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Euthanasia and Medical Ethics

One of the principal questions in contemporary medical ethics that bleeds into societal morality is the question of euthanasia. Should modern medicine do all it can to save a patient, or should quality of life issues enter into the question? What is the moral balance between preserving life and preventing a once vital human from remaining comatose, sometimes for years? Should religious beliefs prevent medical professionals from helping to ease the pain and suffering of prolonged treatment in a terminally ill patient? These are but some of the difficult questions surrounding the debate on the subject of euthanasia. This paper will present an overview of the major issues on the subject, give both the pro and con sides of the argument, and conclude with a synthesis of the dilemmas faced by both health professionals and society at large.

At the basis of the traditional view on euthanasia lies Christian teaching. Christianity teaches that every human was created in the image of God, therefore all human life is sacred and cannot be taken except by God (Rachels 3). However, a variety of variables exist within the issue of life. For instance, capital punishment is traditionally sanctioned, yet mercy killing is considered anathema. There are also issues involved as to killing people or letting them die. The medical ethics involved in keeping people alive who are permanently damaged with no hope of recovery may clearly change the conception of the JudeoChristian tradition of the sanctity of life (Larue 12).

One of the problems in dealing with this issue lies in the wide range of medical techniques that are continually being developed. Biological existence may be prolonged almost indefinitely, even though brain activity has completely ceased. As well, since 1968 the legal definition of death has changed in the United States. Various courts in different geographic locations define the situation differently, and the views appear ...

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Euthanasia and Medical Ethics. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 19:54, March 28, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1683964.html