Legalising Euthanasia In The Experience Of The Netherlands And Belgium: Opinion Essay

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Euthanasia is the deliberate act of putting an end to a patient’s life for the purpose of ending the patients suffering. But can it ever be right to murder patients, even with the intent to ease suffering? To kill patients, even with the intent to ease suffering, is considered homicide.

Over the past years euthanasia has been defeated and become illegal in every country besides Netherland and Belgium and even here in Victoria. I am afraid that if euthanasia could have been legalised in those two countries and here in Victoria, it’s only a matter of time before the whole world would approval and soon follows the Dutch’s example of ‘good and easy death. Once legalised, euthanasia will become a means of health care containment, Euthanasia will become involuntary and would not only apply for the terminally ill, and not to mention, euthanasia will change our doctor-patient relationships forever.

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One of the most important developments in recent years is the increasing stress placed on health care provides to contain cost, particularly for those in palliative care. In many countries, thousands of people have no medical insurance, especially the poor, since generally they are not given any access or limited access to available treatment. Health care provides are even offering doctors cash bonuses if they don’t provide care for patients as the stress being placed on health care is increasing.

Many doctors are at financial risk when they provide treatment for the unfortunate ones who fall ill. Doctor Wesley J. Smith said, ‘… drugs used in the progress of euthanasia cost only $40, but that it could take $40 000 to treat a patient properly. ’ Legalised euthanasia will raise dangerous situations, where doctors could find themselves better off financially ending an unfortunate patient suffering rather than providing long term care As they say, euthanasia will only be voluntary, but in the real life there would be millions of situations each year where euthanasia would fall into involuntary; where emotional pressures could become overpowering if the choice of euthanasia is considered good, majority will feel guilty for not choosing death. What if in ten years time, your own mother was depressed by her chronic illness that could be treated, but she was asked to approve a ‘quick, painless ending her life,’ would she have the strength to refuse what the nurses, doctors and everyone expected of her? Could this be what the government sees as an appropriate solution for the worlds lack of palliative and hospice care. Dr Gunning states: ‘once you accept killing as a solution for a single problem, you will find tomorrow hundreds of problems for which murdering can be seen as a solution. ’ Dutch doctors have been killing terminally ill, to killing chronically ill, killing physical disease to killing mentally distressed, who has no physical illness, to killing newborn babies just because they have birth defects.

The experience of the Netherlands and Belgium in legalising, points the fact that once legalised it cannot be effectively controlled. Legalised euthanasia will ultimately undermine doctor-patient relationship. Euthanasia is basically giving doctors the right to murder their patients. ‘It’s not up to the doctors whether life is happy or unhappy, worthwhile or not and should be incorporate these perspective into his or her trade, the doctor very much will become the most dangerous person in the state. It would make us wonder whether the doctor coming into our hospital room wearing the white coat of the healer or the black hood for the executioner.

Euthanasia will give the doctor the power to decide whether to terminate or preserve our lives and our lives will rest with the medical profession. In conclusion, we know the dangers that arise when euthanasia is legal, but that is why almost all societies have made euthanasia a crime, because once euthanasia is legalised; it will change our doctor-patient relationship and we cannot confuse the role of doctors as someone who supports life with someone who takes life. We have already witness how euthanasia will result in a spread to beyond terminally ill and as the law will expand from voluntary to involuntary, it will also become a health care containment. For a selfish society, euthanasia is an easy solution- and that is what makes this situation so horrifying.

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