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Euthanasia

Euthanasia is the termination of a very sick or disabled person's life in order to relieve them of their suffering. A person who undergoes euthanasia usually has an incurable condition but there are some cases where people want their life to be ended.[1] Euthanasia is a very controversial topic not only because of peoples religious views but because some consider it assisted murder.

Here are some popular euthanasia cases

In February 2014 an Italian woman travelled to Switzerland to end her life after finding herself unhappy because she lost her looks.

Because this lady had no mental or physical problems and chose to end her life simply because she was unhappy instead of seeking professional help left a lot of people shocked.

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In another case 45 year old twins Marc and Eddy Verbessem from Belgium who were born deaf decided to take their own life with assisted euthanasia when they found out they were going to be blind and would need to live in a care home for the rest of their lives.

Although the disability Marc and Eddy had was neither painful nor prevented them from doing every day things (they both had a job), losing another one of the most important senses in the body – sight would leave them in a way trapped, unable to see or hear anyone.

This is how people reacted to their case

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In 2008 a documentary showing the death of Craig Ewert at a Swiss euthanasia clinic was shown on Sky TV.

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59 year old Craig Ewert was a retired university professor who suffered from Lou Gehrig’s disease which is characterised by muscle spasticity and rapidly progressive weakness due to muscle wasting, difficulty speaking, swallowing, and breathing. [5]

This is how people reacted to his death

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How these points affect society

From the comments above we can see that the majority of people agree with the concept of euthanasia but only if the person is really suffering and not for other personal reasons such as in the case of Oriella Cazzanello who was both mentally and physically fit.

Although not seen in the comments, a lot of people disagree with euthanasia based on the religious belief (in many other religions not only in Christianity) that God gave us life and that he chooses when it should end and that is it a sin to take your own life, and others simply believe that ending a life should not be the first and only choice and that medical help or other options should be looked into first.

These points impact on society because it leaves one group against the other – the group who is pro euthanasia and a group who is against it. This can lead to a lot of criticism towards religions and religious people who have strong beliefs in what happens when we die vs atheists (who don’t believe in the consequences of what we do every day and how it would impact their afterlife.) and criticism towards clinics that assist with euthanasia and the doctors who help patients die. Because some patients pay for the euthanasia treatment, some believe that it can be taken advantage of by greedy doctors.

References

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1. http://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/euthanasia/ 2. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2564023/Italian-woman-85-ends-

life-Swiss-Dignitas-clinic-upset-losing-looks.html3. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2261985/Belgian-twin-brothers-

killed-doctors-choosing-euthanasia-able-again.html4. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1093091/Viewers-broadcast-

suicide-film-Brown-says-matter-conscience.html5. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amyotrophic_lateral_sclerosis 6. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWy6pKVendQ

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