Euthanasia has become an important issue in the protection of human dignity. It has been in the news a great deal lately because of the crusade of the so-called "suicide doctor," Dr. Jack Kevorkian, who has "assisted" in some 17 or 18 suicides over the past few years, all of people who were facing some debilitating and painful degenerative disease. As medical science becomes more adept at prolonging life, but not necessarily at making that life valuable, euthanasia becomes an option to be considered by those who suffer, those who love them, and those who are charged with their care. Euthanasia comes from two Greek words meaning "good death" or "happy death," and the term refers to any action that brings a painless death to a person suffering from an injury, disease, or the ravages of age. There is a distinction between active euthanasia and passive euthanasia. Passive euthanasia refers to the withdrawal of "heroic" measures that keep a moribund person alive. Active euthanasia means taking a positive action that leads directly to the death of another person, and active euthanasia is considered murder in most legal and religious systems (Urofsky 15).
Wicker offers the case of Dax Cowart as an argument for euthanasia. Dax was severely burned in a propane gas explosion and suffered through many painful treatments during which he repeatedly begged the doctors and nurses to let him die. His mother refused to allow this and signed the necessary consent forms for his treatment. He survived, but he is permanently disabled--blind, with little sense of touch, and poor hearing. He has no fingers on his hands. He himself insists that he should have been allowed to die. His mother admits only that they should have stopped the pain: "She still grieves over her failure to demand more pain medication for him. But, like her son, she has never recanted" (Wicker 18).
Active euthanasia should be legalized. It is first of all a huma...