Should euthanasia be legalized?

[Nguyen Minh]

The issues of euthanasia has sparked intense debate over the years, from Jack Kevorkian, to the case of Terry Schiavo, to the 2006 Supreme Court ruling on Oregon's Death With Dignity Act. The definition of euthanasia as given by the Oxford English Dictionary is: “the painless killing of a patient suffering from an incurable disease or in an irreversible coma”. Recently, euthanasia is legal in the Netherlands and in the state of Oregon in the U.S.A. However, euthanasia should not be legal for several reasons.
The first and most important reason for prohibition of euthanasia is that nobody can decide how advanced a terminal illness is in order for euthanasia to be acceptable. For example, the case of American Sidney Cohen, who was diagnosed with cancer and given three months to live. He asked for euthanasia to be administered. He was suffering agonizing pain and was bed-ridden, but was refused euthanasia because it was illegal. Eight months later, he was still living and could enjoy a full life. The point here is that doctors are not always correct in their diagnoses. Therefore, euthanasia might kill patients who can recover from a terminal illness.
An other reason why euthanasia should be illegal is that people can do many thing if they are alive. Many patients feel they are a great burden on their relatives and are causing them much pain. For these reasons, they might ask for euthanasia to be administered, but that is the same as wasting their life. They do not know that if they had simply continued to live, they could have accomplished much more. Right now, about 40 million people in the world are living with HIV infection or AIDS. The overwhelming majority of them make a great contribution to society.
It may be objected that mercy killings have been a way for people to escape the fear and pain of dying a slow and painful death. However, there are so many pills to relieve pain, so why should someone miss a special moment with a loved one due to pain.
In conclusion, we should prohibit euthanasia for handling diagnoses improperly and the contribution of patients. All medical means should be exhausted to try to cure patients of a disease.

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[Kitosdad]

The issues of euthanasia has sparked intense debate over the years, from Jack Kevorkian, to the case of Terry Schiavo, to the 2006 Supreme Court ruling on Oregon's Death With Dignity Act. The definition of euthanasia as given by the Oxford English Dictionary is: “the painless killing of a patient suffering from an incurable disease or in an irreversible coma”. Recently, euthanasia HAS BEEN MADE legal in the Netherlands and in the state of Oregon in the U.S.A. However, IN MY OPINION, euthanasia should not be legal for several reasons.

The first and most important reason for prohibition of euthanasia is that nobody can decide how advanced a terminal illness /is/ IS CONSIDERED TO BE/ in order for euthanasia to be acceptable. For example, the case of American Sidney Cohen, who was diagnosed with cancer and given three months to live. He asked for euthanasia to be administered. He was suffering agonizing pain and was bed-ridden, but was refused euthanasia because it was illegal. Eight months later, he was still living and could enjoy a full life. The point here is that doctors are not always correct in their diagnoses. Therefore, euthanasia might kill patients who can recover from a terminal illness.
(Another) reason why euthanasia should be REMAIN illegal is that people can do many thingS if they are alive. Many patients feel they are a great burden on their relatives and are causing them much pain. For these reasons, they might ask for euthanasia to be administered, but that is the same as wasting their life. They do not know that if they had simply continued to live, they could have accomplished much more. Right now, about 40 million people in the world are living with HIV infection or AIDS. The overwhelming majority of them make a great contribution to society.
It may be SUGGESTED that mercy killings have been a way for people to escape the fear and pain of dying a slow and painful death. However, there are so many pills to relieve pain, so why should someone miss a special moment with a loved one due to THEIR HAVING BEEN "KILLED" SIMPLY BECAUSE THEY WERE IN PAIN?

In conclusion, we should prohibit euthanasia. All medical means should be exhausted to try to cure patients of a disease. INCORRECT DIAGNOSIS AND THE PLEAS OF PATIENTS SHOULD BE OVERLOOKED WHILE THERE IS A GLIMMER OF HOPE AS TO THEIR RECOVERY.
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Good morning Nguyen Minh. You covered this topic very well.

Kitos. 8.5/10
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