College Essay on Euthanasia

             The greatest gift one can receive is the gift of life, and that is how every human being should look at their life – as a great gift that should be treasured. Unfortunately, many people in society today do not see life as a great gift. They do not see it as something to hold on to. These people are advocates of euthanasia: the "assisting in the death of a person suffering from an incurable disease" (Gerber, Macionis: 2002:537). Although this may seem like a justifiable thing to do, the legalization of euthanasia will have many more negative effects on society than positive. Legalizing euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide will send out a negative message and cause society to devalue all life, especially the lives of the dying, the disabled and the elderly. Legalization will also seriously reduce efforts to humanize the dying process. If an easier way out with "socially acceptable" mercy killings is available the hard work needed to preserve life will simply become less and less worth it. In addition, a decision for a middle ground, legalizing euthanasia under certain justifiable circumstances and not others, will lead society into considerable legal, ethical, and social problems. Furthermore, the right to physical pain relief, the right to hospital comfort care, better education of health care professionals on pain control and the right to medical care in general, need to be improved. Until these matters are clear, among others, euthanasia should not be legalized in Canada.
             Accordingly, the will to improve the dying process will be compromised if active killing is legalized. Public policies as well as social relationships will be affected by legalized euthanasia. Caring for the elderly, the ill and the profoundly disabled will be seen by many as a burden or affliction that wastes time and resources and therefore could be better spent doing something else. For example, a son or daughter may not continue to struggle t...

More Essays:

APA     MLA     Chicago
College Essay on Euthanasia. (1969, December 31). In MegaEssays.com. Retrieved 16:51, March 28, 2024, from https://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/271.html