Term paper on Euthanasia
Euthanasia Essays
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Euthanasia, mercy killing, assisted suicide, and help to die. These are all ways to say the same thing. Euthanasia can be defined as either ending the life of an individual that has a terminal illness or physical handicap or the withholding of medical treatment, that results in death, from an individual that has a terminal illness or a physical handicap.
The debate over euthanasia has only recently has been brought to the forefront of the American public. Euthanasia is a controversial topic that can and probably will affect all people on earth, alive and dead. Although euthanasia is often considered to be a form of murder, it requires a certain degree of understanding and compassion and can be very comforting.
In the middle of the debate over euthanasia is the small European country of the Netherlands. In an article for Europe, Roel Janssen stated, “According to a 1998 university study, 92% of the Dutch population support euthanasia” (41). Starting back in the mid seventies, lawyers in Holland fought for the rights of doctors, relatives, and patients of either terminally ill or euthanized patients.
Over the years they inched their way up to the point where the practice was generally accepted. In 1993 the Supreme Court formalized euthanasia as a medical practice, but kept mercy killing in the realm of penal law. This means that under certain strict conditions, a doctor will not be prosecuted for killing somebody with a terminal disease, but a regular person would be. Ellen Goodman, in the Des Moines Register said, “In Holland, some 2.4 percent of the deaths are assisted by doctors” (9).
In the summer of 1999, the Dutch government passed a law that formalizes the already-widespread practice of euthanasia. A recent column in Maclean’s magazine reported that “The bill, expected to receive parliamentary approval . . . would be the only such law in the world . . . ” (“World Notes” 21). The Dutch law allows doctors to assist the suicide of terminally ill people if they make a knowledgeable request. Maclean’s adds, “Under the proposal, children as young as 12 could demand and receive euthanasia” (“World Notes” 21). Mike Corder wrote in the Des Moines Register “The plans were given a guarded welcome by the Netherlands Association for Voluntary Euthanasia . . . ” (4). Corder adds “The new law also recognizes so-called ‘euthanasia declarations,’ documents in which patients state they want euthanasia even if they are no longer in a position to ask for it themselves - for example, if they are in a coma” (4). Janssen continued “It is thought that about two hundred thousand people (out of a population of sixteen million) carry a piece of paper declaring their wish to be helped to die in case there are no more prospects for a normal healthy life” (41-42).
In the United States the most recognized man connected to physician-assisted suicide is Jack Kevorkian. Kevorkian has helped over one hundred thirty people commit suicide. Goodman commented, on Kevorkian, “I don’t trust his judgment or his free-lance assessment of the 130 patients whose deaths he assisted” (9). Kevorkian was arrested for first degree murder after injecting Thomas Youk with a lethal drug. Youk suffered from ALS or Lou Gerig’s disease. Kevorkian taped the incident and it aired on “60 Minutes.” After the airing of the tape Michigan prosecutors filed first degree murder charges against Kevorkian. He would be tried for the fifth time.
Goodman mentioned that during the murder trial the wife of Youk commented that the word kill was never uttered (9). Kevorkian said “Either they go or I go . . . this issue has to be raised to the level where it’s finally decided” (Goodman 9). At the end of the trial Kevorkian was found guilty of second-degree murder. This was the first time in five trials that he was convicted, but also the first time Kevorkian administered the drug, not the patient. Goodman added “ . . . he crossed no, leapt over the line from passive to active euthanasia, from assisted suicide to what some call mercy killing and others call murder” (9).
Brad Knickerbocker wrote, in an article for the Christian Science Monitor, “In Congress, opponents have advanced a bill that, in effect, would do away with Oregon’s first-in-the-nation law allowing physician-assisted suicide” (1).Robert Kilborn, Lance Carden, and Ross Atkin wrote in an article for the Christian Science Monitor
The house overwhelmingly approved legislation to prohibit federally controlled drugs for assisted suicide, setting the stage for the Senate to debate whether doctors may prescribe drugs that help patients diagnosed as terminally ill end their lives (24).
Some would say that the federal government is trying to stop the people of the United States from receiving euthanasia. Knickerbocker continued “Mr. Clinton . . . in signing a bill that forbids the use of federal funds for doctor assisted suicide . . . ” (1). This means that the government is not willing to spend any money on euthanasia although “ . . . wide margins in public surveys - sometimes more than seventy percent - they voice approval for physician aid in hastening death” (1). President Clinton had to comment “to endorse assisted suicide would set us on a disturbing and perhaps dangerous path” (Knickerbocker 1).
It seems that the government for the people and by the people is not going to listen to the people. This government hides behind a cover of protecting the people. Senator Don Nickles (R) of Oklahoma stated, “a state law authorizing or permitting assisted suicide or euthanasia does not change the federal governments responsibility to prevent misuse of federally controlled, potentially dangerous drugs” (Knickerbocker 1). Knickerbocker continues “At the same time,...
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