Euthanasia is assisting the suicide of a person by using drugs or other lethal devices to end the patient's life. It is practiced in many parts of the world. Euthanasia should be illegal. This practice undermines the morals of doctors, goes against the common rules of practice and is unecessary.
There is much fear that if euthanasia should become legal and common practice, then it will undermine the morals of both the public and the doctors. There is also a big possibility on the chance of wrongly giving a person deadly pills. If given the opportunity, some doctors might euthanize people even if the patient had a good chance of survival. There have been cases in which doctors have euthanized those who were recovering. The most prominent of these examples is Dr. Harold Shipman. This British doctor killed over 170 patients and claimed it to be euthanasia, however, many of these patients did not want to die.(CMF) When outlining the case, officials "dismissed euthanasia or mercy killing on the basis that none of the dead had had a terminal illness."(Crimelibrary) He was charged with murder. If euthanasia becomes totally legal, then there will be more cases like this.
Another major fear about euthanasia and its effect on society is that instead of searching for cures to diseases, scientists will be searching for more ways to euthanize people and have it be less painful.This can seriously undermine scientific research and cripple morals that are now used when working in a hospital. Euthanasia is so wrong that it violates one of the main parts of the Hippocratic oath, that states, "I will give no deadly medicine if asked, nor suggest such counsel..."(MIT) This oath is taken by all doctors, and is the moral code that is supposed to be followed. The World Medical Organization also stated, "A doctor must always bear in mind his obligations of preserving human life from conception until death."(CMF)
What makes euthanasia more useless is that there are several nicer alternatives to this practice that keep patients alive and give them a last chance to recover. One of these fine alternatives is hospice care, which places a patient in a homelike surrounding while tending to the patient's every physical need, which include giving the patient painkilling medicine. In this surrounding, a person can keep their dignity. It should also be recognized that virtually all pain can be nulled by medicine without killing the patient.
Some people could argue that the Netherlands, a country which legalized euthanasia, is doing fine. In the year 1991, when the law was still new, almost one thousand of the people who were euthanized were euthanized without consent. (Pregnantpause)That is not the only moral travesty which occurred because of the legalization of euthanasia.The idea of euthanasia is to heal the critically ill, and it was accepted there, however, it also spread to the depressed, the people who are constantly ill, and the most innocent people of all - babies. Babies have no voice to say whether they want to live or not, so their parents can choose whether to kill their newborn child. This is not medicine, nor is this anywhere near moral.
People don't want to have euthanasia either. According to one poll, a good 64 % of Americans firmly believe that euthanasia should be illegal. People do see that it is cruel and insane. "The entire concept is preposterous, ridiculous. Why? Simply stated, killing isn't medicine," stated Wesley Smith, author of a couple of aricles on the subject. (Tennesseerighttolife)
A very unnerving step in the direction towards legalizing euthanasia happened in Oregon in 1998. Doctors may perform euthanasia, but in order to be crime-free, a doctor must record what drugs he gave to the patient and send a report to state officials. The law, which supposedly gave power to the sick, also gives power to other people who have a choice on whether that person dies. A prominent case of this is Kate Cheney, who's daughter managed to pressure her mother into using the law to kill herself. The doctor saw that Kate's daughter was seriously pressuring her into euthanasia. The empowerment of those who are not sick allows them to find a quick path to an inheritance. Is a law that allows this to happen a law that should stay in the states?
Euthanasia is immoral, useless, and is not medicine. It is good that steps are being taken to make it illegal. In the future, one must hope that people will be more aware of this troubling issue in bioethics.