Should Euthanasia be legalized?

According to the Stedman's Dictionary euthanasia is defined as a quiet,painless death and the intentional putting to death by artificial means of persons with incurable painful disease. Pain and incurable illness are therefore predominant features in the euthanasia debate. In the United States of America the act of euthanasia is not recognised as under the American Model Penal Code (article 210:5) (Broady, Acker  and Logan 2001), helping another to commit suicide is a criminal act. a famous quote said by Karl Brandt "Because God w never give us any pain that is unbearable." Euthanasia would not be legalized due to the religious reasons, declaration of medical development and slippery slope.

             Religion has a major influence against euthanasia. Talking about people that have faith in God, euthanasia seems to be an illegal aspect, as it goes against the will of God to end one's life and also that it de means the value of life. Focusing more on a specific religion; Christianity uses phrase such as "Sanctity of Life" to justify that all human beings are to be valued, human life is sacred because it's gift from God. The famous philosopher Immanuel Kant said that human beings must value one; it doesn't depend on whether we are having a good life that we enjoy or whether we are making other people's lives better. We exist, so we have values and we have no rights to end our suffering by terminating our lives. Christians believe that life is a gift from God and that the sustaining and terminating of that life are equally under his control. Also that the fifth commandment states that "Thou Shall Not Kill." It is a specific command intended to protect the dignity and sanctity of human's life.            

             Another potential danger of the legislation of euthanasia is the declaration of the medical progress for palliative and hospice. Decreasing pain and suffering of the patient is one of the goals for the medical profession. If euthanasia was legalized commitment of doctors and nurses to saving lives would be undermined it will also discourage the search for the new cures and treatments for terminal illness (Jacob,2008). Furthermore, legislation of euthanasia could undermine the purpose of hospice. If euthanasia is performed legally then the number of patients in the hospice would dramatically decrease thus making no different from a hospital (Jared, 2010). 

             Furthermore voluntary euthanasia is actually the start of the slippery slope that leads to a non-voluntary euthanasia which would be categorised as murder. When euthanasia is carried out on a terminally ill patients without their approval, complications would arise; doctors would soon start killing their patients without their permission. When the patient is not really comprehending anything that the doctor is exactly saying, he suggest euthanasia and however it is done without the approval of the family members or the patient him/herself. This is where the slippery slope comes into the picture and also that the relationship between the doctor and the family members would cut off or end up bad. A famous Dr Jame Hawker said that "I can see no circumstances where a doctor is justified in actually killing a patient. We can and must relieve suffering in our patients, but this does not give us the right actually to kill them." The whole picture of euthanasia will eventually circumscribe the weak, disabled, demented and old. Making euthanasia legal could misuse where depressed people would euthanised themselves and a number of them would kill themselves. 

               Euthanasia shouldn't be legalized as people and doctors may misuse this law just because they cannot face their pain or depression. As long as there is a chance to live and the resistance to fight the question of euthanasia should not be brought up. So the question here is "do we have the right to die?"

Capital Punishment

According to the dictionary capital punishment refers to death for a crime or a death penalty. This method of death penalty was a universal method and it is still practiced in certain countries such as U.S, Japan and South Korea (Bruce A Robinson, 2011). Due to the introduction of the death penalty; it has proven that the crime rates in the US has decreased for example in the year 2000 there were 85 cases to face the death penalty and as years passed the number of criminals in the year 201 have come upto 46 (updated April, 2011). Well the majority of Americans support death penalty, with 64% favoring it and the rest against (Gallup, 2010). as Orrin Hatch says "Capital punishment is our society's recognition of the sanctity of human life." Does on believe that death penalty actually deters crime? Capital punishment should not be abolished because of retribution and deterrence. 

Retribution is way of severe and deserved punishment which adjusts the balance of justice.This kind of punishment shows the public that murder is an intolereble crime which will be punished in such a kind. People believe that the presence of retribution is a great way protecting lives on earth. Seeing pain in the eyes of the victim's family or friends is the one that for fits the argument for death penalty, if the criminal is put behind bars and not given a death penalty once the criminal is out he is ought to do the same acts, it is better to destroy the person who's doing the crime because as the criminal vanishes the crime will automatically vanish. As the Bible Romans 13: 1-4says  "Let every person be subjected to the
governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been
instituted by God. Therefore he who resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will
incur judgment.... If you do wrong, be afraid, for [the authority] does not bear the sword in vain;
he is the servant of God to execute his wrath on the wrongdoer" So beig punished through a death penalty actually comes from God.  

Society wants to have a safe and better environment to live in, thus to make that happen strongest punishment should be available to deter murder. zthis kind of punishment is necessary for people who intentionally commit murders, it is a threat for potential criminals. Death penalty may deter murderers and it is the penalty that could deter prisoners already serving a life sentence and tempted to kill. 

Deterrence is not just aimed at the actual offender who is being sentenced, but is also meant to act as a signal to others in wider community that this is the sort of treatment that can expect if they carry out similar offences. Detterence is a coin (2 sided) aimed atthe individual in the dock and others in society who may well be considering to avoid similar behaviour. The law's aims is to deter potential future culprits by punishing past offenders. Becker a famous economist (1968) said that "

In order for deterrence to be effective and crime to be reduced, the costs must be made to outweigh the benefits. Increasing the probability of conviction or the severity of the punishment would make the prospect of crime less attractive and induce the individual not to commit crimes." 

In conclusion, taking into account the act of deterrence and retribution capital punishment should not be abolished. If they do the crime rate would increase at a higher rate making us live in a non-safe environment. If the criminals are punished severly then the crime rate would eventually vanish.