1

Ayat Freij

Rosemary Miketa

ENG 131

October 17, 2024

Euthanasia Should Be Legal In All 50 States

Euthnasia should be legalized because humans should have authority over their own

lives. People should be able to explore their options without having a second opinion from

doctors. Euthanasia is a drug that ends the life of a patient who is dealing with traumatic

symptoms or an illness. There are 10 jurisditction states in the US that allow the use of

Euthanasia, assisted suicide. Which include California, Colorado, New Mexico, New Jersey,

Hawaii, Maine, etc. So many patients live until 90 years old dealing with an illness that is not

treatable. There is a big increase of depression due to no option of euthansia.If euthanasia is

legalized in all 50 states we can give patients the option to die a peaceful death instead of bearing

so much medical equipment and spending thousands of dollars on treatments that won't help the

patient. Instead we can use that money to give them a reasonable option.

Euthansia is a quiet and helpful drug that gives patients a slow and non painful death.

Netherlands and Belgium became the first two countries to legalize euthanasia. As Oregon

became the first US state in America to legalize Euthanasia. In most legal systems it is called an

“Assisted Suicide”. Anita Hannig, A professor at Brandeis University insists there's a difference

between MAID and Assisted death. She says “Terminally ill patients who seek an assisted death

aren’t suicidal.” Agreeing with Professor Hannig, people believe that Euthansia is a useless

suicidal drug but it is much more then that. There are many cases where patients with long term

untreatable illness end up commiting suicide. These patients just needed the help they wanted.
 2

But, instead they have no desire to live anymore causing their illness to worsen over time. If

patients are given the option to use an assisted death. They can plan their time of death giving

enough time to say goodbye to their loved ones. Many patients who live in hospitals are often not

given the right care and treatment, often neglected.

If we are given the option to use euthanasia against our pets why can’t we end months of

suffering towards humans? One may argue that patients don’t have much time due to stress and

pressure to choose if they’d like to use euthanasia. But, Francis Bacon says “because of the

waiting periods enforced by MAID laws, the patients have had time to carefully consider their

choices for medical care and their own moral or spiritual obligations.” Addressing furthermore

issues with peer pressure towards patients. Patients die in a comfortable environment choosing

what date and what relatives they’d like around them. As they are given months prior to death to

choose, patients are given the option to end medical treatment until they’re acquainted with

death. Although it is a stressful decision the patient is surrounded by many opinions.

There is a list of qualities a patient must go through before being able to proceed with the

option of euthanasia. Many ill patients are often given the decision of different medical

treatments that could have a possibility of successful treatment. Euthanasia should be an option

all patients should be able to consider. “Just having the lethal medication on hand relieves

anxieties and fears about not only their potentially excruciating deaths but the lives and good

moments they have left.” As said in a Pro Euthanasia Article. If a patient has been doing

treatment for 7 years and has only been getting worse, they should be given the option of

euthanasia if they decide their condition has worsened and they cannot fight off the illness any

longer. It should always be considered an option just in case a patient is tired of fighting and

gives up.
 3

Organ donation after Euthansia has been performed in the Netherlands and Belgium for

over 7 years. Euthanasia could give organ donor lists a higher chance of living if given the

option. This could help thousands of Americans who are in need of a specific organ. These ill

patients can die a heroic death with the feeling of heroicness. As said in a medical article.

“Research based on Belgian euthanasia data demonstrated that 10% of patients who undergo

euthanasia might be medically eligible for organ donation” As other countries have given us a

clear statistic we could calculate statistics in the US and learn from neighboring countries. The

US needs more organ donors day by day.

Patients who are given the option of euthanasia are given a free death. Which is called

assisted suicide. Euthanasia costs 3,500$ for the legal dose, it is very expensive and is bought

using tax money from americans. Instead of spending that much money on a drug we could be

using that money to help those in need. Buying more treatment and drug doses that can actually

help a patient. As Kaap says "the ability to understand the nature and consequences of a

proposed course of action." (Robertson, 1985, p, 562) Many patients don’t understand what drug

they are given until it is too late. If every American In the US is given the option of Euthanasia

then everyone is given free suicide. There is a very small population that is allowed to be used

for organ donning. Since many patients who undergo the process of euthanasia have failed or

problematic organs. Organ donation with the use of Euthanasia has only worked out in the

Netherlands and Belgium due to different populations, medicines and treatments. There is no

ideal to euthanasia helping those in need. It is simply a merciless free suicidal death.

My call for action is to give patients who have undergone a series of treatments and

doctor consultations the ability to choose between fighting or using euthanasia to put them out of

their misery. Patients who might have a chance of survival should not be given the option of
 4

Euthanasia. Patients must be fighting off a serious illness for more than 5+ years to be given the

option of Euthanasia. As for cost, only serious patients will be given the option so no drug

dosages will go to waste. This drug could really help those who are brain dead and going through

terrible illnesses. Organ donation will be allowed but put through a series of tests before being

accepted into the donor program. Humans should have the right to choose what they want for

their bodies.

Works cited

“Should Medical Aid in Dying Be Legal?” Euthanasia, 19 Dec. 2022, euthanasia.procon.org/. Accessed
23 Oct. 2024.

Shibboleth Authentication Request, go-gale-com.henryfordcollege.idm.oclc.org/ps/retrieve.do?

tabID=T002&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&searchResultsType=SingleTab&retrievalId=75469207-
 5

ecb8-4be0-8d04-
9ef01bc403dc&hitCount=4319&searchType=BasicSearchForm&currentPosition=14&docId=GALE
%7CA16444010&docType=Article&sort=Relevance&contentSegment=ZONE-
MOD1&prodId=AONE&pageNum=1&contentSet=GALE
%7CA16444010&searchId=R9&userGroupName=lom_hfordcommcol&inPS=true. Accessed 24 Oct.
2024.

“Euthanasia.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 18 Sept. 2024,

www.britannica.com/topic/euthanasia. Accessed 24 Oct. 2024.

College site (Counter Argument)

Introduction and Background