Kaitlyn Duffy

Criminal Justice
Online
Fall 2014 Course

Final Paper: The Controversy of Euthanasia

Euthanasia is generally defined as the act, undertaken only by a physician, that

intentionally ends the life of a person at his or her request (Legalizing Euthanasia or
Assisted Suicide). Euthanasia is generally for people who are terminally ill or of a
mature age and they want to end their own life. There are two types of euthanasia,
passive and active, and both are controversial and therefore not legal everywhere.
Passive euthanasia is when someone refuses treatment for their ailment and is
allowed to die. So basically they are allowed to die but there is nothing doe to help them
die or live (Debating Voluntary Adult Euthanasia). An example of passive euthanasia
would be like not taking chemotherapy when faced with a terminal cancer. Active
euthanasia is when someone intentionally kills another person, at their request
(Debating Voluntary Adult Euthanasia). For the purpose of this paper, we are only going
to acknowledge active euthanasia as being performed by a licensed medical
professional since its illegal in all of the states to assist someone in suicide if youre not
a professional. Usually this form of assisted suicide is performed by injecting a person
with a lethal drug.

There are only three states in the United States that allow active euthanasia,
versus the fifty states that allow passive euthanasia (Should Euthanasia or PhysicianAssisted Suicide Be Legal?). Passive is allowed in all fifty states with a DNR order,
which will be discussed further momentarily. The three states that allow active assisted
suicide are Washington, Oregon, and Montana. In order to consider any for of
euthanasia, a person has to complete a DNR, a directive do not resuscitate order. This
is something that establishes what condition a person would want to be euthanized or
when they would no longer want to accept treatment for a terminal illness. They person
requesting the euthanasia has to be mentally competent when they make the request,
and they have to be persistent and well informed (Legalizing Euthanasia and Assisted
Suicide).
Anti-euthanasia groups fear that if laws are enacted that allow a licensed
medical physician to participate in human euthanasia that it will create a slippery slope
ultimately lending a helping hand to increase legally covered physician misconduct
(Legalizing Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide), this is one of the main arguments against
legalizing euthanasia. People think that doctors will take advantage of this and it will
give them too much power.
Personally, as a healthcare professional, I have worked as a certified nurses
assistant and a medication technician for about five years, mostly in geriatrics. I have

seen people that have no hope to live a fulfilling life, or have gotten to the age where
everyone they know has passed away and they are in constant pain. I have had people
beg me to kill them, and in some cases, I wish I could have helped them. I wish I could
have given them peace, on their terms. I had one man who was in his early nineties who
was passing away and in severe pain the entire time. We were able to give him small
doses of morphine to keep the pain at bay, but was still in excruciating pain. He was
screaming as I administered his next dose of morphine when he grabbed my arm and
asked me to put him out of his misery. Unfortunately there was nothing more that I could
do, as a CNA I am in charge of making them as comfortable as possible and doing
postmortem care. This poor man suffered like this for over a week. Its instances like this
one that have instilled in me a belief that euthanasia is needed in our society. As long as
there are rules around it, like the person has to be of sound mind when they request it
and the request must be in writing. Also, it should only be done by a licensed medical
physician and done after a second opinion is given and the person is fully aware and
informed on all treatments that are available to them.
In conclusion, active euthanasia is allowed in only three states while passive is
allowed in all of the United States.. If more people are to adopt the practice, certain rules
and regulations like who would be administering the lethal drug, what mental state the

person requesting it needs to be in, under what circumstances can you request to be
euthanized, and other parameters need to be put into place first.
Analyzing the Sources:
What are the sources of information you used to evaluate the topic?
The sources that I used to gather this information were all internet sources,
though I had some background knowledge on the topic before I began writing about it.
We read a little bit about it in our CJ 1010 Criminal Justice Textbook, but it was very
brief.
What does your common sense, intuition, experience and education tell you about this
information?
As I stated my opinion above in the essay, I am for assisted suicide, I honestly do
not understand how someone can watch a person suffer and not let him or her die with
dignity and without pain. The whole slippery slope argument, which is one of the
stronger arguments, or at least most popular, that I have seen, doesnt make sense to
me. I understand it, but I dont think that it would happen that way. I think that as long as
there are certain parameters in place, like I stated above like making sure the person is
in good mental health, has a valid diagnosis or has reached a certain age where they
dont want to live anymore, that is their right to be able to leave this world on their own
terms.

What sources can be believed? Where are the best sources of information? Can the
information be verified? What information should be discarded?
For this research paper, I tried to only look at articles that were substantial and
had evidence and other good sources that they referred to. One of the better sources
that I had came from the U.S. National Library of Medicine, which I hope would have
only facts and figures as opposed to just opinions. Its fine to place your opinion here
and their, but not state it as fact, the places that do that are not to be trusted, in my
opinion. Some of the websites that I was looking at talked a lot about the religious side
of euthanasia, saying that it was against their God and if they did this they were sinning
and would go to Hell; all of that kind of information should be disregarded. It has nothing
to do with them. The only people that this concerns, is the person who is requesting the
assisted suicide, and their families, but ultimately, it is the patients decision. Not to
mention that not everyone comes from the same background, ethnicity, or religion and
so it is appalling to me that they would say that this person or that person is going to
Hell because thats what their God says, when the patient may or may not believe the
same thing.
Do you need to investigate more facts and data?
I would like to do more research on this particular subject, because I am in the
medical field, and plan on being a doctor one day, and would like to be educated on this

sort of thing. I have been considering going to Washington State to attend Medical
School there, and one of the reasons is because they have passed laws to allow active
euthanasia, which I think is quite merciful.
Does the conclusion you came to make sense?
I think that the conclusion I came to about euthanasia makes sense, that if we
are to look into it, we have to have all the facts and have regulations in place. To other
people it might be absurd to even think about, but to me, it makes perfect sense.
Was there more than one possible conclusion? If so, did you pick the right one from the
facts and data?
I do believe that there is more than one conclusion you can come to with this. You
could believe in either passive or active euthanasia, maybe both, maybe neither. You
could be all for euthanasia, but you think other regulations need to be put in place, and
many more. As long as you arent ignorant, and do your research, whatever conclusion
you come up with is just fine. I like the conclusion I came to, and I think that I have
enough facts, not only from the sources but also from my own experiences, to make an
educated conclusion.

Works Cited
"Debating Voluntary Human Adult Euthanasia." RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Oct. 2014.
Pereira, J. "Legalizing Euthanasia or Assisted Suicide: The Illusion of Safeguards and
Controls." National Center for Biotechnology Information. U.S. National
Library of

Medicine, 30 Sept. 0005. Web. 28 Oct. 2014.

"Should Euthanasia or Physician-Assisted Suicide Be Legal? - Euthanasia ProCon.org." ProConorg Headlines. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Dec. 2014.