Using Euthanasia for a Peaceful Departure

Using Euthanasia For A Peaceful Departure
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According to the statistics, when a cancer patient goes for be treatment, it has shown that more than or almost 70% of the patients feel the pain of the treatment of some diseases like cancer and more than or about 30% of them would wish to end their life. As a result, it is more important to choose a technique to make them feel comfortable or easy their pains by assisting them get rid of the pain, so euthanasia is more likely the patients’ preference. In fact, euthanasia is a word derived from Greek, meaning “good death”, and it can help a patient to relieve his or her pain and suffering. While in this present form of society, voluntary euthanasia is considered legal in Japan, Switzerland and a few states of America, so therefore more patients do not have the entitlement to euthanasia. Although people cannot decide their birth date, they can choose the way they can die. However, euthanasia should be an option for the patient with congenital disease and the cancer patient should have entitlement to choose what kind of euthanasia to be used for him or her to die.
“Each year, approximately about a dozen babies are born with congenital disease, which is about 1 in every 200 babies born”. A large number of people who are born with congenital disorder, which is unfortunate, not all of the people can live just like a normal person. Furthermore, congenital diseases patients are the most common people who think about killing themselves.

In fact, they do not allow themselves to think of suicide because most if not all congenital disease will be caused by the physical illness or the mental illness. As a result, the euthanasia should be an option for those who have congenital disease.
Some people assume that the patients with congenital disease do not have a normal life and so they are still people so using euthanasia is a way of trying to kill someone with the right of life. However, killing is not legal and natural law doesn’t include the act of killing or attempting suicide. Therefore, those people who think that euthanasia is immoral and objective to the natural law they must be wrong. Conversely, I think that euthanasia should be an option for the patient with congenital disease and only he or she must take a decision based on how he or she feels or is suffering.
During the rise of population, more children are born with cerebral palsy for hereditary reasons. These children will always depend on somebody else to guide and stay in their life because they are not able to take care of themselves. Most of them cannot have a normal life. As we know, our brain controls listening, thinking and walking while cerebral disease will affect the patients’ normal functions.
In 1993, Mr. Latimer killed his daughter who had cerebral palsy in his truck using carbon monoxide. Mr. Latimer resolved to end his daughter’s life as necessary because she was in constant pain and couldn’t have a normal life. He was convinced that he just made his daughter comfortable in her life. However, the judge still decided that he committed murder by taking the life of his daughter though his wife and some people objected to this decision. This was a hard case in the United States (Carl, 1998). It is a common phenomenon that parents worry about their children who deal with this terrible life because they are going to be too old to help their children. If the euthanasia can be the solution for Mr. Latimer family, I think his daughter would not be dying of suffering and he would not choose that terrible way to end his daughter’s life.
In this case, euthanasia is a good way for most of these patients because it is the only feasible option that they can think of but now the practice of euthanasia is illegal in most of the countries.
Li Yan has been suffering from progressive muscular dystrophy shortly after her birth. She also scared about the facts that she may live longer than her parents, who are the only people to take care of her. She hopes euthanasia could be legal because she would want to end her abnormal life inflicted with the incurable disease. In other words, suffering makes her lose everything include her dignity and hope. While her family and immediate family members are also indirect victims of the disease, so she wants to relieve herself and remove the heavy burden on her family through euthanasia (2009). Li Yan dreams of a normal life but in fact, she can’t live without a helper to look after her. Therefore, she wants to get rid of her life before her parents die. I have to say that euthanasia should be a choice to help the congenital patients relieve the guiltiness of family.
Everyone has the right to choose the life that they want; even the patients who already know they end up living for a short period. Most of the people fear to face death especially the cancer patient, so they prefer to choose euthanasia as a way of dying peacefully. Some arguments show that cancer patient wants to end their life because they have mental illness like anxieties (Anthonissen, C., 2013). While it is one of the dangerous diseases therefore we cannot let the patients make any decision during their illness. Another aspect is that the cancer patient chooses euthanasia because they fear to die just like everyone else, so we cannot let euthanasia become everyone’s preferred choice just because they fear death. However, in my opinion, the cancer patient should have entitlement to the kind of euthanasia that he or she would personally want.
Although the families of the affected take in most of the pressure from the sufferer of the disease, most healthy people could not and cannot understand how painful it is, especially regarding the cancer patients. In fact, suffering is also part of the disease, while most incurable disease of cancer cannot show the pain, even taking painkillers does not help as much. As we know, suffering can destroy the quality of life and cause patients to lose hope to life, even to think of suicide. Moreover, chronic pain will rob more energy from the patients and it can make patients weak (Melzack, 1990, p. 2). The suffering of cancer cannot be borne by patients, so painkillers have much effect on the patients. However, during the medication period, the patients don’t know detrimental effects of taking overdosed painkillers: Instead of driving away the pain for good, taking more painkillers will produce some side effects, making it possible for the illness to deteriorate. The article “Treatment too Painful for Some Cancer Patients” describe some feelings from the cancer patients. “It’s hard when they get up in the morning, to try to walk and to type using the keyboards. It’s hard for them to do the things that they need to do because their hands are sore” (Johnson-Penn, 2009). The cancer patients have already lost their life because of the pain felt during the period of treatment. While, the most terrible thing is they don’t have a choice, so the cancer patient should have the right to choose what kind of the life that they want.
In the same thing most terminal affected patients should have their treatment in the Intensive Care Unit, but investigations show the terminally ill patients have more suffering from ICU than the normally patient. As a result, before they lose consciousness, most patients choose to sign on the document that they want to give up treatment when they are going to die. It means the person should have entitlement to choose the way that they want to die. In other words, the cancer patients also need a document to get their entitlement (Koffeman, L. J., 2010). Therefore, euthanasia should become an option for the patient. That is to say; the cancer patients should have their right as same as a normal person. To die with suffering is not a desirable way they want, but they don’t have other choices. Frankly, it is not fair to the cancer patients, especially as far as their feelings are concerned. To be fair, they should be informed of their doomed conditions before anything decisive is done.
If they want to live without suffering, the patients have to take more painkillers during their treatment and that will cost big money for those who are concerned. In fact, cancer drugs are higher than normal medicines as demonstrated by survey and statistics, “The result has been soaring prices for some drug classes, notably cancer treatments. In the late 90s, Bristol-Myers Squibb faced protests for its plans to charge so many dollars in a year for Taxol, a breast cancer treatment. Now, most new cancer treatments are priced high charges annually. In some cases, companies are pushing through substantial price increases on already-expensive drugs…” (Berenson, 2006). In the meanwhile, cancer patients cannot get rid of the drugs and over time they should raise their dose until they die. Cancer is mortal illness especially the terminal ill, so most patients think that is a waste of money and time for their life. As a solution, euthanasia can make them truly face to pain, so it is an unwise choice on the part of patients.
In conclusion, I would acknowledge that euthanasia sounds very horrible, but to die cause of suffering is more terrible because most cancer patients can hardly endure the pain and most congenital disease patient become a burden to their family. In spite of spending a lot of money for the treatment of patients who will die in a predictable way. Now life becomes meaningless and means nothing to the patients and their relatives because prolonged treatment can bring nothing except suffering. In a matured society, the cancer patients should have the right to choose how to get rid of their pain and how to end their life in a peaceful and dignified way. Research has also show some illness are very harmful and make people suffer hence some can rely on euthanasia as the only way out of the suffering.
The latest findings and research support my thesis that is on euthanasia, that its determined by choice of the individual rather than the nature and decision of others.

Reference
Berenson, A. (2006, March 12). A cancer drug’s big price rise disturbs doctors and patients. The New York Times.Retrieved 2006 from http://global.factiva.com.mutex.gmu.edu/ga/default.aspx
Carl E, S (1998, March-April). Hard cases. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Retrieved April 13, 2014 from
Johnson-penn, G. (2009, November 11). Treatment too Painful for Some Cancer Patients. Futurity. Melzack, R. (1990, February). The tragedy of needless pain. Scientific American, 262 (2),
Should Mercy Killing of the Terminally Ill Be Allowed? (2009, April 9). Beijing review.com.cn. Retrieved April 12, 2009
Anthonissen, C. (January 01, 2013). A critical analysis of reporting on the TRC discourses in Die Kerkbode. Scriptura : International Journal of Bible, Religion and Theology in Southern Africa, 83.
Koffeman, L. J. (January 01, 2010). Human dignity – an ecumenical understanding? : general. Scriptura : International Journal of Bible, Religion and Theology in Southern Africa, 99, 288-298.