Euthanasia
Euthanasia is the technique of inducing painless death in terminally sick or severely damaged persons. Medical practitioners refer to it as mercy killing in some circles. Some countries, like the Netherlands and Germany, have legalized the practice. Advocates of euthanasia point to benefits like as alleviating the pain of terminally ill people, saving money on medical expenditures, and allowing doctors to harvest organs to help other patients in need. Several governments, however, oppose euthanasia. Personally, I oppose euthanasia because it violates my religion's prohibition on murdering people and undermines medical research by encouraging the killing of sick patients. Euthanasia goes against religious teachings that prohibit killing of human beings. God is the sole provider of life and only He should take the life according to his will. The religious book caution human beings against taking the life of other people and terms it a sin. Therefore, it is my conviction that my duty as a medical practitioner is working hard to save lives and not to take them. By supporting the practice, it will be a sin and a contradiction to my religious beliefs. In the Ten Commandments, the religious book clearly outline killing as a sin (Sinnott-Armstrong & Miller, 2012). Euthanasia takes the life of the patient and the reasons do not justify the actions.
Medical Research
Euthanasia undermines medical research. The process of researching for cures for various diseases may take time but eventually the efforts might bear some fruits. Extensive research leads to discovery of machines and instruments to treat patients. The government and other stakeholders should continue funding and supporting activities of scientists and doctors to enable them come up with essential findings. If they shift their focus from treating illness to killing patients, scientists will lack the motivation to continue their research to find treatment because the option of quick and painless death is available. Therefore, it is advisable to refrain from the practice in order to keep the scientists motivated towards finding a cure for the terminal conditions.
Hippocratic Oath
Euthanasia empowers doctors to kill patients hence going against the Hippocratic Oath. According to the oath, doctors have a responsibility of making decisions that lead to the wellbeing of the patient (Ten & Welie, 2014). Killing of the patients is very unethical in the medical field. Similarly, other doctors might take up the opportunity to kill patients for other selfish reasons. Nowadays doctors who do not regard the profession as a calling may take shortcuts so that they earn more money. Relatives may also collude with the doctors to eliminate the sick family members for ulterior motives. Therefore, euthanasia goes against the primary foundations of the medical practices and leads to mistrust between the doctors and the patients.
Ethical Implications
Euthanasia is not an ethical practice. Doctors should be the first people to save live and not to take the lives. Therefore, killing of patients is not ethical in any way. Secondly, euthanasia is a sin according to the religious books that prohibit killing of other people. Therefore, performing the practice would be a contradiction of the religious beliefs that guide my life. Lastly, euthanasia discourages medical research that seeks to establish a cure for the terminal conditions. Therefore, scientists and doctors should work together to save lives and not to take them.
References
Ten Have, H., & Welie, J. V. (2014). Palliative sedation versus euthanasia: an ethical assessment. Journal of pain and symptom management, 47(1), 123-136.
Sinnott-Armstrong, W., & Miller, F. G. (2012). What makes killing wrong?. Journal of medical ethics, medethics-2011.
