Define euthanasia. Explain the arguments for and against euthanasia. Which do you agree with? Why?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

One definition of euthanasia is helping another person to die. A more legal definition is the act or practice of killing or bringing about the death of a person who suffers from an incurable disease or condition, especially a painful one, for reasons of mercy. There are two primary arguments against doctor-assisted suicide: First, it's intrinsically immoral and wrong; second, unacceptable consequences will follow from it ("the slippery slope" argument). Supporters of euthanasia say that the argument for doctor-assisted suicide isn't so much an argument for euthanasia. It's an argument against "insufferable and unending pain; in a word, it's about compassion" (Messinger 1993, 223). Supporters also argue for the right of personal autonomy embodied in the presumption of bodily integrity which holds that a state can't exercise power over individual members of society except to prevent harm to others. Others have argued that the "liberty interest" guaranteed in the due process clauses of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution includes the right to die and to seek assistance in exercising the right.