Euthanasia and its Controversies
Euthanasia can be described as the termination of a person's life with or without their consent to save them from and suffering. Commonly referred to as physician-assisted suicide, the process is mostly admitted to patients who are at the vegetative phase upon request by the family members or deliberation of the care providers involved in the management of the patient. The subject of euthanasia remains controversial with some people supporting its usage while others view it as an unethical process. This paper seeks to elaborate on the unethical basis of the euthanasia and rationalizes why the process should not be administered on a human being irrespective of the status of their health.
Unethical Basis of Euthanasia
One of the ethical arguments against the process is whether the patients have genuinely consented to the process. This fact stands irrespective of whether the highest qualified physician is the one executing the process. As apparent, in adverse cases, humans tend to exhibit a deterioration in their capacity to reason. In most cases, the initiative to terminate a person's life often emanates from the close relative or the advice from the physician. No matter how it is carried out or who decides, such a case of euthanasia cannot be distinguished from the unjustifiable case of homicide (Enderle and Bronzino 51). On moral grounds, this is unethical. Therefore, euthanasia should not be the only approach to relieving sick persons of pain and suffering.
Denial of the Chance for Recovery
The termination of a person's life through euthanasia rules out the possibility of a recovery, in most cases, from terminal illnesses (Act for Libraries). In some cases, people have often recovered from severe illnesses. The decision to terminate life in such cases denies a person the opportunity to recover and continue living, which is immoral. Based on most religious teachings, life should always be allowed to take its course, with the interventions taken purely dedicated towards its improvement rather than its destruction. The decision to forecast the death of a person is in itself immoral. No human should have a say on whether another one should be alive or dead. Even legally, this is a compromise on the universal right to life. Additionally, persons who are severely ill may live longer than expected, as it is technically impossible to foretell the time a person will die. This further adds to the unethical basis of euthanasia.
Equality of Life
Based on ethical principles, all lives are equal. Euthanasia compromises this provision as it amounts to a decision which persons should continue living or who should be dead (BBC). This amounts to unethical conduct by both the physicians administering euthanasia as well as the family members who give the go-ahead for a kin's life to be terminated. You cannot justify the choice to terminate a person's life whether they were suffering or not. Through this, people should be allowed to succumb to their illnesses naturally and eliminate chances of committing an immoral act.
Conclusion
In conclusion, euthanasia goes against ethical principles in multiple dimensions. The process amounts to the destruction of life and denies the affected persons the opportunity to recover and assume their healthy lives. It is also an affirmation that some lives are more valuable than others which should never be the case in any society. Further, in the case of voluntary euthanasia, the persons affected may not be in a position to exhibit rational thinking, which makes the process indistinguishable from homicide cases. Therefore, based on ethical grounds, physician-assisted suicide should not be permitted.
References
Act for Libraries. "The Euthanasia Of Human Beings Is Unethical – Unethical." Actforlibraries.Org, 2018, http://www.actforlibraries.org/the-euthanasia-of-human-beings-is-unethical-unethical/. Accessed 7 Mar 2018.
BBC. "Ethics - Euthanasia: Anti-Euthanasia Arguments." Bbc.Co.Uk, 2014, http://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/euthanasia/against/against_1.shtml. Accessed 7 Mar 2018.
Enderle, John D, and Joseph D. Bronzino. Introduction to Biomedical Engineering. Burlington, MA: Academic Press, 2012. Internet resource.
