Right to die
...s; the assisted suicide must be preformed in accordance with sound medical practice. In 1995, according to official records, doctors ended the lives of 3600 people in the Netherlands. Because many such cases are never reported, the actual number is probably at least twice that many. A rough estimate is that, today, about five percent of Dutch people die with the assistance of a physician. Many opponents, however, worry about that opening the door to physician-assisted suicide invites abuse. They pointed to the Netherlands: in about 1/3 of all cases, critics estimate, these five conditions are not strictly met. Moreover, a Dutch doctor assisted in the death of a woman who was not dying at all, but was simply depressed over the death of her two sons. More generally, opponents fear that legalization will put society on a “slippery slope” towards more and more euthanasia. We consider some potential effects of a legalized of euthanasia: Abandonment of Hope. Every doctor can tell stories of patients expected to die within days who surprise everyone with their extraordinary recoveries. Every doctor has experienced the wonderful embarrassment of being proven wrong in their pessimistic prognosis. To make euthanasia a legitimate option as soon as the prognosis is pessimistic enough is to reduce the probability of such extraordinary recoveries from low to zero. Increased fear of hospitals and doctors. Despite all the efforts of health education, it seems there will always be a transference of the patient's fear of illness from the illness to the doctors and hospitals who treat it. This fear is still very real and leads to large numbers of late presentations of illnesses that might have been cured if only the patients had sought help earlier. To institutionalize euthanasia, however carefully, would undoubtedly magnify all the latent fear of doctors and hospitals harbored by the public. The inevitable result would be a rise in late presentations and, therefore, preventable deaths. Dangers of Societal Acceptance. It must never be forgotten that doctors, nurses, and hospital administrators have personal lives, homes and families, or that they are something more than just doctors, nurses, or hospital administrators. They are citizens and a significant part of the society around them. We should be very worried about what the institutionalization of euthanasia will do to society, in general , how will we regard murderers? Furthermore, In the United States, thousands of people have no medical insurance; studies have shown that the poor and minorities generally are not given access to available pain control, and managed-care facilities are offering physicians cash bonuses if they don't provide care for patients. With greater and greater emphasis being placed on managed care, many doctors are at financial risk when they provide treatment for their p...