People develop different attitudes towards euthanasia and its legalization importance. They use many reasons to support this idea for terminally ill patients to stop their suffering and stay autonomous. About 72% of Americans believe in the necessity of lifting the ban (as cited in Lane, 2019). Despite a variety of interpretations, euthanasia remains physician-assisted suicide that causes more harm than benefits. Such arguments as suicide contagion, a slippery slope practice, and unpredictable detrimental effects will be used to prove why euthanasia should be illegal.
It is possible for patients to choose euthanasia as their last step in a treatment process, but the fact that it is suicide cannot be ignored. Individuals agree to euthanasia but face certain dilemmas when the time comes. The example of the physician aid in dying in the Netherlands attracted much attention when a woman with Alzheimer’s signed papers for a voluntary lethal injection but tried to stand up during the procedure (Lane, 2019). Even being properly prepared, family members and the medical team were emotionally challenged by their obligations.
The goal of healthcare providers is to help patients improve their well-being and promote health, and euthanasia distorts these values. According to Dugdale et al. (2019), euthanasia is characterized by hastening people’s deaths and the neglect of direct responsibilities. Instead of thinking about possible means of care, physicians choose an easy way that does not require many resources and time but a single step that may be legalized.
Finally, to reject the idea of euthanasia, one should remember about unpredictable outcomes either for patients, their families, and medical facilities. Not many people accept death correctly and report depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and insomnia with time. The legalization of assisted dying must be well planned and thoroughly analyzed to remove all potential threats and questions. Americans are not ready to live in a world where euthanasia can be a legal option for them.
In conclusion, euthanasia debates play an important role in the growth of American society. Rather than making fast decisions, people negotiate, analyze, and observe the examples. The legalization of this type of suicide is a serious step, and not all states have enough resources to implement it correctly. Therefore, relying on such arguments as the nature of the procedure, its unpredictability, and impact on health care, euthanasia should stay illegal in the country.
References
Dugdale, L. S., Lerner, B. H., & Callahan, D. (2019). Pros and cons of physician aid in dying. The Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine, 92(4), 747-750.
Lane, C. (2019). Lifting the U.S. ban on euthanasia is like opening a Pandora’s box. The Washington Post. Web.