Euthanasia: Human Rights To Choose What To Do With Yourself

Need help with assignments?

Our qualified writers can create original, plagiarism-free papers in any format you choose (APA, MLA, Harvard, Chicago, etc.)

Order from us for quality, customized work in due time of your choice.

Click Here To Order Now

The element of euthanasia (painless assisted killing of a patient that is suffering) is that it is seen as morally wrong to assist in someone’s choice of death over life because it is basically assisting a person suffering to commit suicide. If Euthanasia would be illegal it would cause problems. These problems consist of the individual unable to make the decision for themself. Head trauma making them unable to think for themselves. How do we know if the person does want to stop suffering? This is where we find some legal conditions that need to be applied in order to assess the person’s full and true thought process is present in the decision of euthanasia. Do we not have the right to die? Is it not our human right to choose what we do with ourselves? The practice of Euthanasia is illegal in most countries because in most eyes euthanasia is considered wrong and immoral.

My opinion on the subject of euthanasia is that, yes, people who are suffering from an incurable illness or other conditions should be able to have the option of euthanasia. A person would be depressed or unable to handle the pain from their condition or possibly do not have the will to live anymore. Mark Van, was the victim of an acid attack by his previous girlfriend. His face was left misconfigured and his eyesight was gone. He did not want to live anymore and had to go through numerous legal battles to get him accepted for euthanasia. In my opinion, I think that is the morally right thing to do and that is why euthanasia should be legalized. It is a safer option than self-attempted suicide in an uncontrolled environment. I think that euthanasia should not be applied if you are able to recover from your condition. It should only be used in extreme cases such as events that left you in an extremely disabled state of being. I also think that it should be up to the individual involved, not the family.

Natural law Theory

Natural law or the theory that we have is not decided by the government or a figure in power, but by the morality of the subject. Thomas Aquinas, Divine Law, Natural Law, Positive Law 45 and so even things that regard inclinations of concupiscible power will need to belong to the natural law We choose what we do with our human nature. The human decision that prevents a human living happily is deemed unnatural, or immoral. According to John Stuart Mill, a British philosopher, The crucial elements are, natural law is we decide what is morally right independent of an authority figure of a law, justice must give way to some other moral principle, but that what is just in ordinary cases is, by reason of that other principle, not just in the particular case.’. The normative strength of the natural law theory comes from children at an immature age. They do not understand but only act inhabit. According to Aquinas, The Natural Law always abides in human beings, as I shall make clear later. But human beings reason, to which what law belongs, is not always thinking about the natural law. Therefore, the natural law is a habit, not an act. (Aquinas 361) Summa Theologica. the natural law is always inside of us unconsciously being used.

Euthanasia And Natural Law

Euthanasia as applied to the natural law theory the ethical issue most important is, do we have the right to our own life? You would think we have a right to out on life, but it is illegal in most states. The legal issues are that families would want to provide euthanasia to inherit the land faster. This has been a problem in India for some time now but is now starting to be legalized in many do to people wanting to choose death as an option of treatment. The conclusion I can make is that we do have to right to our own life according to natural law theory. The authority figure should not be able to interfere in our own life decisions. It is incorrect to assume one has that natural right to another being. The theory supports my conclusion of natural rights in terms of euthanasia. There should not be any trouble seeking assisted death from a physician for the cure of the suffering of your being in question. The weakness in the theory is that what is the illness is curable. Will you still be able to go through with euthanasia. Is what when we do not have a natural right and is this when the authority figure steps in? I would assume yes, to prevent any unnecessary deaths from procuring in the eyes of authority.

References:

  1. Chapple, A et al. What people close to death say about euthanasia and assisted suicide: a qualitative study. Journal of medical ethics vol. 32,12 (2006): 706-10. doi:10.1136/jme.2006.015883 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16294446 Accessed October 20, 2019
  2. Thomas Aquinas, divine Law, Natural Law, Positive Law. https://faculty.fordham.edu/klima/blackwell-proofs/MP_C45.pdf, Accessed October 20, 2019

Need help with assignments?

Our qualified writers can create original, plagiarism-free papers in any format you choose (APA, MLA, Harvard, Chicago, etc.)

Order from us for quality, customized work in due time of your choice.

Click Here To Order Now