Framing Euthanasia

Dramatic? Yes. Exaggerated? Yes. Unrealistic? Noànot really. Euthanasia is a concept that purports to painlessly end the lives of people who have incurable or painful diseases or handicaps. It has been framed in such a way that many people see it as mercy, a favor to someone who is suffering so much that life is not worth living. An astonishing number of people believe that euthanasia is the right thing to do in cases of terminal illness or unbearable physical or emotional pain. They persist in believing that this is merciful in spite of the fact that the suffering caused by the euthanasia can be worse than the patientÆs everyday life with the illness or handicap. This was sharply illus

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e available, amounting to one in five of all reported euthanasia cases. In 22% of Dutch euthanasia cases there had been no ôexplicit requestö by the person concerned, and 50% of those subjected to this killing without consent were competent at the time of their death. The single study yet published from Belgium, where euthanasia was legalised in May 2002 showed that 30% of euthanasia cases there were non-voluntary (Davis). Equally sobering are findings that the mentally disabled are particularly vulnerable to euthanasia decisions: A study found that 44% of the deaths of such people living in institutions involved an ôend of life decisionö though only two of the 97 people concerned had ôexpressed a wish to dieö û a ôchoiceö which was inferred if the person pulled out a feeding tube (Davis). One of the critical flaws in euthanasia is that the determination that a particular patient should be euthanized will always have elements of subjectivity inherent in it. HollandÆs government report in 1991 stated ôà it was gratifying to note that only one patient had non-voluntary euthanasia because there was the need for a bed.ö To call it ôgratifyingö that such a killing happened ôonlyö once shows how routine killing becomes once it is
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Approximate Word count = 1923
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page)

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