Should Euthanasia be Legal?

1. Should Euthanasia be Legal?

2. Types of Euthanasia • Types • Passive Euthanasia: is withdrawing some form of life support and letting nature take its course • Active Euthanasia: involves a doctor administering something that results in death of a patient at the patient’s request • Physician Assisted Suicide- when a physician supplies the means of committing suicide to the patient. The patient then chooses to terminate their own life when they desire.

3. Pro-Euthanasia • Compassion in Dying v. State of Washington • Made euthanasia legal in Washington • Ruled that prohibiting physician assisted suicide violates the 14 amendment’s due process clause. • “nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property” • By making euthanasia illegal, you take away an individual’s liberty to choose how, and when to end one’s life .

4. Case Cont. • Court also ruled that a patient has a protected liberty interest to be free from unjustified government intrusion • An individual has the right to end their life to avoid prolonged suffering.

5. Other Important Cases • Gonzales v. Oregon which legalized physician assisted suicide in Oregon • Baxter v. Montana which legalized physician assisted suicide in Montana

6. Anti-Euthanasia • Main arguments • Decrease in actual medical care • Instead of trying to make some one better, doctors are giving patients a way to commit suicide • Slippery Slope argument • Puts pressure on certain individuals • Elderly people pressured by selfish families • Pressure to free of medical sources • Patients abandoned by their families may feel suicide is the only choice, when counseling would most benefit them.

7. Possible Middle Ground? • Reaching a compromise on whether or not euthanasia should be legal is difficult • It’s not always clear how medical intervention will affect someone’s life • Legislation should draft a bill that address both legal, and moral concerns • Highly regulating the process • Requiring multiple doctors sign a waiver • Must be done in a hospital setting

8. Works Cited • DeSoto, Marla , ed. "Bioethic Issues ." Glendale Community College Library and Community Services . N.p., 3/16/2005. Web. 1 Apr 2012. <http://web.gccaz.edu/~mdinchak/eng101/argbioethics.htm>. • BBC, , ed. "Euthanasia and Physician Assisted Suicide ." BBC. N.p., 1/18/2011. Web. 1 Apr 2012. <http://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/euthanasia/>. • Ertelt , Steven . "Assisted Suicide Support Drops to Lowest Level in 8 Years." LifeNews.com . Life News, 1/18/2011. Web. 5/31/11. <http://www.lifenews.com/2011/05/31/assisted-suicide-support-drops-to-lowest-level-in-8-years/>. • United States Court of Appeals , . "Find Law ." United States Court of Appeals,Ninth Circuit.. Find Law , 2012. Web. 1 Apr 2012. <http://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-9th-circuit/1139892.html>. • LeBaron, Garn. "The Ethics of Euthanasia ." Quantonics. Quantonics Inc., 02/08/1999. Web. 1 Apr 2012. <http://www.quantonics.com/The_Ethics_of_Euthanasia_By_Garn_LeBaron.html • Huff, Charlette. "Doctors Debate Ethics of Assisted Suicide ." ACP Internist . 1 Aug 2010: n. page. Web. 1 Apr. 2012. <http://www.acpinternist.org/archives/2010/07/suicide.htm>.

10. Overall Comments: The paper too suffered from the problem of the topic’s size. Euthanasia, its pros and cons, are difficult to mediate — just as the questions from your Response Team suggested. One question, for instance, had to do with a likewise thorny question, perpetually troubling, namely, the divide between the desires of the family and the person (you handled that one well). In other words, you’d have done better to focus a bit more. To your credit, though, you did limit the discussion almost entirely to WA and OR, and you did cite the 14th Amendment well. I also appreciated your summary of the need for careful oversight. I do wish you’d had some visuals, though; the slides were all text. B+ or 88.