All terminally-ill patients should have an option of a hastened death through euthanasia instead of a drawn out suffering. Euthanasia is the killing of someone with an incurable disease or irreversible coma with little to no pain. Sometimes trying to buy time for someone’s life can put them in more pain than they already are in. There isn’t a difference between passive and active euthanasia nor would legalization cause a “slippery slope” leading to involuntary euthanasia. Euthanasia or physician assisted suicide(PAS) can also decrease medical expenses and expenses on the family. Euthanasia and PAS should be a legal option for terminally-ill citizens of the United States.
Attempting to prolong the life of these patients can do more harm than
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Refusing to give a treatment because doctors believe that it will do no good will cause more pain and suffering than giving a lethal injection (Yount 155). The usage of a lethal injection will speed up the process to a hastened death. Opposed to letting the patient naturally pass away, in pain, over the course of days maybe even weeks. “Pulling the plug” is no different than providing someone with the means to die (Miner 147). If you take someone off of life support you are inadvertently killing them or putting them out of their misery because nothing can be done to cure the disease. This is the exact concept behind physician-assisted suicide. Many people have the idea that active euthanasia means that the doctor killed the patient while passive euthanasia means that the doctor did nothing. This idea is not true. Passive euthanasia means that the doctor let the patient die (Rachels procon.org). Just because the doctor isn’t doing anything to try and keep the patient alive does not mean that he or she is not contributing to the death. By “doing nothing”, the doctor is passively killing the patient. With that being said there is also the argument of a “slippery slope” to involuntary