Why Euthanasia should or should not Be Legalized Research Paper Points

Euthanasia originates from the Greek word "Euthanotos" which translates to a good death. It refers to intentionally ending a person's life to relieve them from pain and suffering. As a student, you will regularly be assigned a research paper on why euthanasia should or should not be legalized. The secret to acing it is the right points to support your stand on euthanasia. To help make it easier for you, here are some euthanasia research paper points you can use to argue why it should or should not be legalized

The terminally ill person may get better

Pro-euthanasia supporters often argue that voluntary euthanasia offers a terminally ill patient relief and renders them the opportunity to die in a dignified manner rather than struggle till their last minute alive. However, what they tend to overlook is that being terminally ill doesn't always mean the patient will eventually die. For instance, as of January 2019, the US had about 16.9 million cancer survivors. This number is projected to increase to 22.2 million by the year 2030. What this means is that there's hope. Simply because a person has been diagnosed with a terminal illness doesn't render them useless or mean they'll kick it. Besides, meticulous studies show that some unpleasant symptoms experienced by a terminally ill patient can be alleviated using existing medical treatments and techniques. So euthanizing a patient based on reliving their pain is not only devaluing human life but also undermining existing medical developments.

Voluntary euthanasia opens the door for Involuntary euthanasia

Although it's termed as voluntary, not all patients agree to it voluntarily. Most patients who undergo the process are often unaware that it is happening because they are in a comma. Those who are not may accept euthanasia because they are anxious about the future. Others accept euthanasia because they are worried about the effect their condition is having on their relatives or because they don't want to be a burden to their loved ones. In other words, terminally ill patients who are well enough to accept euthanasia voluntarily are not always objective of their situation.

Legalization of euthanasia will trigger Euthanasia Tourism

Legalizing euthanasia opens the door to euthanasia exploration. Pro-euthanasia supporters argue that it should be decriminalized to give terminally ill patients a chance to die in a dignified manner. But who's to say that once its legalized other euthanasia related movements won't come up? If it's legalized, what will prevent other activist groups from supporting euthanasia for those who feel depressed? For instance, shortly after the Netherlands legalized voluntary euthanasia for the terminally ill, action groups fighting for the legalization of assisted suicide for individuals over 70 began cropping up. In a nutshell, those who fight for the legalization of voluntary euthanasia may have clear motives, but not everyone does. Legalizing it will be like opening up a Pandora box of "good deaths".

Euthanasia undermines Medical Research

The role of doctors, researchers, scientific experts and any other professional in the field of medicine is to come up with solutions for illnesses and medical developments that will help save lives. All resources allocated to such professionals should be geared towards this purpose. If voluntary euthanasia is legalized, experts in this field will start dedicating their time and resources towards improving the science of mercy killing, formally known as ktenology at the expense of discovering life-saving treatments. This will slow down advances we've managed to achieve so far as the human race as now experts will focus on making the easy way out even easier.

Also, note, legalizing voluntary euthanasia undermines medical ethics. When doctors, nurses and other medical personnel graduate, they often vow to do whatever they can to preserve human life from conception to death.  By initiating euthanasia, these professionals will be going against everything they swore to uphold in their career.

The Legalization of Euthanasia Gives Leeway to People with Ill intentions

As mentioned earlier, terminally ill patients don't always have an objective picture of their situation. This gives those will ill-intentions against the patient an opportunity to act on their motives. For instance, if an individual wants to inherit a terminally ill patient's wealth, they may coerce the patient into accepting euthanasia by making them feel like a burden. If the patient in question is in a comma, such a person has an even better chance to execute their plan by giving doctors the green light to euthanize the patient. In other words, it's difficult to tell when a patient wants to die on their own free will, and when they want to die because they've been made to believe they're worthless or are a burden.

Legalizing Euthanasia Gives Doctors too Much Power

Doctors are expected to do everything in their power to preserve life from birth to death. They are often held accountable for not saving lives by policies such as medical malpractice. Legalizing euthanasia will put them above such laws as they can always use this as an easy way out when they wrongly diagnose a terminally ill patient. Why? Well, whenever a doctor suggests a particular course of action, the patient or their loved ones usually have little or no control over it. Simply put, the legalization of voluntary euthanasia automatically makes doctors the most dangerous people in the country as they can take life whenever they deem necessary, and not be held accountable for their actions.

Top 30 Euthanasia Research Paper points/Ideas

Now that you have some pointers you could use to support your argument against euthanasia, here are some topic ideas you could write on for your next essay. Note, our list includes both pro and anti-euthanasia topics to make your life even easier;