Euthanasia

I. INTRODUCTION: A. When a person has a disease that cannot be cured, do you think doctors should be allowed to end that patients life by some painless means, if the patient requests it? (Jost 5) 1. Think about this question and either answer yes or no. It can be challenging. 2. Euthanasia is a very common debate throughout the world and people are asked this question every day and are still uneasy and unsure of how to respond (Stearman 45) B. Edies Personal Story 1. When my mom was 16, her dad had a stroke. He had never been a real healthy eater so it didnt come as much of a surprise. He was put on a respirator and my mom was told that when he woke up he wouldnt remember anybody. My moms mom decided to take him off life support. He died a week later. NARRATION: A. History and Background 1. Definition: The act of killing a person painlessly to end suffering (Todays Science 1) 2. It is one of the most debated issues of the 1990s (Todays Science 1) 3. People want to die before the lose control of their life (Todays Science 1) 4. Euthanasia is also called mercy killings (Jost 1) 5. Euthanasia: means good death in ancient Greek (Stearman 6) 6. Voluntary Euthanasia (Stearman 6) a) Where the affected person makes their own decision to die b) Most are not capable, so they ask others to assist them in dying 7. Involuntary Euthanasia (Stearman 7) a) Where another person makes the decision for the person to die because they are in a state of mind where they cant decide for themselves 8. There is no chance for a person to live who has been in persistent vegetative state (PVS) for more than 12 months (Stearman 5) 9. PVS- different from a coma (Stearman 5) a) Eyes closed b) Lacks sleep-wake cycles c) locked-in syndrome: aware of themselves and environment, but lose movement and speech 10. Most religions are against it (Stearman 11)

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DIVISION: A. Agreement on Euthanasia- Many people see euthanasia as an okay thing 1. Pro-euthanasia (Stearman 40) a) See it as supporting individual choice, autonomy, and dignity 2. Dont want to see people suffer (Stearman 36-45) 3. People dont have to live a painful death (Stearman 36-45) 4. People lose dignity and dont feel like that is the proper way to feel when they die (Stearman 38) 5. If you have been in PVS for over a year there it is unlikely you will live (Stearman 5) B. Disagreement on Euthanasia- Many people see euthanasia as a bad thing 1. Many people think euthanasia is murder (Todays Science 2) 2. Believe some people feel pressured to end their life (Todays Science 2) 3. Worry uninformed or unwilling patients are being put to death (mentally disabled) (Todays Science 2) 4. Many doctors sometimes ignore the wishes of their dying patient (Todays Science 4) 5. Many believe more humane and compassionate medical care could reduce the demand for euthanasia (Todays Science 4) 6. Against euthanasia (Stearman 41) a) Euthanasia will lead to a general acceptance of the deaths of unwanted people such as mentally disabled people 7. Slippery Slope: it will inevitably lead to a situation where it is used more widely and indiscriminately (Stearman 18)

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PROOF: A. Arguments 1. Claim: Euthanasia should be allowed along with some limitations a) Evidence i. It is proven that people who have been in PVS for 12 months or more have no chance of living. So why should someone who has lived a year brain dead, have to suffer any longer than they need to? (Stearman 5) a. ii. Jack Kevorkian (Todays Science 1) a. Jack Kevorkian has helped 15 die and was arrested twice for it. He was let off both times though because when he was helping the people, he had them push the buttons to release the medicine to kill them. They ruled that he technically did not kill them himself. iii. Karen Ann Quinlan (Jost 2)

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a. Karen was 21 when she went into a coma after an overdose. He parents decided that they did not want her to suffer so they asked the doctors to take her off the respirator. The doctor refused and the case went to court. Explanation i. People should not have to suffer when it is highly unlikely that they are going to live, but also it shouldnt be taken advantage of like Jack Kevorkian did. (Todays Science1)

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REFUTATION: A. Opponents arguments 1. Many think it is murder (Todays Science 2) 2. Believe some people feel pressured to end their life (Todays Science 2) 3. Worry uninformed or unwilling patients are being put to death (mentally disabled) (Todays Science 2) 4. Many doctors sometimes ignore the wishes of their dying patient (Todays Science 4) 5. Many believe more humane and compassionate medical care could reduce the demand for euthanasia (Todays Science 4) 6. Against euthanasia (Stearman 41) a) Will lead to a general acceptance of the deaths of unwanted people 7. Slippery Slope: it will inevitably lead to a situation where it is used more widely and indiscriminately (Stearman 18) B. Break it down 1. These are a lot of peoples opinions 2. Nobody knows for sure if it will lead to anything bad 3. Other things could reduce the demand for euthanasia 4. If people wish to die peacefully, knowing they have a terminal disease, they should be able to ask the doctor to let them go without refusal 5. It isnt murder if the patient requests it themselves C. For example 1. On some levels euthanasia can be misused which can lead to it being used more widely, but if a patient confirms that they would like to die peacefully instead of in pain, the doctors should be able to grant them that wish CONCLUSION: A. Final Summary 1. Even though euthanasia can be taken advantage of and misused, it should still be legal with some limitations because no one would ever want their family members to have to live in pain. B. Clincher 1. Would you want to keep one of your relatives on life support knowing that there was no chance of them living? Keep them suffering in pain? 2. At the beginning I asked you if you thought it was okay for a doctor to take a patient off of live support if they request it. Now hearing all the facts you might want to rethink this question. Suffer or peaceful death? You decide.

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Works Cited "Euthanasia Statistics." Statistic Brain RSS. N.p., 11 Dec. 2013. Web. 19 Feb. 2014. Gay, Kathlyn. The Right to Die. Brookfield: Millbrook, 1993. Print. Jost, Kenneth. "Right to Die." CQ Researcher Online. CQ Press, 13 May 2005. Web. 2 Feb. 2104. <http://library.cqpress.com/>. "Society Debates How Life Should End." Today's Science. Facts On File News Services, May 1993. Web. 2 Feb. 2014. <http://tsof.infobaselearning.com>. Stearman, Kaye. The Debate About Euthanasia. New York: Rosen Central, 2011. Print.