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Sue Rodriguez Arguments Against Euthanasia

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Euthanasia

Imagine having kids. Imagine being a mother, in your early 30’s, dying slowly of Lou Gehrig’s disease. Imagine living with the knowledge your muscles would waste away one by one until eventually, choking to death. Living in terror day by day because the courts denied your right-to-die. Eventually, you finally encounter a doctor willing to break the law and help you die in peace. This is a real story of a woman named Sue Rodriguez (euthanasia.cc, 2016). With proper euthanasia legislation and official channels to follow, this would have never happened.

According to Dr. Jonathan Moreno, "Strictly speaking, the term 'euthanasia' refers to actions or omissions that result in the death of a person who is already gravely ill. Techniques …show more content…

The American Civil Liberties Union argued in the Supreme Court that “The right of a competent, terminally ill patient to avoid excruciating pain and embrace a timely and dignified death is implicit in the concept of ordered liberty.” The case was struck down by the Supreme Court, claiming that “The Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment declares that no State shall "deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.” (ACLU, …show more content…

However, the wording of this ethic has left room for interpretation. Many argue that prolonging the life of terminally-ill patients suffering pain constitutes doing harm and that ending the patient’s life would be the correct course of action.

My personal view on euthanasia is that although it is a difficult choice, in principle a terminally ill patient has the choice to end his life in a timely and peaceful manner. However, the legislation required to write it into law must be drafted very carefully in a way that protects terminally ill patients from pressure and involuntary euthanasia, and must properly define the boundary between sick and terminally ill patients.

The Christian Church’s view of euthanasia is that life is sacred, and therefore it is up to God to decide when to give or take it. They regard life as God’s creation, and so an individual does not have the right to decide when or where to take it. There are more than 60 passages in the bible, with the most famous one being “Thou shalt not

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There are many religions that are against euthanasia. Muslims believe that euthanasia is an act of killing, which is a sin and forbidden in Islam. (al-Qaradawi, 2005) The Holy Quran does not state a person has the right to die because Allah, God, decides how long people live. (Aramesh and Shadi, 2007)

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Physician-assisted suicide, or euthanasia, is defined as “the act or practice of causing or permitting the death of hopelessly sick or injured individuals in a relatively painless way for reasons of mercy.” The controversy over euthanasia pits courts, medical professionals, and the ill against questions of reason, laws, and

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For this reason, they contend, dying people should have the right to control the timing of their death and should be permitted to obtain a doctor's help in doing so.” Terminally ill people who do not have the option of physician assisted suicide have to go through an extremely painful and slow death. They should have the right to control when they can be put out of their misery. Nobody should be forced to suffer, and PAS is a relief from suffering. Accoding to “Physician-Assisted Suicide Should Be Legalized”, “The physician's obligations are many but, when cure is impossible and palliation has failed to achieve its objectives, there is always a residual obligation to relieve suffering.

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Doctors control the means, drugs that end life painlessly” (Jaret). Doctors hold the key, to end patients suffering it should be legal for doctors to help patients and patients should also have the right to make a decision that has to do with ending their life. According to Issues and Controversies “The right of a competent, terminally ill person to avoid excruciating pain and embrace a timely and dignified death bears the sanction of history and is implicit in the concept of ordered liberty” (“Right to Die”). Patients have the right as citizens to have a say in the way they want to have a death on their own terms. Nobody should be withholding the right to die from a patient who is mentally competent and terminally ill (“Right to

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The foundations of the ethical and moral arguments found in discourse over individual rights battles can be traced back to the modern founders of these principals. In today’s society, physician-assisted suicide garners great concern over morality and ethics within Western medicine. Medical advances now have the ability to extend life or even keep the patient’s body alive even when the brain is essentially dead. In recent years, an increased emphasis on respect toward patient autonomy begs whether or not there is solid reason to decline physician-assisted suicide. For many, physician-assisted suicide may be the rational choice for a dying person choosing to escape unbearable suffering at the end of life.

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While in euthanasia, the doctor is mostly in charge of ending the patient's life. In situations like this, medical professionals either give life-threatening medications or stop giving patients the care they need to maintain their health (Difference. Guru, 2017). Reference Picón-Jaimes, Y. A., Lozada-Martinez, I. D., Orozco-Chinome, J. E., Montaña-Gómez, L. M., Bolaño-Romero, M. P., Moscote-Salazar, L. R., Janjua, T., & Rahman, S. (2022).

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This already declared constitutional right should guarantee the liberty of mentally competent, terminally ill patients with no chance of recovery to make their own personal decisions regarding the end of their life. There is also a contained allegation that the fourteenth amendment guarantees physicians the liberty to practice medicine with their best judgement. This would therefore include the right to prescribe meds to any terminally ill adult who has expressed and is ready to hasten death. Plus when the right-to-die safeguards are embodied in a law against causing premature death the burden of any proof would shift toward the prosecution side (Park 1). The essence of this argument is that, in court, if a case is debated the prosecution side -whom of which objects to allowing death of a patient - would have a difficult time justifying their standpoint.

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The moral and ethical implications of ending human life cannot be overlooked. Life is a precious gift that should be respected and protected. The legalization of euthanasia can create a culture of death and diminish the value of human life. Legalizing euthanasia can also create a society where elderly or terminally ill patients are viewed as a burden on society and encouraged to end their own lives. This view goes against the principles of compassion, empathy, and respect for human life that are central to a just

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However, to prolong the patients’ lives without the possibility of revival is just to inflict the pain. If such a delayed time means the prolongation of pain, the prolongation just leads to obstructing the dignity of human, and to depriving the right to choose death. Euthanasia is an extremely difficult moral decision that should be made along with doctors and their families (Campbell & Cox, 2010, p. 56). Moreover, one of the ironies of modern medicine is that it extends our life spans enormously, and reduces early death. The extended period is including the dying process.

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Though it may seem ethical at times to end a person’s suffering, this is in fact against the Catholic teachings. Number 2277 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that “whatever its motives and means, direct euthanasia consists in putting an end to the lives of handicapped, sick, or dying persons. It is morally unacceptable”(Vaticanva, 2016), as well as undermining the fundamental basis of law. It is also put forth by a leading medical devotee, Professor Richard Hare in regards

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Fighting a terminal illness is hard for a person to experience especially since there are many devastating hardships that come with it. In the Right-to-Die Debate it argues on if people should have the choice to die with dignity and whether or not assisted suicide and the use of Euthanasia should be legal. An article states, “While 58 percent of Americans support physician-assisted suicide, 69 percent back the right to "end patient's life by painless means," showing that the people of the United States are having a hard time agreeing with the limitations on assisted suicide (2). Assisted Suicide should be legal in every state to allow someone living with a life threatening disease to feel more content on his or her passing.

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The right to choose is fundamental and applies to all of the elements of human life. Which by the nature of human life, includes the right to choose how you die. A terminally ill individual who is currently under significant pain may choose to die with dignity, as it is there right. To deny this is to deny personal autonomy and that is an act that we cannot do. Simply, this is someones right to choose, as equally as they made there choices when faced with regular circumstances in life.

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(Ecclesiastes 3:1-4) • In 2005, Pope Benedict XVI declared, “Freedom to kill is not a true freedom but a tyranny that reduces the human being into slavery.” “Scripture, in fact, clearly excludes every form of the kind of self-determination of human existence that is presupposed in the theory and practice of euthanasia.” Christian doctrines: • The community should care for people who are dying, and for those who are close to them and the best possible palliative care should be provided • People should face death and dying with honesty and

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It can also be argued that because death is a private matter, if there is no harm to any other people, there is no right to deny someone ‘s wish to die. Supporters of this believe that if euthanasia promotes the best interests of all the parties concerned, and no human rights are violated, then it is morally acceptable for voluntary euthanasia to take

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Going through a whole process to ensure that their last moments alive are not full of agonizing pain does not devalue human life. On the contrary, leaving ill patients to suffer and die a painful death demonstrates that euthanasia is a more humane

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