14th Amendment Euthanasia

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The right to die is not embedded in the Constitution. Based on the first and fourteenth amendments euthanasia is not invested in the Constitution. The first amendment expresses freedom of religion. The fourteenth amendment states you can’t deprive anyone from life. The right to die, or euthanasia, is when a person makes a request to be helped to die. Mainly for terminally ill patients who want a good death without pain. (Manning, 1998) The patient self-administers the lethal dose prescribed by a physician. (Foley and Hendin, 2002) Essentially, euthanasia is when a person wants to die, even though they are going to in a matter of time, without pain. This is not written anywhere in the Constitution. There are many religions against euthanasia. …show more content…

These personal decisions should not be left to governments. End of life decisions belong inside families. (Meier, 2005) Allowing the government to disregard a family’s wish violates their values or beliefs. ("NYCLU Urges Legislature to Let Families Make Medical Decisions for Incapacitated Patients", 2006) These matters should belong to god and family, not the government. (Crist, 2006) Legalizing euthanasia undermines the quality of palliative care. For example, the Netherlands has little access to palliative care because they have easy access to euthanasia. (Smith, 1997) Euthanasia takes the place of proper patient care. (Lee, 1997) Since euthanasia is accepted in the Netherlands, palliative care has become a casualty and hospice care has decreased. (Hendin and Foley, 2002) If terminally ill patients had easy access to euthanasia, this would lead to the absence of palliative care. Since the first amendment states freedom of religion, anyone can choose what religion they believe in. If the religion they believe in is against euthanasia, it should not be allowed. The fourteenth amendment states you can’t take away a person’s life. Religions, such as Islam, believe you can’t take away a person’s life. The government can’t make end of life decisions for anyone because it violates their beliefs and this also relates to the first

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