Should a dying patient have to require doctors to get rid of his life? Should a doctor be safeguarded from lawsuits if he assistes his patients to destroy themselves as required? Those pro-euthanasia supporters will give a definite answer "Yes", nevertheless they forget the potential menace behind this "assisted suicide".
Euthanasia, also known as "mercy getting rid of", is one of the most controversial issues in nowaday modern culture. Many people approve such a tranquil and easy way of loss of life and claim that euthanasia should be legalized. However in reality, euthanasia is incompatible with most religions and will bring remarkable negative influences to the whole society. Therefore it shouldn't be legalized. The main reasons can be posted as follows.
Point 1: euthanasia violates the spiritual beliefs of several nations and the legitimation of euthanasia will most likely provoke opposition of these devout religious people. The matter of death constitutes one of the most important things that religions deal with. Nearly every faith gives special focus on death. According to most religions, all real human life is sacred, and will probably be worth safeguarding. In Qur'an, the holy booklet of Islam, it is obviously stated that "when their time comes they cannot hold off it for an individual hour nor can they bring it forward by a single hour", in other words the length of one's life is destined, we can never do anything to hinder it. Only Allah has the right to end it. In the same way, life is a gift idea from God, corresponding to Christianity. It is wrong to meddle in the process of dying, whether in form of murder, suicide or euthanasia, since the right to make a decision loss of life belongs to God exclusively. In addition, the Jewish traditions also regards individuals life with supreme moral worth and forbids doing anything that might shorten life.
Almost all religions subject to euthanasia, therefore the legitimation of euthanasia will undoutedly pose obstacles to religions. What would that lead to then? The guidelines of religions are destroyed and folks will be puzzled and then lose their idea in religions. The devout religious people may feel offended and try to reduce those pro-euthanasia ones who actually were part of them. The religious classes gradually breakdown and without the restriction of religion in a society, there will be a distinct increase in the crime rate. The cultural steadiness will be under risk.
We must perish some day, but our religions reveal that we are not allowed to set up our fatality. The legitimation of euthanasia replaces the role of God with some earthly human beings. Taking into consideration the great shock it will cause to religions, "the power to try out with people's lives should not be passed out under a legal or medical disguise. " (Hassan, 2008, p. 25)
Point 2: the legitimation of euthanasia can certainly be abused, by the doctors, family of the individual, even the government. If someone will inherit one million dollars when his aunty dies, and when he is offered an possibility to give her a lethal injection, might the heir not find it alluring? In another case, a health care provider makes a blunder in an operation which results in the fatality of the patient. Might he ascribe the medical crash to the patient's will of euthanasia? If euthanasia is made legal, we have to face the fact that someone with evil intent will be happy to take good thing about this legal loophole, especially those individuals around the patient. For the members of the family, as it pertains to financial things to consider, it is quite easy for the family to vacation resort to euthanasia, in order to reduce the top burden--the patient. For the relevant doctors, they are provided with a reasonable excuse to hide their potential medical blunders. And since Pidd (2009) mentioned, those who would have passed on well in excellent nursing and good care will perish unwillingly because they are forced to take action.
Additionally, a administration usually needs to allocate funds to provide for the dying patients. And medical welfare cost always occupies a high percentage in a country"s payout. Once euthanasia becomes legal, the federal government can decrease the paying for treatment and treatment simply by changing them with euthanasia. Could it be more likely to happen? No one can inform but such risk does exist and can weaken a great many other public services that happen to be aimed at looking after the dying patient, or others like services offered in homes for the aged (the government can also replace the assistance for old people who have euthanasia).
For a very important factor, it is sure legalizing euthanasia will make it appearl to all or any residents and imply an irresponsible way to deal with the dying patients. People becomes indifferent to older people and " the right to death " will probably become "the work to death". (Frey, 1998, p. 107)
Point 3: the legitimation of euthanasia will weaken a patient's will to deal with with diseases. It is a fact but hardly ever known by the general public that euthanasia is unnecessary in many cases. Relating to David (1992),
"the inability to sufficiently treat the pain and other symptoms experienced by the terminally sick patient is lost with too little choice and dignity in the dying process. And the poor education and trained in pain and warning sign management received by health-care experts often brings about uncontrolled symptoms, where time a patient may ask for euthanasia. Despite this situation, however, terminal patients seldom ask for euthanasia or helped suicide. " (p. 69-70)
When patients lack necessary knowledge about the pain or disease, they tend to exaggerate their disease and relate them to death. Because of this, they might need euthanasia because of they cannot tolerate the pain somewhat than they aren't strong enough to overcome the disease. It really is a tragedy for somebody who can take euthanasia as they could have lived a longer time so long as they sick with it.
"where there is life, there is hope". Euthanasia is completely against this saying. It denies the willpower of individual nature, denies expectations in life, and even denies the beneficial existence of individual. Life is more valuable because of hardship. After one's have a problem with fatality, he becomes tougher and tougher. But euthanasia calls for this opportunity away. Instead, it includes those psychologically impotent persons an escape from physical pain, from the actual electric power of their will, from a really important life. It deprives many folks of the chance to grow from the ashes, like the phoenix, and should therefore be forbiddened.
Objection: some pro-euthanasia people maintain that euthanasia presents the freedom of one's will and helps you to save his dignity when he dies. Euthanasia is the mark of democracy. It is not true. Euthanasia seems to promise a dignified loss of life, but it in simple fact exposes the impotence of man's figure: he's unable to confront himself with the actual fact and lacks strong self-assurance to improve his fate. Besides, euthanasia offers someone the right to kill another while others the reason to free them from the dying patients. Because of it, the patients "were sufferers, these were helpless, these were hopeless, they were burdens. " (Ervin, 2002, para. 5) In a few level, it questions the values of humanity. From human angle, euthanasia should apply and then individuals who are so valueless that they don't really should have a life, but how do there be someone like this? Because the legalization of euthanasia will increase serious moral and social issues, the legitimation of it will surely cause tremendous catastrophic repercussions in contemporary society.
In realization, euthanasia is nearly an act aiding people die. It promotes mistreatment, offers doctors the right to murder and is contradictory to spiritual values. Besides, like Rayfield (2010) said, there are much more better options except euthanasia if you want to create a contemporary society focusing on compassion and care and attention and aiding dying people. The legalization of euthanasia hinder the development of truly sympathy to the good care of the dying and can happen many interpersonal problems. Therefore, it should never be legalized.
