The Euthanasia Essay – About as Hot a Topic as Possible

The Euthanasia Essay

The word “euthanasia” has a sordid history. In ancient times, people who became disabled, too old to be useful to a society, or who were born with defects were often put to death. As late as 20^th century Germany, euthanasia cam to be the term applied to the cleansing of the Aryan race by killing Jews. The term has also humane connotations. We euthanize animals as a matter of practice, when they become too old and/or sick to have a quality life. Today, the term has come to mean the practice of assisted suicide, and it is a hot topic indeed.

Writing a Euthanasia Essay

In order to complete this assignment, unless you choose to produce an objective history of the practice, you will need to take a stand on this ethical issue of individual rights vs. societal moral codes that have made their way into our laws, as well as medical professionals who are sworn by oath to preserve life. Thus most essays on this topic essentially become persuasive essays.

The Issues

People on both sides of this issue have very strong feelings. Those who oppose euthanasia do so for religious and moral reasons:

• Only god has the right to determine when an individual’s life ends
• The Bible clearly says “Thou shalt not kill.” Euthanasia is a form of killing.
• As a civilized society, we have an obligation to allow nature to take its course rather than take matters into our own hands by ending someone else’s life.
• Many medical professionals oppose assisted-suicide on ethical grounds, though they are more secular in nature.

Those who support assisted suicide state the following:

• Every human has the right to determine whether he wishes to extend his/her life of suffering from an incurable and debilitating disease or to end his/her own life. Each person has an inalienable right to that choice.
• Society has no right to impose its moral values on anyone else, unless that value is necessary to protect its citizenry. Assisted-suicide has no victim and harms no one else.

Writing essays on this topic can be difficult, as you can see. Your first step is to determine what you believe. If you do not have a firm belief, then you might want to do a bit of research. Belgium has assisted-suicide nationwide. In the U.S., we have a federal law against euthanasia, but it is defined as taking the life of another person for reasons of perceived defect. PAD (Physician Assisted Death), on the other hand, is not seen as euthanasia, and therefore local and state governments may make their own laws. It is currently legal in Oregon, Washington, Vermont, and one county New Mexico. You may want to research the arguments for and against in those state debates, in order to help you form an opinion.

If the topic is one with which you struggle, or if you are just out of time with an essay due, you can always say, “Write my essay” to the pros at UrgentEssayWriting.com. You can state your opinion to your writer, and even the reasons for that opinion, and you will receive an essay that reflects your views.