this the issue of euthanasia is a highly complex one with many different

sides (medical, legal, political, individual and practical). There are also

religious and academic considerations. Many people do not realize the

exact meaning of euthanasia .In fact the true meaning of euthanasia [Hentoff,Keyes. “Euthanasia and assisted suicide”(2 July 2001). http://www.euthanasia.com] is the intentional killing by act or omission of a dependant human being for his or her alleged benefit. There are mainly two types of euthanasia voluntary and involuntary. Voluntary euthanasia occurs when the person who is killed gives consent to be killed. While involuntary euthanasia occurs when the person who is killed is incapable of giving consent or does not give consent. It is also important to realize the brief history of euthanasia all over the world. There are only two jurisdictions in the world today where laws specifically permit euthanasia. These are Oregon and the Netherlands. However in some countries over the past few years there were attempts to legalize euthanasia but it all failed. An example of these attempts occurred in Australia. In 199

Pro-euthanasia campaigners also believe that most people who are in there old age nowadays become dependant on their families to provide food, shelter and medical care for them [Hentoff,Keyes. “Euthanasia and assisted suicide”(2 July 2001). http://www.euthanasia.com]. Thus these senior citizens realize that they are placing a tremendous financial and emotional pressure on the people caring for them. And so they feel that if this pressure is out of the way there families will be much better off. This is the situation where the person uses euthanasia to relief the pressure on others, not necessarily to put themselves out of their misery or pain.

5 Australia’s northern territory approved a euthanasia bill, it went into effect in 1996 but was overturned by the Australian parliament in 1997.Therfore should voluntary euthanasia be legalized or not?

The third contributing factor to the banning of euthanasia is openness. Figures in a recent survey carried in the United Kingdom in which 273 doctors were questioned, 163 had been asked by a patient for euthanasia. Of this 162, 124 had taken steps to hasten death and 38 had actually complied with the patient’s wishes and administered an injection. These survey results have lead to the formation of two different opinions. The first one (believed by pro-euthanasia campaigners) claims that if the act of euthanasia was made legal then it could be carried out in an appropriate manner and it would be less open to abuse because doctors would have a set of rules to follow. On the other hand people opposing euthanasia feel that with an increased quality of palliative care, people would not feel the need to ask for euthanasia. In other words with a higher level of medical training doctors and nurses will be more able to assess the symptoms of their patients and therefore control them.

After studying the topic of voluntary euthanasia extensively and looking at all the viewpoints. I can truly admit that I am against legalizing euthanasia. This opinion is based on all the reasons mentioned before especially the fact that euthanasia inhibits medical advancements in the field of research. Which is an extremely serious problem to all mankind since medical research is the key to cure fatal diseases. However euthanasia should be applied only in very rare cases where the patient is in extreme pain that could not be relieved by any other way. Therefore governments play an important role here in issuing laws to control the application of euthanasia in these rare conditions only. Which means that these laws should prevent the application of euthanasia in cases where there is one or more solutions available to cure the patient

Some topics in this essay:
United Kingdom, Luther King, Islam Judaism, Euthanasia Death, Oregon Netherlands, Newyork Penguin1999, voluntary euthanasia, “euthanasia assisted suicide”2, july 2001 http//wwweuthanasiacom, suicide”2 july 2001, hentoffkeyes “euthanasia assisted, july 2001, suicide”2 july, assisted suicide”2 july, 2001 http//wwweuthanasiacom, assisted suicide”2, banning euthanasia, hentoffkeyes “euthanasia, “euthanasia assisted, Bok Euthanasia, people opposing, legalizing euthanasia,