Should Euthanasia Be Legalized?
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Euthanasia- general synopsis
The Columbia Encyclopedia defines euthanasia as "either painlessly putting to death or failing to prevent death from natural causes in cases of terminal illness or irreversible coma."(Euthanasia) The term comes from the Greek expression for "good death." Technological advances in the field of medicine have made it possible to prolong the life of patients who have no hope of recovery, and the term negative euthanasia has arisen to classify the practice of withholding or withdrawing extraordinary means to preserve life. Accordingly, the term positive euthanasia has come to refer to actions that actively cause death. Societies advancing the cause of positive euthanasia were founded in 1935 in England and in 1938 in the United States. Positive euthanasia is illegal in the United States, but physicians may lawfully refuse to prolong life when there is extreme suffering. Dr. Jack Kevorkian, a Michigan physician, has challenged the validity of these laws by assisting patients to die without pain or suffering. Such physician-assisted death is common in the Netherlands, though still officially illegal. Much debate has arisen in the U.S. among physicians, religious leaders, lawyers, and the general public over the question of what constitutes actively causing death and what constitutes merely allowing death to occur naturally. The physician is faced with deciding whether the measures used to keep patients alive are extraordinary in individual situations, e.g., whether a respirator or artificial kidney machine should be withdrawn from a terminally ill patient. The Supreme Court's decision in Cruzan v. Director, Missouri Department of Health set the precedent for the removal of life-support equipment from terminal cases.(Euthanasia) Popular movements have supported the legalization of the "living will," a statement written by a patient when she is still in control of her mental capacities, which expresses her wish to forego the use of artificial means to sustain life during terminal illness. In1977, California became the first to pass a state law to this effect, known as the death-with-dignity statute. The Hemlock Society is one controversial group which has pressed for right to die legislation on a national level. With regard to euthanasia in animals, there is a body of strict rules and guidelines that ensure ethical euthanasia and disposal for animal.(Euthanasia)
