See 3,181 above.
Should euthanasia be permitted nationwide? NO
By Joe Shreve
Daily Staff Writer
March 07, 2005
Euthanasia should not be allowed nationwide for the pure and simple reason that we, as a country, could not handle the responsibility. These days, too many people have simply taken attitudes that are far too casual toward serious subjects. We talk about subjects such as plastic surgery and the concept of divorces as normally as we would talk about ordering lunch.
Such a morally casual attitude should never be allowed to happen when the subject comes to death by euthanasia. Death is never a subject to be taken lightly. Whatever you choose to call it, euthanasia still means ending a life purposefully and unnaturally.
As a culture, Americans like to find the easiest quick fix to any problems that arise. There seems to be a belief deep inside every American that the solution to all the problems of the world comes in pill form.
That's why euthanasia should never be legalized nationwide.
Imagine a person finds out from their doctor that they have a terminal illness, and only has six months to live. He or she is given the option of euthanasia. To avoid a painful end, he or she chooses to be euthanized. There are tearful goodbyes, lethal injections, funerals, et cetera. Now fast forward to two months later, and the doctor discovers that the lab made a mistake and the patient wasn't sick at all. There could be a breakthrough in the treatment for the disease-- or even a cure.
For example, there is the story of a Florida woman, Terri Schindler-Schiavo. She has lived in a vegetative state since 1990. Her husband, Michael Schiavo, and her parents are currently fighting in court about whether or not she should be allowed to die by having her feeding tube removed.
Her parents do not want the tube to be removed because she had made some progress in increasing her awareness of voices and movements. Meanwhile, Michael Schiavo wishes the tube to be removed so that he can marry his fiancee.
What message would that say if someone was euthanized simply because they were disabled? Their life wasn't important enough to keep? That they were useless, dead weight and better off dead? Why should someone be killed simply for not being normal? It was evil when the Nazis did it, it is no less evil now.
If euthanasia were to be legalized, there is always the danger of it somehow becoming a fad quick fix. If someone was depressed, or under a lot of emotional stress, what would stop him or her from simply going downtown to a clinic and ending it all?
Death will not solve your problems, or cure your diseases, all it will do is make you dead.
Lives should not be thrown away simply because someone decides they no longer serve a purpose. We should be trying to find ways to save lives, not end them.
Should euthanasia be permitted nationwide? NO
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Thanks, I guess I wouldn't have had to look very far but I knew if I took too much time he'd have moved on to another topic by then.
You guys are definitely on the ball! It's so good to know that many people are going to bat for Terri and others like her. I'm praying that 10 days from now will be a victory, and not a defeat.