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Euthanasia Pros And Cons

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Physician assisted suicide—or euthanasia—has been a topic of extreme controversy for years now. According to examiner.com, this debate could date back as far as the sixteenth century. Some believe that it is a necessary practice that would allow terminally ill patients to die quickly, painlessly, and with dignity, while others believe that it is a destructive and murderous practice that could potentially blur the lines of right and wrong within the medical community. While many believe that it is within our rights as humans to die as we please, the rest believe that the right to be killed does not exist. This paper will highlight both the pros and cons of legalizing human euthanasia. The pros of physician assisted suicide are relatively obvious. …show more content…

To quote an article from care.org.uk, “we do not have to kill the patient to kill the symptoms.” The same article brings up another interesting point; if we give doctors the right to euthanize we will potentially give them the right to decide whether or not a patient’s life is worth living, and thus open the doors to the possibility of involuntary euthanasia. According to terrisfight.org, in the Netherlands—where euthanasia is legal—up to 61% of the lethal injections given in 1990 were not discussed with the people receiving them despite the fact that 27% were fully competent. Cases were reported where doctors administered lethal injections to people who were simply diagnosed to be chronically depressed. As a result of all of this, thousands of citizens of the Netherlands carry “do not euthanize me” cards in case of being unexpectedly admitted to the hospital. According to care.org.uk, there are also cases in the Netherlands where doctors have not documented or recorded their patients dying from physician assisted suicide at

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