Euthanasia For Terminally Ill Patients: Is It Ethical? Everything that is once living ultimately dies. Every human being that is born, will someday cease to exist. Some people die of old age, some die of illness, some die at the hands of others, some die at the hands of themselves, and some die because of a combination of those reasons. Numerous people who are seriously ill and are dying because of their illness opt to die when they choose, with the help of medical professionals. This type of death is called euthanasia, or physician assisted suicide. The extremely controversial topic of euthanasia has been debated upon for a very long time. In the eyes of many, euthanasia is a type of suicide that should be forbidden. Other people believe …show more content…
The use of euthanasia can provide someone who is dying of an illness such as cancer, the opportunity to fulfill that right. Many patients with a prognosis of death are not only dying, but they are constantly in an extreme amount of pain that cannot be helped. Some patients’ pain can only be dulled by medication that mentally puts them in a state of distress where they do not feel like himself. Grappling with a choice of being fully aware of life but in pain, or being under medication and not being fully aware of life, can be a difficult experience for patients. Sometimes, the pain is too extreme to even be lessened by medication and treatment. The use of euthanasia allows patients to end their lives fully aware of life, as opposed to under the influence of heavy medication. From the first hand experience of a cancer patient, “Surely this decision should be made individually by each of us, and we ought to be free to make it in accordance with our own values” (Gubar 10). No one can make a decision for a patient except themselves. The level of pain can only be felt by the patient, and therefore the decision whether to die slowly and always in pain or to die when they are ready can ultimately only be made by