Arguments for and Against Euthanasia

Euthanasia is an important matter, that should be discussed by everyone. Euthanasia is when a patient asks permission to die and the doctor allows it. Euthanasia puts lots of stress on doctors, as well as, the family of the person who decides that he or she wants to die. There are many arguments for and against euthanasia, and here are some of the main points.

One of the biggest reasons for why euthanasia is needed in hospitals is that it protects one’s dignity instead of suffering and living in a degrading way. There is really no need to explain this argument as it is self explanatory. If a person has stage four lung cancer, there is less than 10% chance that they will survive. While they are fighting for their life, it is not uncommon for them to lose control of their bowel movements, they cannot stand up on their own and need someone to feed them food or have a feeding tube. This is completely degrading to the person that is having to fight for their life. Because of this they often request the doctor to allow them to die, as they do not want to live like that anymore. However, one argument against euthanasia, is that everyone should have a chance to live. It is important remember that all human lives matter and they should not be thrown away. There is no price tag on a human life. In regards to the individuals mentioned above, even though they have stage four lung cancer, they they still have a 10% chance to survive and they should fight for it. Because once they get rid of their cancer they can live their life to the fullest extent. That is the argument for and against euthanasia.

Another argument for euthanasia is that a patient should have the right to die. They should know what is beneficial for them and so they should also be in charge of their own life. In their mind, the government should allow them to do what they please. This is a very conservative argument. It also leads to the question, why should the government control what a person can or cannot do in regards to their own life? They are taking a burden off their family, and they are reducing the amount of money that is going towards saving their life. The opposing point of view to this argument is they are putting a burden on another’s life, in this instance the doctor’s. It is already well known that medical students have the highest rates of depression than anywhere else. Once out of college, the rates of suicide and depression go up further. In fact 300-400 physicians kill themselves because of depression just in America. If the government were going to allow euthanasia, not only would it go against the hippocratic oath, it would put blood on the doctors’ hands as they willingly killed a patient they were supposed to protect.

Euthanasia is a difficult subject to discuss. There are multiple pieces of the puzzle that must be taken into consideration if the government plans to allow euthanasia in hospitals. These are just some of the arguments