Chad Nykiel (FGCU): “Euthanasia”

Should we have the right to decide to take our own lives?  Assume you have terminal cancer and you have less than one year to live.  You know that you will be in extreme pain and there is no cure.  Should you have the right to take your own life?  Should you be able to ask your doctor to assist you in dying peacefully?

For those that are against euthanasia and/or physician-assisted suicide worry that if it becomes legalized that it could eventually lead to murder.  They also believe that doctors took the Hippocratic Oath and have a responsibility to keep their patient alive.  In addition, there are many that have a concern for how the poor and disabled groups would be impacted if it is legalized because many of them do not have access to medical care.  

For those that are for euthanasia and/or physician-assisted suicide believe that is an individual right and it is a compassionate choice.  They believe that it spares the individual pain and suffering. 

A May 2006 Gallop Poll found that 69% of Americans answered yes to the question ” When a person has a disease that cannot be cured, do you think a doctor should be allowed by law to end the patent’s life by some painless means if the patient and his family request it,” (www.euthanasia.procon.org)?

In 2006, I would have been part of the 31% of the people who answered no to this question.  I was taught that this would be a sin or that it is murder.  However, today I would say yes to that question.  In late 2006, my Uncle was diagnosed with cancer of the stomach.  They told him it was in Stage 4 and there was not much hope for survival.  I watched my Uncle go through different treatments that made him basically wither away to nothing.   When we talked about why he was putting himself through all this pain, he explained to me that it was mostly because of his faith (we are Catholic) and that God ultimately had the master plan and who was he to interfere with it.  I also think his family (his children, my father, etc) kept telling him to fight the good fight, that they could find a cure.  Was that due to our own selfishness versus our true concern for him and what his wishes were?  Unfortunately, after 8 months of treatment and the Cancer spreading to his brain my Uncle lost his battle with Cancer and passed away. 

What I took away from this experience is that every individual should have the right to decide what is best for them.  That if euthanasia and/or physician-assisted suicide was legalized maybe my Uncle and my family would have made a different decision, but in the end it should have been his decision on what he wanted to do. 

I no longer believe that euthanasia or physician-assisted suicide is murder or a sin.  What about you?  Think about if it is you, a family member, or a best friend, wouldn’t you want to be able to have the right to decide for yourself?

This entry was posted on 15. April 2009 at 22:05 and is filed under Introduction to Sociology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.