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Let Them Die Euthanasia is one of society's most widely and hotly debated moral issues. It has pained and exhausted the courts for entirely too long, questioning the ethics and morality of the issue. It is a never-ending loop that by no means considers our right, or the victim's right, to freedom. It has pierced the pocket books of American taxpayers extensively and should be put to rest with only this statement. Let them die! I believe that euthanasia is only debated and kept on the political agenda to keep the courts busy, thereby ensuring the security of political pocket books. The vast majority of the population is in favor of euthanasia. However, their elected candidates don't represent their views (Humphry). Thus eliminating their power of democracy and right to freedom. In this essay I will argue that euthanasia is not a concern of religious ethics but rather an entitlement of freedom. Euthanasia is typically broken into two categories: 1. Active euthanasia: The act of ...administering a lethal drug, or using other means that cause a persons death" (MacKinnon, 126). 2. Passive euthanasia: "Stopping (or not starting) some treatment, which allows a person to die, the persons condition causes his or her death, (MacKinnon, 126). Active euthanasia is typically the more highly debated of the two acts of euthanasia and is better known because of the actions of Dr. Jack Kevorkian, who has aided in many successful suicides. Passive euthanasia, on the other hand, is rarely debated and usually never enters the mind's eye because it is typically looked at as letting someone die naturally. In passive euthanasia one simply refuses treatment with the knowledge that death is imminent. This offers little debate for several reasons, primarily because it is seen as a natural way of dying. The exception, however, is that some religions refuse to accept treatment with the knowledge that without the treatment they will die. For example in the faith of the Jehovah's Witness, a child, who has been in a vicious car accident and is in need of blood, will die rather that accept treatment. This kind of passive euthanasia would come under much scrutiny, but be accepted because it is tied to religious convictions. In either case, active or passive, the victim will die.
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