Euthanasia Argumentative Essay

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Euthanasia Imagine having six months to live. Now imagine the doctor says the last four months will be filled with unbearable pain, but there’s nothing they can do. Shouldn’t patients have the option to skip the suffering? Legalizing euthanasia would allow terminally ill patients to die in peace and save their loved ones from seeing them in pain. Definition of Euthanasia Euthanasia, according to the online Oxford Dictionary, is defined as “the painless killing of a patient suffering from an incurable and painful disease or in an irreversible coma” (“Euthanasia,” n.d.). A patient who is terminally ill should be able to choose painlessly dying instead of suffering. Choosing to be euthanized does not hurt the patient at all. The physician administers a fatal dose of a lethal drug to the patient (“Euthanasia, Assisted Suicide,” n.d.). The drug given allows the patient to fall asleep and die peacefully from natural causes. There are already a handful of states and countries that have euthanasia legalized: Belgium, Canada, Columbia, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, California, Montana, New Mexico, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington (“‘Death With Dignity’ Law by State,” n.d.). These places realize it is inhumane to force patients to live when they are hurting and…show more content…
In the states and countries where it is legal, there are many restrictions. For example, the patient must be experiencing unbearable suffering with no prospect of improvement and the request must be made earnestly with full conviction (“Euthanasia, Assisted Suicide,” n.d.). Age is another requirement; if the terminally ill patient is 12 years old, they must have parent/guardian consent. 16 year olds must involve their parents in the discussion, while 18 year olds are able to make the decision alone (“Euthanasia, Assisted Suicide,” n.d.). Having these restrictions in place ensures patients will not make irrational decisions and it is in their best

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