Euthanasia - Pros And Cons Of Mercy Killing

Euthanasia is the practice of ending someone’s life to release them of their pain and suffering. Where some believe the end of life is god’s decision to make, others are perfectly okay with the idea of intentional killing to put someone out of their misery. Euthanasia is for both animals and humans, but only in the case of voluntary euthanasia can someone be killed. In the cases where voluntary euthanasia is not possible, passive (ill person shall not be given the treatment required to live) euthanasia is taken under consideration but only under certain circumstances.

Alike everything in the world this topic also has its pros and cons, which are as follows-

PROS-

• Choice: The legalization of this practice brings people the choice to end their misery. As stated above some of the population does believe that continuing or ending a life should the person’s choice rather than forcing him/her to live it.
• Facilities: Euthanasia gives a chance to the people who previously had no luck for higher treatment by providing it to the survivor than to a person who already has his/her life sentenced to be ended.

CONS-

• Against the oath of the doctors: As the doctors start their professions they take an oath to save all the lives they can and this euthanasia disregards their oath.
• Who decides when to end: As far as the passive euthanasia is concerned, who will decide when to end a person’s life. There have been many cases where the life of one is at stake, with people fighting over if they should live or not.
• Against religious beliefs:  For many religions euthanasia has been a hot topic, wherein some religions this practice is disagreed with, in others more of liberal thinking works.

In this study of mercy killing, for some, this is kindness whereas for the others this is against gods and their duties. This practice is not legal all over the world, but is familiar to many via books like ‘me before you’ and other books highlighting the concept.

By: Kanak Kotnala

Class 12

Gaurs International School