Term Papers on Euthanasia

Term Paper Title	Euthanasia
# of Words	1644
# of Pages (250 words per page double spaced)	6.58

Euthanasia

Euthanasia, or "a good death", is an issue that has caused much controversy for the past thirty years. This topic has a
legal and illegal side to it. Many people cannot unanimously choose one side or the other. The legal issue, or passive
euthanasia, is considered as "allowing to die" (Gula, 5). It varifies the removal of life-support systems because there
is not any moderate hope of restoration. The illegal issue, or active euthanasia, is considered as homicide (Gula, 5).
Drawing a line between the two is the controversial issue at hand towards the concept of euthanasia. The distinction
between the two is thought to be crucial towards medical ethics (Overberg, 23).
There are three fundamental moral standards that guide and direct our ethical traditions. They are to:
(1) "Sustain life/Accept death"
(2) "Honor personal freedom/Serve community justice".
(3) "Seek health/Abide suffering" (Vaux, 36).
The right to die has been debated for years. Many hold that it is immoral to take the life of a terminally ill patient.
And many feel that it is immoral to prolong the suffering of a terminally ill patient by burdensome medical
procedures. These burdensome treatments are described as "all medicine, treatments, and operations, which cannot
be obtained or used without excessive expense, pain or other inconveniences for the patient or for others, or which,
if used, would not offer a reasonable hope of benefit to the patient" (Tong, 28). By reviewing many articles on the
subject, I feel that it is immoral to deny one's right to die.
The controversy started in 1976 when a New Jersey court allowed the parents of Karen Quinlin to remove her from
a ventilator because she was in a terminal coma (Birenbaum, 29). She was described as a "gnarled twist of
human flesh sustained by a respirator and a nasogastric feeding tube. . ." (Tong, 27). After this decision, people
questioned the morality of such a decision. More recently, in 1990, the family of Nancy Cruzan was granted the
right to remove her feeding tube after an automobile accident left her in a vegetative coma (Birenbaum, 29). On
November 8, 1994, voters in Oregon
passed Measure 16 which legalized doctor assisted suicide (Bates, O'Keefe; 3-E). Stacy R. Scott, who lives in
Oregon, is celebrating the passage of Measure 16. Scott is dying of AIDS. He adds, "I know I'm a fighter; I've
survived a lot of things. But I know there'll come a time when I say, 'I can't take anymore of this'" (Mitchell, 3-E). It
is apparent from this example that more and more people are opting for the right to die. One can look at such actions
from a moral and ethical standpoint. If one looks at the situation of a terminally ill patient, passive euthanasia,
"withholding or withdrawing treatment from those who are terminally ill" (Tong, 27), is a much better death than the
suffering and pain which is incurred by dying of natural causes. The denial of one's right to die is more a sentencing
to a life of suffering.
The right given to patients towards declining any "unwanted" medical treatments was passed by Congress on
December 1, 1991. This act was known as the federal Patient Self-Determination Act (PSDA). It required all health
care facilities, i.e. HMO's, accepting Medicare or Medicaid funds to let their patients know their right to "decline
unwanted treatments" (Overberg, 3).
This right is expressed by the Vatican's 1980 Declaration on Euthanasia in 1980. It states:
One cannot impose on anyone the obligation to have recourse to a technique which is already in use but which
carries a risk or is burdensome. Such a refusal is not the equivalent of suicide [or euthanasia]; on the contrary, it
should be considered as an acceptance of the human condition, or a wish to avoid the application of a medical
procedure disproportionate to the results that can be expected. (Overberg, 4).
Many people will toss in the question of, "Which is worse: killing someone or letting them die. Every day, the news
gives stories of people being ...

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