Euthanasia: A Difficult Decision to Every Family

Euthanasia is a word coined from the Greek language (eu, good or noble;
thanatos, death) in the seventeenth century by Francis Bacon to refer to an easy,
painless, happy death. It has now come to mean the active causation of a patient’s
death through the injection of a lethal dose of medication.
Those whose lives are diminished or weakened deserve special respect.
Sick or handicapped persons should be helped to lead lives as normal as possible. We
should wait for the moment when our time is up because only God can make a decision
when to end our lives. Euthanasia consists in putting an end to the lives of
handicapped, sick or dying persons. It is morally unacceptable and unethical.
We should follow God’s Fifth Commandment saying: “You shall not kill.”
Human life is sacred because form it beginning it involves the creative action of God
and it remains forever in a special relationship with the Creator who is its sole end. God
alone is the Lord of life from its beginning until its end. The law forbidding the killing of
the innocent human being is universally invalid. It obliges each and every one, always
and everywhere. Intentional homicide, infanticide, fratricide, parricide, suicide, genocide,
terrorism, abortion, euthanasia, addictive use of drugs, alcohol or other substances, and
many more other offenses against human life are violations of the Fifth Commandment.

Euthanasia in Ancient Times

The actions of easy death have been applied for hopeless patients who
have been suffering extreme pain since ancient ages. These actions were forbidden
from time to time. In Mesopotamia, Assyrian Physicians forbade euthanasia. Judaism
considered life to be sacred and equated suicide and euthanasia with murder.
It is believed that euthanasia started in ancient Greece and Rome around
the fifth century B.C. They did this by abortions and every now and then performed a
mercy killing. During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, euthanasia was a topic
of discussion.

Euthanasia in Early Christian

Christians are mostly against euthanasia. The arguments are usually

based on the beliefs that life is given by God, and that human beings are made in God’s
image. Some churches also emphasize the importance of not interfering with the natural
process of death.
Christians believe that the intrinsic dignity and value of human lives means
that the value of each human life is identical. They don’t think that human dignity and
value are measured by mobility, intelligence, or any achievements in life.
Valuing human beings as equal just because they are human beings has
clear implications for thinking about euthanasia:
  Patients in a persistent vegetative state, although seriously damaged, remain
living human beings, and so their intrinsic value remains the same as anyone
else’s.
 So it would be wrong to treat their lives as worthless and to conclude that they
‘would be better off dead.’
 Patients who are old or sick, and who are near the end of earthly life have the
same value as any other human being.
 People who have mental or physical handicaps have the same value as any
other human being.

Euthanasia in Modern Times

Euthanasia is currently illegal and punishable as murder throughout the

United States. Assisted suicide is a felony akin to manslaughter in most states
prescribed either by statute or court interpretation of the common law. The Federal
government has outlawed the use of federal funds in assisted suicide.
Internationally, both euthanasia and assisted suicide are almost
universally outlawed. There are a few exceptions to this general rule. Euthanasia and
assisted suicide, while technically illegal, are practiced widely by doctors in the
Netherlands.

Shella’s reflection

Euthanasia for me is morally unacceptable. It broke the rule of the Fifth

Commandment of God. Euthanasia should not become legal because it consists putting
an end to the lives of handicapped and sick or dying persons which should not happen
because only God can put an end to our lives. We should accept or respect every
human’s life especially those dying or handicapped persons.