Personal philosophy on “Assisted /Voluntary Euthanasia”
The practice of ending life in a humane and less painful manner has been a topic of debate in the recent years. While a number of nations have legalized this practice, several others, enthusiasts and religious leaderships have increasingly stepped up their fight against this practice. In this essay, I interview a colleague to determine his personal philosophy on this topic.
First, the question on what entails assisted /voluntary euthanasia proves important in the debate. The colleague argues that he is aware that this term refers to the process of voluntarily ending a person’s life in a painless manner, especially in case of terminal and painful disease like cancer. Secondly, the colleague argues against this practice based on religious and ethical issues. He reports that allowing this practice to take place is not only a sin, but also unethical. He argues that when a person voluntarily allows ending the life of another, there is a common belief in both persons that the subject of the process is “better off” when dead than when alive (Shannon, 2006). This implies that the two persons will have prejudged the situation, leaving out the possibility that the subject may survive beyond the expectations. He believes that life is always complicated such that even a cancer patient may survive and even recover from the disease. He believes that palliative care, in addition to modern technology, is enough proof that patients with terminal diseases can obtain comfort while attempts to prolong or save their lives are underway.
Secondly, he believes that the request by a dying person to be helped in committing suicide should not be considered competent, genuine and voluntary (Battin, Rhodes & Silvers, 2009). This is because the desire to die may not be genuine; by rather it might have resulted from a temporary despair. In fact, he believes that it is not the will of a person to die, but transient conditions or pain may force someone to commit suicide. Therefore, there is need to consider psychiatric intervention in addition to palliative care rather than assisted /voluntary euthanasia.
References
Battin, M. P., Rhodes, R., & Silvers, A. (2009). Physician assisted suicide: expanding the debate. New York, NY: Routledge
Shannon, T. A. (2006). Death and dying: A reader. New York, NY: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.
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