uh-oh+oreos

Topic: Euthanasia: Also called [|mercy killing.] the act of putting to death painlessly or allowing to die, as by withholding extreme medical measures, a person or animal suffering from an incurable, esp. a painful, disease or condition.

Position- Thourghout the years the issue of Euthanasia has always been an issue of controversy both morally and legally, however in recent years Euthanasia has been debated more than ever. Euthanasia is a legal way for patients to end or handle their illnesses and should only be the concern of the patient and their phisician.

History Chasity Chatmon/Nolan Johnson

[|http://sks.sirs.com/cgi-bin/hst-article-display?id=SMD1572-0-895&artno=0000263458&type=ART&shfilter=U&key=Euthanasia&title=Assisted%20Suicide%20and%20Euthanasia%20Timeline&res=Y&ren=Y&gov=Y&lnk=Y&ic=Y]
 * 1) ## *** ProQuest Staff. "Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia Timeline." Leading Issues Timelines 23 May 2009: n.p. //SIRS Researcher.// Web. 03 December 2009.
 * 2) During the Ancient Greek and Roman time it was common practice for a physician to assist in patient suicide
 * 3) Small group of people during this time disagreed with this practice
 * 4) However in the 4th century B.C.E the father of medicine or Hippocrates created the Hippocratic oath
 * 5) “I will neither give a deadly drug to anybody who asked for it, nor will I make a suggestion to this effect”- Hippocratic oath
 * 6) Christians have always agreed to this oath throughout the years
 * 7) In Sir Thomas More’s //Utopia// He states his opinion of agreeing to the practice of Euthanasia
 * 8) Early American Colonies disagreed with the practice
 * 9) During the enlightenment period did not discuss much on Euthansia however it was favored by some
 * 10) In 1828 starting with New York State, more states started to illegalize the practive of Euthanasia
 * 11) In 1870 a non-phsician named Samuel D. Williams advocated the use cloroform and other chemicals in the practice of assiting in patiant suicide
 * 12) Ohio State rejects law advocating Euthanasia
 * 13) In 1915 a doctor by the name of Dr. Harry J. Haiselden with the consent of the parents of the patient chooses not to give a life saving surgery which caused a debate on Euthanasia
 * 14) In 1917 Dr. Haiselden plays himself in a movie called //The Black Stork// on the subject
 * 15) The film is used as propaganda to support state-sponsered eugenic programs in the United States which began in the 1920s and ended in the 1970s
 * 16) In 1920 Alfred Hoche M.D. a professor of psychiatry and Karl Binding a professor in Law state that Create the book "Permitting the destruction of an unworthy life" state that it is the patients right to choose whether or not they what to have Euthanasia available to them
 * 17) The British house of lords rejects Bill advocating Euthanasia
 * 18) In 1937 a Nebraska Senator John Comstock introduces the Volentary Euthanaisa Act to the U.S Senate but it is never voted on
 * 19) Reverend Charles Francis Potter find Euthanasia to be a merciful and Christian Act
 * 20) In 1939 Adolf Hitler created //Aktion T4// which legalizes Euthanasia in Germany
 * 21) In 1942 Switzerland legalizes Euthanasia
 * 22) In 2006 the US Supreme court rules 6-3 in Gonzales vs. Oregon that the controlled substances act does not authorize the attorney general to ban the use of controlled substances for physician-assisted suicide in Oregon
 * 23) In 2002 thirty-eight people in Oregon end their lives with help from their doctors
 * 24) In 2000 The Dutch Parliament votes to legalize euthanasia for seriously ill patients
 * 25) In 1997 The Florida Supreme Court upholds a 129-year old ban on physician-assisted suicide by a vote of 5-to-1
 * 26) In 1992 California voters defeat Proposition 161, the California Death with Dignity Act, which would have allowed physicians to actively administer or prescribe medications to hasten death for terminally-ill patients
 * 27) In 1988 The Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations is the first religious group to pass a national resolution in favor of euthanasia for the terminally ill
 * 28) In 1984 The Dutch Supreme Court rules that physicians may perform voluntary euthanasia for those who are chronically ill for reasons of "irresistible compulsion or necessity”
 * 29) In 1981 AIDS is clinically identified, generating interest in euthanasia and assisted suicide
 * 30) In 1980 Pope John Paul II issues Decoration in Euthanasia opposing mercy killing but endorsing the use of medicine to ease pain and the right to refuse extraordinary means for sustaining life
 * 31) In 1977 New Mexico, Arkansas , Nevada , Idaho , Oregon , North Carolina and Texas enact natural death laws
 * 32) In 1973 The American Medical Association releases "A Patient's Bill of Rights" that lists 12 rights including the right to refuse treatment to the extent permitted by law
 * 33) In 1972 Senator Frank Church heads “ Death with Dignity ” An Inquiry into Related Public Issues," a U.S. Senate Special Commission on Aging hearing, in which euthanasia is one of the subjects debated

Chasity Chatmon [] 11 end lives under assisted suicide law." //USA today// [Seattle] 9 Sept. 2009. Print
 * Eleven people have used prescribed drugs to end there lives under new assisted suicide law in Washington State
 * An additional 5 have been prescribed lethal drugs but died before they could take them
 * The deaths amount to one-tenth of 1% Washington state wide in 2008
 * According to the state this is a good thing because it means that the law is being used carefully and sparingly
 * According to Robb Miller, executive director of Compassion and Choice of Washington, “The situation in Oregon and Washington, which adopted the first ’Death with dignity’ in 1997, show that deaths have been safe, legal, and rare
 * Eileen Geller found the statistics chilling
 * Eileen Geller is the President of “True Compassion Advocates”
 * She finds it to be a tragedy that Washington is willing to allow this law in while it’s making “deep cuts” in in health care
 * She Feels that when society starts telling the ill. Elderly, and disabled that they aren’t worthy to live then they will just listen
 * Washington and Oregon are the only states that are allowing the “Death with Dignity Law”
 * In Montana a court has ruled that residents have the constitutional right to have an assisted suicide
 * This ruling is now being looked over by the state supreme court
 * As of the first week of September 28 pharmacies have been reported giving out life ending drugs, said the state department of health
 * There have also been 16 reports of physicians prescribing these lethal drugs to patients
 * It is unknown whether patients took the drugs
 * Robb has said that 14 of the people who did after taking the prescribed lethal drugs were Compassion and Choices clients
 * He also said that a support volunteer was present at each suicide
 * He also said that all of his clients committed their assisted suicides at home
 * Ann Watkins of Tacoma that she has received medication to end her life last month
 * She did this after she was told that she only had six months to live
 * She has cancer in her brain, bones, and lungs
 * She has declined chemotherapy
 * Watkins says that she wants to she wants to have control over her life not have someone else tell her what to do
 * Washington has used a statue in Oregon as a base for their law
 * 400 people have used it to end their lives
 * Under Oregon law, Compassion and Choices says that 88 prescriptions were given out
 * 54 of those prescriptions were actually taken by the patients
 * 22 died from underlying disease
 * 12 were alive by the end of the year
 * Another 6 patients were prescribed the medication in earlier years took the medication in 2008 and died
 * On May 21 Linda Fleming of Sequim was the first person under Washington Law to die of an assisted suicide
 * Her daughter Lisa was by her side
 * Lisa said that her mother died under her own terms
 * She also objected to calling her mother’s death a suicide
 * She claimed that suicide is a term of “despair and disconnection”
 * She says that her mother was neither of the those things
 * She said that her mother didn’t “want” to die
 * Instead she wanted to “live” by choosing death
 * She chose to live in the present and savor the time she had le

Chasity Chatmon · [|http://sks.sirs.com/cgi-bin/hst-article-display?id=SMD1572-0-3851&artno=0000293136&type=ART&shfilter=U&key=Euthanasia&title=The%20Role%20of%20Death&res=Y&ren=Y&gov=Y&lnk=Y&ic=Y] Margaret Somerville. "The Role of Death." Ottawa Citizen (Ottawa, Canada) 14 May 2009: A15. //SIRS Researcher.// Web. 04 December 2009.


 * 1) Canada has a new bill that advocates the legal practice of Euthanasia in Canada
 * 2) · One British Columbia couple wants to go through with a suicide pact using a assistant suicide organization from Sweden called Dignitas
 * 3) · The biggest problem with this is that only one person in this couple has an actual reason to choose Euthanasia
 * 4) · The other one just wants die with her spouse
 * 5) · Humans have a basic instinct against suicide
 * 6) · Humans also have a basic instinct against killing other humans as well
 * 7) · Most people who oppose assisted suicide do so because the interventions of euthanasia is inherently wrong
 * 8) · Most people who oppose assisted suicide do so because it’s not morally justified
 * 9) · It is also not ethically justified
 * 10) nor has any religion agreed to it

Nolan Johnson · [] JamJaimie Doward. "'Dr Death' Sells Euthanasia Kits in UK for Pounds 35." The Observer (London, England) 29 Mar 2009: 24. SIRS Researcher. Web. 04 December 2009.


 * In 2006 the US Supreme court rules 6-3 in Gonzales vs. Oregon that the controlled substances act does not authorize the attorney general to ban the use of controlled substances for physician-assisted suicide in Oregon
 * In 2002 thirty-eight people in Oregon end their lives with help from their doctors
 * In 2000 The Dutch Parliament votes to legalize euthanasia for seriously ill patients
 * In 1997 The Florida Supreme Court upholds a 129-year old ban on physician-assisted suicide by a vote of 5-to-1
 * In 1992 California voters defeat Proposition 161, the California Death with Dignity Act, which would have allowed physicians to actively administer or prescribe medications to hasten death for terminally-ill patients
 * In 1988 The Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations is the first religious group to pass a national resolution in favor of euthanasia for the terminally ill
 * In 1984 The Dutch Supreme Court rules that physicians may perform voluntary euthanasia for those who are chronically ill for reasons of "irresistible compulsion or necessity”
 * In 1981 AIDS is clinically identified, generating interest in euthanasia and assisted suicide
 * In 1980 Pope John Paul II issues Decoration in Euthanasia opposing mercy killing but endorsing the use of medicine to ease pain and the right to refuse extraordinary means for sustaining life
 * In 1977 New Mexico, Arkansas, Nevada , Idaho , Oregon, North Carolina and Texas enact natural death laws
 * In 1973 The American Medical Association releases "A Patient's Bill of Rights" that lists 12 rights including the right to refuse treatment to the extent permitted by law
 * In 1972 Senator Frank Church heads “ Death with Dignity ” An Inquiry into Related Public Issues," a U.S. Senate Special Commission on Aging hearing, in which euthanasia is one of the subjects debated

Katie Bolingbroke [|http://euthanasia.procon.org/viewanswers.asp?questionID=001320]>.

In support of:
 * 1) · Ends suffering of terminally ill patients.
 * 2) · Usually is in the form of lethal injection (pain free, no suffering)
 * 3) · Supported by the Constitutional freedoms
 * 4) · Doctors know the right dosage, to avoid side affects that may make the administering unpleasant for patients.
 * 5) · Legalization would help decrease suffering of terminally ill patients.
 * 6) · “mercy killing” in a humane way
 * 7) · If patients have the right to refuse life support treatments, they should have the right to choose death.
 * 8) · Most cases occur in people that have incurable diseases.
 * 9) · Like abortion, it’s a choice.
 * 10) -Conditions where euthanasia occurs are almost always incurable, there is no hope for a pain free death naturally.
 * 11) - Physicians that practice euthanasia are answering a "cry for help".
 * 12) - If the job of a physician is to help the patient, then answering a request to die is helping them.
 * 13) -Very similar to suicide, and that is not illegal.
 * 14) -Respects the will of sick people
 * 15) -Places that have legalized euthanasia have very strict laws and guidelines before the death ever happens.
 * 16) -Patients have a "right to die"
 * 17) -People refused euthanasia have been recorded to commit suicide in the following years, so some kind of painful death is inevitable.
 * 18) · No way of knowing if the killing was voluntary or involuntary. (once the person is dead, legal issues) (Against)
 * 19) · Arguable that a doctor’s job is to keep patients alive, even if it is not their will.
 * 20) · Illegal, and morally wrong to kill.
 * 21) · Are patients in an appropriate state of mind to be making life-death decisions.
 * 22) · Little difference between “right to die” and “right to kill”
 * 23) Voluntary euthanasia...when the patient requests help to be killed
 * 24) Omissive euthanasia...when doctor's stop giving patients their needs (food, water, medication)
 * 25) Involuntary euthanasia...doctor's take the life of a patient even if it is not their will.
 * 26) Also called "doctor assisted suicide"
 * 27) Many unrecorded cases of euthanasia have gone untried in court.
 * 28) Starvation has been the outcome of a refused right to die or be euthanized.
 * 29) Euthanasia has been around since the beginning of modern civilization.
 * 30) Some European countries have legalized euthanasia.

Katie Bolingbroke //Philosophical Essays and Musings//[|http://samvak.tripod.com/euthanasia.html] [|http://samvak.tripod.com/euthanasia.html]


 * 1) -The idea of euthanasia is to prematurely kill someone, at their own request so prevent a painful natural death.
 * 2) -Patients having to do with euthanasia are terminally ill with painful diseases that are not curable. (ex. cancer)
 * 3) -Passive euthanasia allows physicians to avoid lawful punishment for the murder they committed.
 * 4) -The major reason for opposing euthanasia is because of peoples view and standard of the human life, in general, not considering the idea that that life may be miserable under certain circumstances.
 * 5) When possible cases of euthanasia are being reviewed...there should be little speculation, it either has been euthanasia or has not.
 * 6) If a person's wants are important, then why does this stop at a request for death?
 * 7) People against euthanasia say that it is a waste of human life, but if it is not your life...is it for you to judge?
 * 8) Human chemistry does not want to kill or see people die, but another part of us wants to help one another out.
 * 9) If a person is in a vegetative state, euthanasia is a possibility, but not technically legal.
 * 10) Suicidal patients will often attempt killing them self before asking to be euthanized.
 * 11) Although illegal, some doctors feel it is a duty to help their patient die, even if they do not agree.
 * 12) People requesting euthanasia are usually at peace with the fact they are dying, and don't fear death.
 * 13) Said that the reason euthanasia is looked down on is partially because of the negative idea of suicide.
 * 14) Euthanasia is sometimes a way to avoid the worst pain a person may experience in their life.
 * 15) Problem- is murder actually murder if the person wants to be killed?
 * 16) The "rights to life" include the right to take ones own life.
 * 17) Some countries have accepted euthanasia, with strict guidelines and timetables.
 * 18) In these places, being a 3rd party in and euthanizatioin is completely socially acceptable.
 * 19) Problem- the person may be sure they want to die for a time, but this could be brought on by depression or medication.
 * 20) Many people believe that euthanasia should be a private matter, between doctor and patient.
 * 21) Euthanasia can help avoid circumstances of death patients foresee and don't want. (ex. loneliness, pain, sudden...etc)
 * 22) Argument- is watching someone die slowly and painfully unaided the same as murder?
 * 23) Euthanasia can help prevent hopeless and pointless living of patients in pain.
 * 24) Recorded, consented, laid out euthanasia is becoming more accepted in some places.
 * 25) In cases where euthanasia is refused...they are usually granted the right to die. (resulting in patients refusing food, water, medication etc.)
 * 26) Patients already have IV in, so administering medicine that kills is easy and painless.
 * 27) Euthanasia originated in Ancient Greece, thousands of years ago, and was mostly accepted then, it has been in recent years that it is considered morally wrong.
 * 28) Many instances of euthanasia have gone unrecorded because the people involved were okay with it.
 * 29) Doctors can be sent to jail and loose their medical license if found guilty of assisted suicide.
 * 30) Most common method of euthanasia is overdosing patients on medicine they are already on, this avoids the attention of the law.

Katie Bolingbroke []

Robert, Young. "Voluntary Euthanasia." //Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy//. Thu Apr 18, 1996. not published, Web. 7 Dec 2009. .

Robert, Young. "Voluntary Euthanasia." //Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy//. Thu Apr 18, 1996. not published, Web. 7 Dec 2009. .


 * 1) Euthanasia is brought on by the idea that a patient would be better off dead.
 * 2) Often the process is started when a terminal prognosis is given to someone.
 * 3) Involuntary is a concern to the medical community, because it brings credibility of physician assited suicide down.
 * 4) Sometimes judgment calls are made when patient is in a vegetable state, unable to make decisions for themselves.
 * 5) Ancient Greeks believed that life should not be preserved if it is not wanted or miserable.
 * 6) Some doctors believe this philosophy should be followed today.
 * 7) Some places allow euthanasia only if certain strict rules are followed.
 * 8) Many patients requesting assisted suicide are only asking for help because they are unable to commit suicide themselves.
 * 9) Many people believe euthanasia is a way for them to die with a dignity.
 * 10) Modern technology allows ways of being euthanized that are painless.
 * 11) Argument- Sickly people should be allowed a dying request to be followed.
 * 12) Often doctors involved do not listen to the request right away.
 * 13) Argument- Some miracle cases of cure have been reported, so suicide is not always the answer.
 * 14) Doctors have been recorded to ruin their medical career with involvement in euthanasia.
 * 15) Using the "double effect" may have unknown side affects.
 * 16) This may cause more harm than good and result in death.
 * 17) Making a person stay alive has been compared to holding someone on life support when in a coma.
 * 18) Killing and letting die...different?
 * 19) Argument- cures are being found every day...is waiting worth it?
 * 20) Although society perceives that voluntary euthanasia is legal..its not.
 * 21) "Slippery slope" has been compared to the Holocaust and Hitler's intentions.
 * 22) Patients supporting voluntary euthanasia usually support non voluntary as well.
 * 23) Euthanasia was not very known until recent years.
 * 24) News stories are often skewed and made out to make the doctor involved a criminal.
 * 25) Assisted suicide is a way of helping a desperate person.
 * 26) Involuntary euthanaisa could be; when a doctor kills someone against their will.
 * 27) OR when a patient is in a vegetative state and the doctor "pulls the plug".
 * 28) Alzheimer's patients have been known to ask for euthanasia.
 * 29) Phsycological therapy is often a part of the pre euthanasia process.
 * 30) Washington state has made a bill to be passed legalizing voluntary euthanasia.

Katie Bolingbroke [|http://www.rsrevision.com/GCSE/christian_perspectives/life/euthanasia/for.htm] //rsrevision.com//[|http://www.rsrevision.com/GCSE/christian_perspectives/life/euthanasia/for.htm]
 * 1) Euthanasia can provide a shorter grief period for loved ones.
 * 2) Family can remember them as happy towards the end of their life, not sick and miserable.
 * 3) People have the ability to choose what is best for themselves.
 * 4) If quality of life is not good, then the quality of death should be the best possible.
 * 5) Allows patient to die with dignity, and choose their fate.
 * 6) Seen by most as a merciful way to spare torture.
 * 7) Religious patients may be looking forward to death, and afterlife.
 * 8) Argument- if you were in the position of a terminally ill patient..would you want to live?
 * 9) Family may feel that they are helping the sick person, giving them comfort and a painless death.
 * 10) Christians believe it is "merciful" and a way of showing love and compassion.

Katie Bolingbroke [|http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Euthanasia] An example of a story where a man suffering from an incurable disease was allowed euthanasia, this incident was taped and recorded. Murder charges followed for the physician. [|http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1722728,00.html] 2. A woman suffers from an incurable disease that disfigures her face. She wants to be put to death after a party with her family, in her home, but the law forbids this. Her case is being reviewed by a judge and eventually she will either be put to death peacefully (as she wants) or die an agonizing natural death. [|http://www.rsrevision.com/Alevel/ethics/euthanasia/cases.htm] 3. Diane Pretty was denied the right to die, and died a miserable death in every condition she wanted to avoid by asking for euthanasia.

Stephen McCallum [|http://www.euthanasia.com/] "Euthanasia.com." n. pag. Web. 7 Dec 2009. .
 * 1) It provides away to relieve extreme pain.
 * 2) It provides a way of relief when a person’s quality of life is low.
 * 3) Frees up medical funds to help other people.
 * 4) It another case of freedom of choice
 * 5) Euthanasia devalues human life.
 * 6) Euthanasia can become means of health care cost containment.
 * 7) Euthanasia is the intentional killing by an act or omission of a dependent human being for their alleged benefit.
 * 8) Voluntary Euthanasia is when the person who is killed has requested to be killed.
 * 9) Non-voluntary Euthanasia is when the person who is killed made no request and gave no consent.
 * 10) Physician Assisted suicide is when it is a doctor who helps another person kill to themselves.
 * 11) Euthanasia by action is intentionally causing a persons death by performing an action such as lethal injections.
 * 12) Euthanasia by omission is intentionally causing death by not providing necessary and ordinary care.
 * 13) Australia, Netherlands, Oregon, and Washington are the only places in world that Euthanasia is legal.

Stephen McCallum [|http://www.balancedpolitics.org/assisted_suicide.htm] //Welcome to BalancedPolitics.org//[|http://www.balancedpolitics.org/assisted_suicide.htm]
 * 1) A lot of pain and suffering of patients can be saved by Euthanasia.
 * 2) The right to die should be a fundamental freedom for each person
 * 3) Patients can die with dignity.
 * 4) Health care can be reduced.
 * 5) Euthanasia can help save estates and lower insurance premiums.
 * 6) Pain and anguish of the patients family can be lessened and they can say there final goodbyes

"Euthanasia and Religion ." //ReligionFacts. All rights reserved// n. pag. Web. 3 Dec 2009. < [|http://www.religionfacts.com/euthanasia/index.htm]>.
 * 1) · According to a May 2004 Gallup poll, 53% of all Americans feel euthanasia is morally acceptable, while 41% feel its wrong.
 * 2) · 2004 Gallup, 33% who attend church weekly regarded that euthanasia is morally acceptable
 * 3) · Euthanasia is an intentional ending of a patient’s life by a physician, usually by lethal injection.
 * 4) · Physician Assisted Suicide is the ending of life through the voluntary self-administration of lethal medications.
 * 5) · Physician Assisted Suicide and euthanasia are legal and widely practice in Columbia and the Netherlands.
 * 6) · In the Old Testament, a soldier takes King Saul’s life at his request, and King David has the soldier executed for murder.
 * 7) · Euthanasia is also known as “mercy killing”.
 * 8) · In 1990, 9% of all deaths in the Netherlands were a result of Physician-assisted suicide or Euthanasia.
 * 9) 1. 2004 Gallup, 33% who attend church weekly regarded that euthanasia is morally acceptable
 * 10) 2. Euthanasia is an intentional ending of a patient’s life by a physician, usually by lethal injection.
 * 11) Physician Assisted Suicide is the ending of life through the voluntary self-administration of lethal medications.
 * 12) Physician Assisted Suicide and euthanasia are legal and widely practice in Columbia and the Netherlands. 6. In the Old Testament, a soldier takes King Saul’s life at his request, and King David has the soldier executed for murder.
 * 13) · Euthanasia is also known as “mercy killing”.
 * 14) · In 1990, 9% of all deaths in the Netherlands were a result of Physician-assisted suicide or Euthanasia.