Should Euthanasia be Legalised Essay -- Papers

Should Euthanasia be Legalised This essay will explore several different and varied opinions about whether or not euthanasia should be legalised. Euthanasia is the Greek word for easy death, but is often referred to as mercy killing. There are two main forms of euthanasia. Voluntary euthanasia is when a terminally ill patient expresses the wish to be euthenised. Active euthanasia is when a Doctor decides that it is in the best interest of the patient to be euthenised. All forms of euthanasia are illegal in Great Britain; however in Holland, Switzerland, Oregon in the U.S and the northern territories of Australia, voluntary and assisted euthanasia has been legalised in recent years. Firstly most Religious groups are opposed to euthanasia, because it is seen as murder. Christians and Jews in particularly are against euthanasia because in 'the ten commandments' it is written that 'you must not kill'. In the Torah and the Bible it also reads that humans are created in the image of God and in the Bible it also reads that Jesus died to save us. Christians and Jews base their views on euthanasia on these things in particular because they believe that only God has the right to decide when to end a life. On the other hand the Roman Catholic Church is of the Christian faith but they do have a slightly different opinion. Although they are very pro-life, they do not believe in pro-longing life by treatment which will prolong suffering. However the government is concerned that if euthanasia were legalised then the amount of suicides in our country will rise considerably. This has not been entirely proven in the few countries that have ... ... of himself administering a lethal injection to a terminally ill man who wished to die. In conclusion I believe that voluntary euthanasia should be legalised because if you have a very poor quality of life then you should be able to have the right to end it. I agree with the Roman Catholic opinion that there is no need to prolong life by treatment which will only prolong the suffering. I also think that only Doctors should be allowed to assist with euthanasia, otherwise euthanasia may be used lightly when it is not necessarily the only option. Until euthanasia is legalised there will continue to be unnecessary arrests of people who thought that they were helping, by euthenising terminally ill people who had little or no chance of ever recovering from their illness, and may have had to suffer for a great deal longer.