MadisonA;+AshleyK

== =**When do some people find euthanasia to be acceptable?** = To know when euthanasia is acceptable is hard to tell. The most important part about the decision though, for deciding if it is right or not, would be that the individual and their family are able to decide for themselves what they feel is right. The people who choose death are usually terminally ill, in much pain, and want an escape from pain that cannot be controlled by medication.

“I am a very spiritual person, and it was very important to me to be conscious, clear-minded and alert at the time of my death. The powerful pain medications were making it difficult to maintain the state of mind I wanted to have at my death” (NY Times)

This is a quote from the first woman to go through assisted suicide in Washington state. This was her personal reason for wanting to do assisted suicide instead of letting her pancreatic cancer consume her. Each person is different and there is not one universal answer to why people would choose euthanasia. Some people feel that “allowing [one] to die rather than killing might be worse in terms of distress to all concerned” (Ruth Chadwick) while others feel that purposefully killing is never acceptable. Every person must weigh what they feel are the important factors in their lives. Personally, I think people who choose euthanasia are people, just like the lady from Washington, who want to end their lives being completely aware of their surroundings.

=**What kinds of conditions are the people in who choose euthanasia?** =

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The people who choose euthanasia are people who have very painful or degenerative diseases/conditions. Some of these diseases, such as cancer, multiple sclerosis, and AIDS, are very painful and can make a person unlike their former selves. According to a woman who had multiple sclerosis, she wanted to choose death because she had already been watching her body break down and her mind go and she no longer wanted to be in that situation.=====



=**Do we have a "right to die"?** =

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Legally, especially in the US, we do not have the right to die in most states. The only states that allow euthanasia are Oregon, Montana, and Washington. Some other countries allow euthanasia such as Belgium and the Netherlands. In Switzerland, assisted suicide is legal if the person who is helping with it will not gain anything from it. Spiritually, most religions do not support euthanasia. While Judaism and Islam both do not condone euthanasia, they “deem interventions that artificially extend the agony of terminally ill patients unnecessary” and they do allow for withholding of treatment. Withholding treatment will eventually end in death but it is deemed acceptable because it is not what is directly killing the patient. In the capacity of our own human choice, we all have the right to choose what we want. As long as we are knowledgeable, conscious, and not being influenced by other people, I think that we have a right to do anything we want. Euthanasia should be a very personal decision and it should be one that people think a lot about before they take rash action.======

=**Other alternatives to euthanasia?** = When one or one's family is considering euthanasia it is usually because the person is going through a lot of pain and suffering. Alternatives to this act would be to help people through their suffering in ways such as the following: Hospice is a special concept of care designed to provide comfort and support to patients and their families when a life-limiting illness no longer responds to cure-oriented treatments. Hospice care neither prolongs life nor hastens death. Hospice staff and volunteers offer a specialized knowledge of medical care, including pain management.
 * Hospice Care**

The goal of hospice care is to improve the quality of a patient's last days by offering comfort and dignity. Hospice care is provided by a team-oriented group of specially trained professionals, volunteers and family members. Hospice addresses all symptoms of a disease, with a special emphasis on controlling a patient's pain and discomfort. Hospice deals with the emotional, social and spiritual impact of the disease on the patient and the patient's family and friends. Hospice offers a variety of bereavement and counseling services to families before and after a patient's death.

Hospice Patients' Alliance ([]) provides free assistance to patients, families, and caregivers to obtain quality hospice care and for those seeking help in resolving problems encountered in hospice care.

Palliative care is not the same as hospice care. The goal of palliative care is to relieve the pain, symptoms and stress of serious illness. It is appropriate for people of any age and at any point in an illness. It can be delivered along with treatments that are meant to cure you.
 * Palliative Care**

=**Reasons why people are against/for euthanasia ** = Ongoing, unrelieved suffering gives rise to loss of hope and despair. The patient whose symptoms have not/cannot be adequately controlled may ask for euthanasia or assisted suicide to escape their suffering and/or "restore" their dignity.

Some patients live in excessive, chronic pain. Some, due to poverty or lack of health-care coverage cannot afford pain killing medication. Others are denied adequate pain killers because of their physician's lack of knowledge, inadequate training, or specific beliefs. Some only have a certain amount of time to live. Those given a deadline on their life feel like they have no need to continue living. Sometimes a serious disorder or disease has adversely effected their quality of life to the point where they no longer wish to continue living. In these cases, people see euthanasia as a way to end their suffering. This will end their life in a painless way, which could otherwise be quite painful if they chose to die naturally.
 * For**:

"If a person has been going through the treatments, or who is in immense pain, and will not live in their condition I believe it is his or her right to say whether they want to keep living in their situation or not. I do not think it is right to keep someone alive against their will just because we have the medical technology to do so." - General Surgeon of Mountain View Hospital in Utah. (did not wish to be named)

"nothing and no one can in any way permit the killing of an innocent human being, whether a fetus or an embryo, an infant or an adult, an old person, or one suffering from an incurable disease, or a person who is dying." -Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
 * Against**:

This, of course, argues the fact that you are actually killing a person, which is illegal. Even if a person says they do not wish to live any longer, the question still remains: if the patient or the family has the right to end their life and essentially "play God". Some people say that you can never be one hundred percent sure if the patient will not survive or will continue to live a life of pain and suffering. Another argument is that euthanasia denies our basic human character and requires that we regard ourselves or others as something less than fully human. They say no matter what or how much the person is suffering, they are human and will always have the right to life which no one is allowed to take away.

"No matter how ill a patient is, we never have a right to put that person to death. Rather, we have a duty to care for and preserve life."

 Human Dignity: When we consider Euthanasia we much take into question the dignity of the patient. Human life is sacred, and the dignity of the human person is the starting point for a moral vision for society.

"Life, especially human life, belongs to God; whoever attacks human life attacks God's very self." [|**The Gospel of Life**] (Donders translation), #9

Works Cited: [] [|www.euthanasia.com/proscons.html] [] []