The word ‘euthanasia’ is Greek, which means ‘a good death.’ The issue is far more complex than what a dictionary’s explanation is. The issue of euthanasia is one of the most discussed topics in all of the United States Congress. US government agencies, legislators and leaders have attempted unsuccessfully to stop assisted suicide nationwide by barring the use of federally controlled substances at lethal levels intended for mercy killing. There are many issues surrounding the act of assisted suicide that are yet to be resolved in the United States. In the near future Congress should have a set law on this topic and that will end the confusion circulating around euthanasia. If legalized, how should such these ‘merciful deaths’ be performed? Should they give lethal injections or withhold ones food and water? Nevertheless all of this practice should be performed by a professional or doctor.
The US Supreme Court ruled that states have the right to ban assisted suicides but failed to rule on whether or not killings should be allowed. In the United States, only Oregon has legalized voluntary euthanasia. There are only two states-North Carolina and Wyoming, which do not legally prohibit physician-assisted suicide. Presently, the enforcement of the issue is little.
The issues surrounding an individual’s right to die and mercy killing are diverse and difficult. The right to die is particularly for someone who has an illness and is suffering from intense pain. People who have a condition that can be fixed by means of medications cannot commit this act, but they can wait to see if it gets better for a certain period of time. After a couple of months or years, then that is the time when the person can decide wither to end their life. Assisted suicide should be the very last resort. If someone wants to end their life by means of a doctor then they should be allowed to do it.
US pathologist Dr. Jack Kevorkian, who by his own admission has assisted 130 people with their own suicides, has been the target of considerable media and government attention. Kevorkian is the leading ‘right to die” doctor in the US because of his work providing lethal medication to patients so that they may commit or pursue their own suicides. But the release of a videotape by Kevorkian in January, 1999, showing the physician injecting lethal medication into a patient in Michigan has changed the nature of the controversy from the right to die to medically assisted euthanasia. Kevorkian is charged with murder and faces trial next spring. Dr.
Kevorkian is the first known US physician to carry out an act of mercy killing. In conclusion, I think that it is legal for someone to end their life only if they have a certain condition that is un-curable or if the person is suffering tremendously. A doctor who specializes in this area should be the only one to perform the practice. It should be illegal for non-professionals who carry out this act in their homes. For minors under eighteen years of age, the parents are the only one who can have the ” say.” Once the child turns the legal age of eighteen, it can be up to the child; But only if they have a serious condition. Hopefully Congress will have a law about this issue very soon, because assisted suicide still happens today in the United States and people are still bickering and complaining about it..