To consider..

Euthanasia (mercy killing)

-Passive Euthanasia practised in Canada. A doctor declines a patient further treatment to his/her illness. The patient chooses to die naturally than being on treatment and prolonging his/her life.

- Active Euthanasia not practised in Canada (practised in the Netherlands). A doctor, for the purpose of easing suffering, injects a patient to quicken his/her death. This is also the patients choice.

Passive euthanasia defies the purpose of medicine. Medical practises serve a purpose to ease suffering. This does not necessarily include the prolonging of life. Ones life can be prolonged yet the suffering increased. This is the case of passive euthanasia. I believe that passive euthanasia, which is legal in Canada, is greater of an offense than active euthanasia. It is immoral and unjustly debated. Passive euthanasia allows the patient to die naturally, although death might likely follow, the patient has a high chance of suffeering far more than of he/she were on treatment. For example, a patient in the later stages of throat cancer has a high probability of dying with or without treatment. This form of cancer is un treatable at its later stages. The patient will die in the long run with treatment. However, he can choose to end life sooner by dying naturally. The argument lies in the fact that the choice of passive euthanasia prolongs suffering. In this case, the death of the patient is very painful yet comes sooner than death if he were still on treatment. In such an example, active euthanasia would have been morally applied because it promises a quick and comfortable death. A common misconception about active euthanasia is the future effect it can have on society. The lay public, largely influenced by media, believe that people will prefer choosing this form of death. However, if a person did indeed have a death wish, in today's society he would commit suicide. In addition, the decision to preform active euthanasia does not lie solely on the patient. This decision process does not take a day or even a week. When one in Holland decides on euthanasia, there are multiple tests done to make sure (for 100%) the patient is determined with this decision. His case is studied individually for a minimum of 6 months. In addition, the opinions of a team of medical staff lead to the action. This team carefully analyzes the patient on a step by step basis. Why shouldn't active euthanasia be introduced in Canada? It can be morally applied and serve a good purpose. We shouldn't be afraid of death, for it is a normal process. However chosing how one should die, painfully or not, is our choice.

Cloning, In Vitro Fertilization, Harming of Embryos (to be continued)

Right or Wrong?