Euthanasia Or Abortion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Euthanasia Or Abortion - Essay Example The older concept was never differentiated from suicide and both activities were seen as similar in historic times and the definition assigned to the word euthanasia was very different from current world’s definition. In the Greek period, the act of euthanasia was recognized a means of death which was happy and satisfactory in nature and was hardly ever used and it was not used as a means of assisted suicide or mercy killing as it is use today. The meaning of the concept of euthanasia has experienced various changes in English language. In different periods, in different cultures, the definition of the word has altered from a happy means of death to murder which is not acceptable by the society or the law. Those individuals who are in favor of euthanasia state that not all societies in the past had a negative opinion on euthanasia and the western culture even favored it. For example the Eskimos used to conduct activities almost similar to euthanasia when an individual suffered from physical illnesses and became dependant on others, this especially used to take place while the resources became short or scarce (Atwood-Gailey 24). But these practices were only operated after enough care was given to the patient and there was no way to cure the patient. Even during the older period, the elders or those who were recognized as seniors used to give up their own lives in activities such as euthanasia for the betterment and the wellbeing of their children and upcoming generations. Pros and Cons The main advantage of euthanasia is that this activity can save the immense suffering that a patient goes through while he/she is on death bed and suffering from a disease that is incurable and very painful. Secondly it is the right of every individual to decide what is right or wrong for him/her and they have equal liberty to decide about their health, even the US constitution states that all individuals are free. Patients suffering from incurable disease are mostly those who loose the ability to even conduct their basic tasks such as washing themselves and taking care of themselves and they become dependant on others (McDougall 200). Due to these patients who want to die as independent individual and who give great importance to their dignity should be allowed to indulge in euthanasia. A huge amount of money is spend in taking care and hospitalization of a terminally ill patient, in certain cases individuals have ended up selling their own estates and what ever they own to cure themselves but certain illnesses are incurable and death is the destiny. In such cases euthanasia will help the individual in saving his treasure and passing it on to the upcoming generations so they can live a better life. Ample amount of the time of the physicians and nurses is wasted on terminally ill patient as they require higher degree of care, this time can be used to save and cure those patients who have higher probability of being cured. When individuals are termina lly ill, they start loosing their organs one by one, if these organs can be saved through euthanasia, some other patients who still have higher probability of living can benefit from these organs. Families are even adversely impacted when their loved ones are near to death and are suffering from