If you have a pet that has lived a long life but now is suffering and there is no cure for it, you have the choice to end it's suffering and put it to sleep, it's considered humane by most people's standards. Euthanizing a loved pet is a normal practice that happens on a daily basis around the world.
When it comes to humans though, we have a completely different view when it comes to the topic of Euthanasia. There seems to be a stigma about putting someone to sleep, and relating a person to an animal is of two different subjects.
People who agree with Euthanasia contend that terminally ill people should have the right to end their
suffering with a quick, dignified, and compassionate death. They argue
that the right to die should be protected by the same constitutional safeguards
that guarantee the same rights as marriage, procreation, and the refusal or
termination of life-saving medical treatment. To be kept alive against your will is unconstitutional when it has been proven that the medical community can no longer do anything when it comes to curing your problem.
The people against Euthanasia contend
that doctors have a moral responsibility to keep their patients alive
as reflected by the Hippocratic Oath. They argue there may be a
"slippery slope" from euthanasia to murder, and that legalizing
euthanasia will unfairly target the poor and disabled and create
incentives for insurance companies to terminate lives in order to save
money.
First of all, nobody should dictate who lives or dies unless it's a direct family member. The decision to Euthanize should be done out of compassion, and only from a last resort standpoint, not from greed or any other negative outcome due to selfishness. That can be achieved by having professionals from the medical community agree that nothing else can be done, and that the person in question is suffering needlessly.
There are no issues when it comes to animal euthanasia, yet when a human becomes involved there is a huge controversy and I think it's because of these factors:
Animals are your loved family members, people have nothing to gain from having their pet put down after years of love, so the act of it is purely out of love and respect.
Family members are also loved and respected, but having an ulterior motive or something to gain will skew a persons decision, like an inheritance of some sort, or medical costs keeping them alive.
I think Euthanasia should be allowed, but it should only be so when all other avenues have been explored and a feasible solution, no one should be allowed to simply decide on a whim that another persons life should be expired.
Scott Goerz
