Ling 94

Assignment 3 Draft 2

Davit Beriashvili

10/12/2017

Euthanasia No Way Out

Euthanasia is a topic which causes too much controversy in the modern society. Some

people argue that it has to be legal because a patient avoids suffering by helping them with

assisted suicide. The supporters of assisted suicide claim that euthanasia might help a patient to

escape from the endless pain and die peacefully. According to them, every person has to posses

his or her free will about whether he or she lives or dies. Contradictorily to the supporters,

people against euthanasia insist that assisted suicide must be illegal, since it is an incorrect

decision because assisted suicide makes a patient lose hope and will to fight for life. Also, it can

be argued that there is a huge chance of coercion that comes from family members, friends to

commit an assisted suicide. So, according to the opponents of euthanasia, there is no free will

while a patient is making the last decision. There will be a pressure from even the family

members which will leave a person in a misery and coerce him to make an unreasonable choice.

Euthanasia causes too much controversy about its positive and negative sides, but no one

can deny that it deteriorates a will to pursue life and fight for surviving. A freelance journalist

and author Mattlin (2012) insists that he has experienced a notoriously terrible disease, but has

never given up and found himself very passionate about life. He argues that he has been

experiencing the terrible disease from the period of being a child. According to the author, his
will to fight for life changed the terrible conditions and even astounded the doctors. According to

Mattlin, (2012) in spite of the terrible disease, his stubbornness helped him to carry on and

become a happy father at the age of 50. Additionally, another author Fensterman (2006) claims

that he was also diagnosed with a kidney cancer, but it did not stop him to enjoy with every

aspect of life. As the former director argues, in spite of a terrible issue, the author did not give up

and became addictive to life itself. In other words, unlike assisted suicide, fighting for life can

bring welfare and passion to people.

Another negative side that a self assisted suicide can have is a coercion that comes from

it. Even if the supporters of euthanasia insist that a person chooses whether he or she will live or

die, there is a high probability of pressure that comes from even the family of a victim. Mattlin

(2012) argues that there is a high risk of coercion on a patient coming from the nurses and even

the family. He argues that even the family and friends can possibly influence the patients

decision about assisted suicide during the time he or she spends in a hospital. There is a high

probability and chance of coercing a victim which will lead his life to devastation. In other

words, euthanasia is not really based on ones free will, but an influence which comes from the

society. A patient is under a serious pressure in a hospital. Family members and friends of a

patient might express too much sympathy towards a person who suffers. This act can be negative

for a patient, since he can realize that he is just surrounded by the nurses and family members

who look after him. It is a critical moment for a person who suffers, since it is devastating to

realize that there is nothing left than just being depended on the family. In this case, a person

stops thinking about the future and loses hope of continuing life. Constant stress and vanity

capture his mind. A patient starts thinking about committing a suicide which leads him to an

unreasonable decision. Similarly to Mattlin, (2012) Fensterman (2006) also argues that there are
many invisible forces that help patients feel unusable and prompt them to make a decision in

favor of an assisted suicide. Besides the negative effect of sympathy on a patient, family

members can also make the people who suffer worse by expressing that they also feel the burden

because of their tormented relatives. In addition, author insists that external forces make patients

feel useless and force them to choose to get a poison pill. According to Mattlin (2012) and

Hook (2006) euthanasia is always followed by the negative sides which prompt a patient to make

unreasonable decision and commit suicide.

Some critics argue that there is a reason for patients who are terminally ill to choose

euthanasia, commit suicide and avoid burden in this way. Suffering by the terminal disease might

be unbearable and negative for a patient. In his article In Defense of Voluntary Euthanasia a

philosopher and educator Sidney Hook (1987) claims that the mind of a terminally ill patient is

filled with pain and misery. There is a great burden which devastates a patients will to continue

struggling for life, so it is better to choose a merciful way of dying. In other words, the author

insists that in many cases continuing a fight for life is just impossible and unreasonable, since the

mind is surrounded by the negative thoughts and the body is filled with pain. The claim of Hook

(1987) seems also reasonable because when a person knows and feels that he or she will

definitely die, it seems there is only a deadlock left with no way out. Sometimes it is possible to

choose death and avoid suffering in this way. Based on the previous arguments, Hooks claims

do not seem completely reasonable because in spite of the probability of avoiding suffering by

choosing suicide, euthanasia also diminishes the ability to fight for life.

It can be concluded that euthanasia has too many negative points and must be

unacceptable as a legal term. It has a terrible effect on a patient. Many people agree that an

assisted suicide helps to vanish a will of a patient to strive for surviving and finding a proper way
out. Even the two authors are on this path. Frankly, there is no free will of choosing suicide,

since there is a huge probability of coercion and influence that people put on other people,

specifically, patients which lead them to making a wrong decision. Based on the following

arguments, it can be concluded that euthanasia is not a right choice, since it diminishes the ability

of a patient to fight for life and also there is no guarantee of avoiding coercion by patients during

making the last decision.

 Reference

Fensterman, J. (2006) I See Why Others Choose To Die, The Boston Globe

Hook, S. (1987) In Defense of Voluntary Euthanasia, New York Times

Mattlin, B. (2012) Suicide by Choice? Not So Fast, New York Times