victim is not coherent the doctor, EMT, or whatever they may be, should try to save that person. In my eyes this is not even a legal matter but one of personal ethics.