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Ethical Perspective Essay

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Ethical Perspective
Allowing the practice of euthanasia has the potential effect of reducing people's understanding towards the significance of the term “life”. Society will become desensitized towards death causing a life that lacks compunctions towards crimes (Doerflinger). An argument known as the “slippery slope” or the “wedge theory” is defined as an action that leads to something disastrous, which is similar to euthanasia. Dr. Woolhandler, graduate of Louisiana State University School of Medicine, states that “once society accepts that life can be terminated because of its diminished quality, there is no rational way to limit euthanasia and prevent its abuse”. Taking into consideration that the practice of euthanasia is legal in the Netherlands, …show more content…

Upon receiving a medical degree, doctors are to make a “Hippocratic Oath” which states “First, do no harm” (Peter). Assisting in suicide or euthanizing a patient without their explicit request will weaken the doctor-patient trust. The oath is made to ensure patients that the doctors are to only help patients, not hurt them. Dr. Alan Stone, graduate of Harvard University and Yale Medical school, states that “it is destructive to the public government to make people worry that when they go to the hospital, whether the doctor will kill them or not”. A patient claims that “they want to know that the doctors will do everything to keep them alive”. Some of the patients in the Netherlands do not go to their local hospital; instead, they travel to a different country because of the lack of trust patients have towards their doctors (Glenn). Doctors are normal human beings that also make mistakes, similar to us. Therefore, they should not be given such a power to decide whether a patient should stay alive or be euthanized. Since patients put all their “faith” and “trust” towards doctors, doctors have the ability to convince and influence them. It is unethical to give doctors the power to take a patient’s

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