Argument essay how euthanasia is wrong

Essay by Yankee33College, UndergraduateA, March 2004

download word file, 3 pages 4.0

We Do Have a Right to Live

Section one under the 14th Amendment in the Constitution of the United States of America states: "...No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of the law..." In some places, the right to live is becoming more of a struggle than it ever was. Euthanasia takes away the persons right to live, and require no higher consent; sometimes the way the doctors allow patients to die can be more painful than what they are actually going through at that time. Euthanasia is not only illegal but also profoundly immoral.

The term euthanasia refers to 'easy' or 'painless' death. In some cases, patients that are going through a lot of pain and ask for assistance in their death end up being put through more pain and agony than they were already in.

Many cases involve, " The doctor misinforming the patient of his/her actual prognosis" (12 Problems). For example, if the family members of a patient are lead to believe that their loved one will not come out of a state of coma, they (the family members) will be given the choice to pull their loved ones feeding tube. According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Strokes, "Individuals in PVS (persistent vegetative state) lose their thinking abilities and awareness of their surroundings, but retain no cognitive function and normal sleep patterns. Even those in a persistent vegetative state lose their higher brain functions, other key functions such as breathing and circulation remain relatively intact" (Cases) In other words, besides being able to move, the patient is still able to feel pain. Dehydration and starvation...