Fiona Conway

Green Group

How Legalizing Euthanasia Will Unburden Our Society

Fiona Conway

Green Group

March 18, 2018

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In 2014, Medicare spent four times as much per person on decedents than on other

Medicare recipients, while 33 million Americans still weren’t covered by health insurance

(Cubanski, Juliette, et al). Although not the sole factor, this situation could be improved by the

legalization of euthanasia. Euthanasia is defined as “the painless killing of a patient suffering from

an incurable and painful disease or in an irreversible coma” (Oxford Living Dictionaries).

Euthanasia differs from physician-assisted suicide, because euthanasia means that the physician

directly caused the death with the person’s consent, while physician-assisted suicide means that

the physician indirectly caused the death, most likely by providing a prescription. Euthanasia is

legal in many well-developed countries such as the Netherlands and Canada, while assisted suicide

is legal in Switzerland, Germany, and seven states in the US. This shows that many countries are

realizing the benefits of legalizing euthanasia or physician-assisted suicide, and that the United

States has begun to take steps in that direction. Because of a person’s right to choose, the scarcity

of medical resources, and the economic benefits it would have, the United States government

should legalize euthanasia.

The United States government should legalize euthanasia because everyone should have

the right to choose how to live his/her own life. It is wildly unfair for the government to force one

of its citizens to continue living even if s/he is in unbearable and untreatable pain. The United

States is proud of its democratic government and tries to give its citizens as much freedom as

possible, but then why does it not allow people a way out if they want one? In The Economist, it

is argued that, by forcing people to live, one is taking away a person’s liberty, which is one of the

most important things in their life. Therefore, a refusal to allow euthanasia devalues a person’s

life. The article says, “But liberty and autonomy are sources of human dignity, too. Both add to

the value of a life.” This means that people are having some of the most important things in their

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lives taken away if they are forced to live against their wishes. When people are forced to live, it

sometimes makes them feel inhuman in a way, because they are not being given any options. So

when people can choose when to die, it allows them to choose death on their own terms and allows

them to get a say in what they want. Also, it is extremely painful to live with a disease every day

and know that one’s time is limited because one cannot be cured. “Medicine is supposed to

alleviate the suffering that a patient undergoes. Yet the only thing that medical technology does

for a dying patient is give that patient more pain and agony day after day” (“The Right to Assisted

Suicide”). If people are forced to live, it extends their pain for a much longer period of time than

they desire. This is why it is only fair to legalize euthanasia so that one can have a right to choose

to end chronic suffering. Also, according to Geoffrey Fieger, an attorney for Dr. Jack Kevorkian,

who performed over 130 assisted suicides, it has never been illegal for one to have the choice to

commit suicide; therefore, it should still be legal for one to have the choice to commit physician

assisted suicide. Fieger says, “And what's amazing to me is they've never criminalized suicide or

an attempt to commit suicide. How can the Supreme Court rationalize making a noncrime, that is

suicide, or even attempting to commit suicide, and assisting a noncrime.” Fieger and Kevorkian

argue that this decision should be between the patient and the doctor and that the government

should not choose for any person. This is why euthanasia should be legalized, so that people can

make their own choices.

In addition, euthanasia should be legalized in the United States because it would help

provide more people with the medical care they need. A lot of healthcare resources go into helping

people who cannot be cured, which doesn’t help the majority of the people who would benefit

much more from these resources. “Many commentators note that 27 to 30 percent of the Medicare

budget is spent on the 5 percent of Medicare patients who die each year” (Emanuel, Ezekiel J., and

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Margaret P. Battin). Medicare is healthcare for people that are 65 and older or people with

disabilities ("What's Medicare?"). This demographic has a higher medical need than people who

are under 65 and aren’t disabled. Because of this, Medicare already has to provide a lot more for

its patients than other types of health care, making its resources much more valued. So, a large

portion of the Medicare budget and resources is not well used if it is going to patients who cannot

be cured. Also, the Medicare budget comes from workers, because 1.45% of their earnings go into

the Federal Insurance Contributions Act, which is what funds Medicare ("What Is Medicare?").

This means that many people in the United States are having their money go to people who are

incurable, which is a less efficient use of their money. This is why euthanasia should be legalized,

because it will allow valuable resources to go to those who can benefit more from them. This idea

is further corroborated by an article titled “Physician Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia May Lower

Healthcare Costs” where the author writes, “Any time you have a public good, rationing of some

form is necessary or costs will balloon, which is what’s happening right now.” This means that

because of nearly universal access to these health resources, it is raising their price. Because of

this, some people who are in a greater need for treatment will not be able to receive it because the

costs are too high. If euthanasia is legalized, it will create a lower demand for resources and allow

more people to get the medical treatment they need.

A third reason why euthanasia should be legalized is because of the expenses it causes

people as they try to prolong their lives. When people are put on life support, the expense is much

greater than most people realize. “Keeping a patient on life support in an intensive care unit bed

costs, at a minimum, $2,000-$4,000 per day and can run much higher depending on the patient’s

condition, into hundreds of thousands a year” (Ehrenfreund, Max). This adds up and becomes very

expensive, but the problem is that sometimes families aren’t aware of the financial burden they’ll

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face after the death of a terminally ill patient, or they’re so focused on spending as much time as

possible with their family that they ignore the high cost of it. The other problem is that healthcare

does not cover all of the expenses. “Medicare paid for 74.6 percent of total hospital expenses of

the elderly but for only 55.6 percent of their expenditures for physician services” (Scitovsky, Anne

A.). These data show that while all of the medical care expenses are not left to the patient’s family,

it is still a large enough portion to hurt the family’s financial status. Most people do not want their

treatment to cause debt for their family. “Six out of ten people say they don’t want their family

burdened by end-of-life decisions, according to a recent California Healthcare Foundation survey,

but nearly as many (56%) have not communicated their preferences” (Wang, Penelope). A lot of

patients don’t share their wishes, but if they would have, it would have eased their family’s

finances. Sometimes, even when patients do share their wishes, they find them ignored. This is

why the legalization of euthanasia would help, because it would allow patients to be more

comfortable sharing their wishes to end their lives and have their wishes granted, which would

then help with the financial burden on their families.

While there are many pros for the legalization of euthanasia, including but not limited to

the ones previously discussed, there are also some arguments against it. Some argue that the

legalization of euthanasia would be a “slippery slope” to legalizing murder or involuntary

euthanasia. However, this is an extreme exaggeration as there is no evidence to support this. One

can argue that many things will have terrible consequences, but that doesn’t mean it is always true.

For example, Judge Stephen Reinhardt said that before abortion was legalized, people argued that

it would lead to “its [abortion’s] widespread use as a substitute for other forms of birth control or

as a means of racial genocide.” This was another case that was not supported by evidence and it

proved to be false, as this argument with respect to euthanasia also most likely is. Another one of

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the most common arguments against euthanasia is that it devalues life. However, as stated earlier,

when one is denied euthanasia, it arguably devalues life more, because one is denied liberty, which

is one of the most important aspects of one’s life. Also, even if one is against euthanasia, it is still

being performed across the world. In an article in The Economist, it was reported that sometimes

doctors perform illegal euthanasia and “overstep their mark.” However, they aren’t very often

punished after they have been investigated. When this happens, it becomes very unsafe for the

patient. “It is hypocritical because society is pretending to shun doctor-assisted dying while tacitly

condoning it without safeguards” (“The Right to Die”). The government should legalize euthanasia

so that it can guarantee that it is always being performed safely, and that the doctors always listen

to their patients.

In conclusion, the United States government should legalize euthanasia because of each

person’s right to choose their own path, the need to spare scarce medical resources, and the

economic benefit it will bring to all the patient’s families. People should be able to be in command

over how they want to live their lives, which legalizing euthanasia will allow. Also, close to a third

of the Medicare budget has been spent on the small percentage of patients who die, and the

legalization of euthanasia will help that budget go to patients in a greater need. And finally, if

euthanasia is legalized, it will help many families out of a lot of debt from medical bills that were

caused by unhelpful treatment to the incurable.

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Works Cited
Cubanski, Juliette, et al. "Medicare Spending at the End of Life: A Snapshot of

Beneficiaries Who Died in 2014 and the Cost of Their Care." KFF, 14 July

2016, www.kff.org/medicare/issue-brief/

medicare-spending-at-the-end-of-life/. Accessed 18 Mar. 2018.

Oxford Living Dictionaries. en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/euthanasia.

Accessed 17 Mar. 2018.

"The Right to Die." The Economist, www.economist.com/news/leaders/

21656182-doctors-should-be-allowed-help-suffering-and-terminally-ill-die-when-the

y-choose. Accessed 17 Mar. 2018.

"The Right to Assisted Suicide." Lone Star College, www.lonestar.edu/

rightto-assist-suicide.htm. Accessed 17 Mar. 2018.

Kevorkian, Jack, Dr., and Geoffrey Fieger. "Dr. Kevorkian and the Pending Supreme

Court Decision On Physician-Assisted Suicide." Interview by Larry King.

CNN Interactive, 14 Jan. 1997, www.cnn.com/US/9701/08/suicide.scotus/

lkl.00.html. Accessed 17 Mar. 2018.

Emanuel, Ezekiel J., and Margaret P. Battin. "What Are the Potential Cost

Savings from Legalizing Physician-Assisted Suicide?" Nejm, 16 July 1998,

www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJM199807163390306. Accessed 14 Mar. 2018.

"What's Medicare?" Medicare.gov, www.medicare.gov/sign-up-change-plans/

decide-how-to-get-medicare/whats-medicare/what-is-medicare.html. Accessed

17 Mar. 2018.

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"What Is Medicare?" Money, time.com/money/collection-post/2791232/

what-is-medicare/. Accessed 17 Mar. 2018.

"Physician Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia May Lower Healthcare Costs." Grey

Enlightenment, 29 Oct. 2015, greyenlightenment.com/

assisted-suicideeuthanasia-will-lower-healthcare-costs/. Accessed 17 Mar.

2018.

Ehrenfreund, Max. "Jahi McMath Could Be Removed from Life Support despite

Family’s Wishes." The Washington Post, 30 Dec. 2013, www.washingtonpost.com/

national/jahi-mcmath-could-be-removed-from-life-support-despite-familys-wishes/

2013/12/30/

41f122f4-7191-11e3-8def-a33011492df2_story.html?utm_term=.24e23062433f.

Accessed 17 Mar. 2018.

Scitovsky, Anne A. "“The High Cost of Dying”: What Do the Data Show?"

NCBI, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2690284/. Accessed 17

Mar. 2018.

Wang, Penelope. "Cutting the High Cost of End-of-Life Care." Money, 12 Dec.

2012, time.com/money/2793643/cutting-the-high-cost-of-end-of-life-care/.

Accessed 17 Mar. 2018.

"Compassion in Dying." Priests for Life, www.priestsforlife.org/euthanasia/Glucksberg.html.

Accessed 18 Mar. 2018.

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Annotated Bibliography

Cubanski, Juliette, et al. "Medicare Spending at the End of Life: A Snapshot of

Beneficiaries Who Died in 2014 and the Cost of Their Care." KFF, 14 July

2016, www.kff.org/medicare/issue-brief/

medicare-spending-at-the-end-of-life/. Accessed 18 Mar. 2018. The article

provides statistics and graphs on the spending on Medicare annually and

which groups of people benefitted most from Medicare. The information helps

to support the claim that more money goes to incurable people than to

curable.

Oxford Living Dictionaries. en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/euthanasia.

Accessed 17 Mar. 2018. The website provides a definition of the word

euthanasia. Helps the reader to have a clearer understanding while reading

the paper.

Emanuel, Ezekiel J., and Margaret P. Battin. "What Are the Potential Cost

Savings from Legalizing Physician-Assisted Suicide?" Nejm, 16 July 1998,

www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJM199807163390306. Accessed 14 Mar. 2018.

The article discusses savings from physician assisted suicide, what factors

determine those savings, and the number of people who choose this. Helps

reader to understand how much money could be saved for patients who are not

terminally ill.

"What's Medicare?" Medicare.gov, www.medicare.gov/sign-up-change-plans/

decide-how-to-get-medicare/whats-medicare/what-is-medicare.html. Accessed

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17 Mar. 2018. Describes who is eligible for Medicare and the different

parts of Medicare. Allows reader to have a better comprehension of why this

is the type of health insurance that could benefit from the legalization

from euthanasia.

"What Is Medicare?" Money, time.com/money/collection-post/2791232/

what-is-medicare/. Accessed 17 Mar. 2018. Article explains how Medicare is

funded. Reader can know where there money is going and how it can be used

more efficiently.

"Physician Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia May Lower Healthcare Costs." Grey

Enlightenment, 29 Oct. 2015, greyenlightenment.com/

assisted-suicideeuthanasia-will-lower-healthcare-costs/. Accessed 17 Mar.

2018. Explains how healthcare is going to those who are incurable, while

prices are rising for those who are curable. Shows reader how legalization

of euthanasia could help pricing for those who are in a greater need.

"The Right to Die." The Economist, www.economist.com/news/leaders/

21656182-doctors-should-be-allowed-help-suffering-and-terminally-ill-die-when-the

y-choose. Accessed 17 Mar. 2018. The article describes the problems with

illegal euthanasia and how certain rights are being taken away if a person

is forced to live. Appeals to the readers emotions and demonstrates to them

the issues if euthanasia is not legalized.

"The Right to Assisted Suicide." Lone Star College, www.lonestar.edu/

rightto-assist-suicide.htm. Accessed 17 Mar. 2018. Describes how terminally

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ill patients just extend suffering but don't get better if they are on life

support. Appeals to reader because it makes reader want to help people to

not feel misery.

Kevorkian, Jack, Dr, and Geoffrey Fieger. "Dr. Kevorkian and the Pending Supreme

Court Decision On Physician-Assisted Suicide." Interview by Larry King.

CNN Interactive, 14 Jan. 1997, www.cnn.com/US/9701/08/suicide.scotus/

lkl.00.html. Accessed 17 Mar. 2018. Interview discusses the legality of

suicide and how doctors make the treatment safe for patients. Makes reader

think about why euthanasia should be illegal if suicide isn't.

Ehrenfreund, Max. "Jahi McMath Could Be Removed from Life Support despite

Family’s Wishes." The Washington Post, 30 Dec. 2013, www.washingtonpost.com/

national/jahi-mcmath-could-be-removed-from-life-support-despite-familys-wishes/

2013/12/30/

41f122f4-7191-11e3-8def-a33011492df2_story.html?utm_term=.24e23062433f.

Accessed 17 Mar. 2018. Article discusses family's firsthand experience with

their child's treatment, and how much money it is costing them. Gives

reader a better understanding of the expenses involved when patient is

forced to live.

Scitovsky, Anne A. "“The High Cost of Dying”: What Do the Data Show?"

NCBI, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2690284/. Accessed 17

Mar. 2018. The article says how much money the national government is

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spending on health insurance. Gives the reader a better idea of how much

money the family has to pay and how much the government will pay for them.

Wang, Penelope. "Cutting the High Cost of End-of-Life Care." Money, 12 Dec.

2012, time.com/money/2793643/cutting-the-high-cost-of-end-of-life-care/.

Accessed 17 Mar. 2018. Gives statistics regarding what patients want from

their families, doctors, and themselves and their life is beginning to end.

Emphasizes the fact that euthanasia is a voluntary choice.

"Compassion in Dying." Priests for Life, www.priestsforlife.org/euthanasia/Glucksberg.html.

Accessed 18 Mar. 2018. Gives transcript of important court case regarding

euthanasia. Helps to resolve reader's doubts about the legalization of

euthanasia.

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