Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide

Euthanasia and assisted suicide is a topic many might be uncomfortable with. After all it is the topic of death. A subject that is a part of everyone’s life, yet few like to openly talk about. What makes euthanasia and assisted suicide even harder to discuss is that it is the subject of taking one’s own life. For many, this is wrong option. Even under dire circumstances they feel suicide isn’t the right option. There are others, however, that feel that sometimes it isn’t only the right option but the only one.

There are many arguments that can be made over euthanasia and assisted suicide. Some religions view it as being one of the greatest sins a person can commit. While others feel that there is nothing in religion that says we must keep a person alive at all costs. There are those who would argue that by making it a law it might put pressure on the sick and elderly to end their own lives so their families wouldn’t have to take care of them. And others still who argue that we should have the right to end our own lives when the alternative is only pain until the inevitable time of our death.

Although many people have heard of euthanasia and assisted suicide, most don’t know they are two similar but slightly different things. Both are the ending of a person’s life. The difference is whether or not the person knows it is happening. In euthanasia the patient is usually unresponsive and the physician stops the machine or treatment keeping them alive. While in assisted suicide the patient is fully conscious and aware that he or she is taking his or her own life.

There are many who are against making euthanasia and assisted suicide legal. Pope John Paul II condemned euthanasia as “a grave violation of law of God, since it is the deliberate and morally unacceptable killing of a human person.” He does however feel that going to extreme measures to keep someone alive isn’t the same thing, stating that “Forgoing extraordinary or disproportionate measures to keep a terminally ill person alive is not the equivalent of suicide or euthanasia. Rather, it expresses acceptance of the human condition in the face of death.” (Worsnop).

Most religions have similar view as Pope John Paul II. Some however look at assisted suicide differently. Among these is Dr. Has Küng an ordained catholic priest. He feels that in some cases assisted suicide is humane, “nowhere did God ordain that life must be maintained in the direst of circumstances.” He however warns that safeguards must be implemented in order to prevent abuse. He feel that euthanasia and assisted suicide should be legalized saying “assisted suicide is humane and in keeping with the will of a compassionate God.”

David Lewis, a professional counselor and someone who chose assisted suicide to end his life had a different view. David was terminally ill with AIDS and suffered a stroke that paralyzed one side of his body. He felt that dying was