Voluntary Euthanasia.
This topic has been argued over for decades, if not centuries. If a person feels their life is no longer worth living, and they are unable to kill themselves, should they be allowed to seek help from a physician?
A Supreme Court case in 1997 ruled that their is no right to physician-assisted suicide, however, they left it to the states to decide whether or not to pass laws allowing voluntary euthanasia. Earlier that same year Oregon had passed legislation that allowed for physician-assisted suicide, as long as five criteria are met by the patient:
1) The patient is terminally ill.
2) The patient is unlikely to benefit from a cure during their life expectancy.
3) Is in a state of intolerable pain directly linked to the illness or the patient belives that he or she depends nearly exclusively on others or technology to survive and find doing so to be a burden.
4)The patient is competent and wishes to die for an enduring amount of time.
5) The patient is unable to commit suicide themselves.
Those conditions were put in place in order to restrict access to voluntary euthanasia, however the law in Oregon has still be used by many to get assistance in ending their own life. Even if the doctor objects morally to euthanasia and refuses to do it himself, he must refer the patient to a doctor who will.
Now what are your thoughts on this? Should euthanasia be legal? Are the requirements too restrictive? Too loose? Do you think people can competenly choose to die?
A person has a right to their own life. They should have the right to end that life if they so desire. I think that those restrictions are too harsh. It should be up to the individual, not the state.
"Every man makes a god of his own desire."
-Virgil
Yeah I agree but then the news will be flooded with stories about how a poor old grandpa was forced to do euthanasia so the kids could inherit the money. That sounds awful, but the world is awful. I support euthanasia and yes I think the restrictions are too much, but it's a basic way to cover up any malpractice or watch out for anyone that tries to "get over" the system.
Well, thats why the restrictions are in place. In oregon I believe the patient has to prevent their case to a board of doctors who decide whether or not to accept his or her plea to be euthanized.
-Dan
I think if the person is in a state of intolerable physical pain and there is no cure, is the only time I would agree with it.