Essay Against Euthanasia

Merriam-Webster dictionary defines euthanasia as “the act or practice of killing or permitting the death of hopelessly sick or injured individuals in a relatively painless way for reasons of mercy”. In other words, euthanasia is the termination of certain patient’s lives in order to relieve them from their suffering and pain. As this issue progressed and became a widely debated, controversial subject, society and scholars are divided into two groups, opponents and proponents, both groups have strong reasons to defend their cases. Opponents believe that euthanasia -in all its forms- is an act of murder, and should be prohibited no matter what the case is. On the other hand, proponents defend their arguments by saying that it is the patient’s right to avoid excruciating pain and embrace a timely death. Euthanasia comes from the Greek words, Eu (Good) and Thanatosis (death) and it means ‘Good Death’. In ancient Greece, philosophers supported euthanasia, and the physicians made it easy for patients who suffered unbearable pain and had incurable, terminal diseases to suicide by giving them poisoned drinks. However, Hippocrates objected to this method and stated

In his article ‘A Problem for the Idea of Voluntary Euthanasia’ Neil Campbell talks about the ethics behind the voluntary decision and thinks that voluntary euthanasia does not really exist. He argues against euthanasia and says that when those terminally ill patients take the decision of ending their lives, the decision was not freely chosen, but was the result of them undergoing excruciating pain. (Campbell, 1999, p. 242). His argument is presented in a way to support the opponents’ claim by denying that voluntary euthanasia exists and that it is all psychological and not