Madison+On+Kevorkian+and+Euthanasia

“Whose life is it anyway?” This quote said by Sue Rodrigues, a terminally ill resident of British Columbia sums up my thoughts on the issue of “the right to die.” Over the years there has been much controversy on the issue of the “the right to die.” Some people believe that God has a plan and euthanasia is just a “mercy killer.” Disabled advocates will say that making euthanasia legal will make their life seem less valuable. On the other end of the spectrum people say it is their life, why should other people have any say on whether they continue life or end it. If someone is at the point in his or her life where they’re getting oxygen through a machine and have no more drive in living, why should we make them suffer? Another theory on this is “could doctors be keeping their patient alive for money?” I believe that everyone should have control over their own body and no one should interfere with that, Even if euthanasia becomes legal in the future, everyone will have their say in this everlasting controversial issue. Take Daniel James. Daniel James was a 23 year old in his prime years. He was on his way to become a professional rugby player when he had a horrific accident. “He couldn’t walk, had no hand function, but constant pain in all his fingers. He was incontinent, suffered uncontrollable spasms in his legs and upper body and needed 24-hour care” (Daniel Foggo). Should James have to endure the suffering of this terrible accident for the rest of his life? Daniel James heard about a Swiss clinic, Dignitas. Dignitas is a place where they practice assisted suicide. A year after his accident Daniel James decided to drink the “milky liquid” and die in peace. No person should have the right to tell Daniel James that his decision was un-justified. The justification in his mind should be enough. “It used to be that a doctor or two was money hungry and misusing their power to increase their income. But now this problem is spreading.” (Viki Kind). Although this sounds out of question and hard to believe but could this be a possible problem? . “The more complicated the patient’s condition is, the more money the doctor can charge. And the best billing rate is for the ICU visit. So, patients in the ICU are being kept alive against their wishes” (Kind). All the time you hear about the ridiculous procedures doctors are giving people especially the elderly. Although we want to believe the doctor is in our best interest, he does in fact need money too. The only time a patient should keep on living with breathing and food tubes is if they wanted that. If not the doctor should forget about money and let the patient pass away peacefully. On the other hand of this is Dr. Kevorkian, otherwise known as “The doctor of death.” In 1997 Dr. Kevorkian was sentenced to 10-25 years in prison for helping a disabled man finally step away from his suffering and perform assisted suicide. But is Dr. Kevorkian really doing harm by letting someone die in peace? Dr. Kevorkian is only doing what other doctors do in hiding. He’s simply bringing publicity to the matter. When people say Dr. Kevorkian is playing God when killing those people, then why not say the government and all doctors are playing God when they do any type of treatment? “The Roman Catholic Church is the largest single funder opposed to euthanasia. It invests more money in its fight against euthanasia than all the combined resources of right to die societies around the world many times over.” The Catholic Church believes that one would be committing a dire sin if they were to commit suicide or use euthanasia. They believe that God has complete control over our time to die. “We have no claim on death-death as a claim on us” (Pavone). They say it is complete “mercy killing” for someone to use euthanasia. “Political leaders, who have the grave duty of serving the good of the human being, and likewise doctors and families, must remember that 'the deliberate decision to deprive an innocent human being of his life is always morally evil and can never be licit” (Encyclical Evangelium vitae, n. 57). But are doctors really doing harm when their finally ending the pain and suffering in which this person has been through? Disabled advocates are also against euthanasia. “I was born with myelomeningocele spina bifida…I now work full time defending the right to life of handicapped people” (Alison Davis). Would making euthanasia legal, possibly undermine a disabled persons rights? As Davis would say “ Who could say I have ‘no worthwhile quality of life’?” (Davis). This side of the euthanasia depicts euthanasia as a possible “slippery slope” to where patients are killed without consent. If euthanasia becomes non-voluntary than it becomes murder. I believe that it should be the person’s decision on whether they continue living or die in peace with euthanasia. If I personally am not feeling that complete discomfort and agony that person is going through then why should I or anyone say whether they should live or not? The point of life is happiness. If that person no longer has the will to live then they should have the option to die in peace. I believe that we all have ownership over our own bodies-therefore should be able to do whatever we want with OUR own bodies. Neither the Government, nor any religion should have say in that. In all honesty how many procedures can one go through? How many rounds of chemo can one handle until their bodies are just tired and done. If someone has a life threatening disease, and in the long run will take over their bodies and mind why shouldn’t they have the option of dying in peace with euthanasia? If euthanasia became legal its not like doctors are going to force it on people, instead it can be an option. It can be the option of dying a “happy” death with dignity. “The right to die” will always be a debatable issue. People are going to be diagnosed with life threatening diseases and wish to die and others are going to survive through a car crash and become a disabled advocate. No side is going to step down on whether euthanasia should become legal. But in my personal opinion I believe everyone has ownership over his or her bodies therefore should have the option of euthanasia. Will this cause continuous court cases? Of course! But after researching both sides I think this is the leading answer.