Euthanasia
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Euthanasia is still a controversial topic to many people, though it is slowly gaining acceptance, along with physician assisted suicide, particularly for the terminally ill. Oregon is the only state where physician assisted suicide is currently legal, though surveys across the country show that most people are in favor of the procedure. It has been practiced in the Netherlands for over 20 years, and was recently legalized there, and there has been no headlong dash to suicide as opponents predict, nor a wave of killing of unwanted older relatives for their money. The US Supreme Court is clearly opposed to euthanasia and physician assisted suicide, which is a blow to all those who are suffering through terminal illness and must wait it out to the bitter end. The word "euthanasia" is Greek for "good death" and euthanasia is the practice of killing people or animals painlessly or with minimal pain for merciful reasons, usually to end suffering from disease (Euthanasia, 2005). Proponents of euthanasia argue that only the patient can decide when suffering makes life worse than death, and that such persons should be allowed to make the decision. Most opponents of euthanasia object to it on religious grounds (Euthanasia, 2005). Some have religious beliefs that prohibit all forms of killing, while others consider capital punishment and self-defense acceptable, but object to euthanasia as usurping decision-making authority that they see as belonging t
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ey for his wife which would authorize his death in the event that two doctors agreed that his medical condition was hopeless (Robinson, 2002). He claimed the state law that criminalized assisted suicide violated the 1st, 4th, 5th, 6th, 9th and 14th Amendments to the Constitution. In 1998, the court agreed the law was unconstitutional because it conflicted with the 1st Amendment. The case was appealed to the Colorado Court of Appeals, where the judge argued that free will granted by God or nature allowed him to choose to kill himself with the help of another person. The court rejected the case, saying that, "an individual's religious beliefs do not excuse the individual from compliance with an otherwise valid law prohibiting conduct the state law is free to regulate."
In Florida Section 782.08 of the Florida Statutes prohibits assisted suicide (Robinson, 2002). In 1997, a patient who contracted HIV/AIDS from a blood transfusion and was dying asked the courts for an injunction against prosdcution for the doctor if he helped him commit suicide and it was granted. However, the State Attorney appealed the ruling to the Trial Court, and the Supreme Court overturned the ruling, saying that the Florida privacy provision did no
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Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1847
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page)
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