Rob Lewis P.

Bautista
12 – Skillful

Euthanasia: How much does life costs?

Euthanasia is defined as mercy killing, assisted suicide or physician-assisted

suicide which is usually given to those patients suffering from an incurable and painful
disease or in an irreversible coma. Some individuals tend to consider euthanasia as a
good option to end the suffering of their relatives or family member affected with a terminal
condition. It may be considered by some as these cases focuses on a dead end even to
those financially capable but who can no longer bear seeing their loved ones suffer any
further. Several countries have legally allowed euthanasia.

On the other hand, it is being rejected by the religious groups stating the idea of
human rights to live and to choose, and that every individual has the right to live whatever
status they may have in the society, even if it they live in poverty or in pain caused by
sickness. As for my perspective, an individual who was raised in a Roman Catholic way
of my family that grew up with religious awareness, one who was raised to value life and
with the closely-knit interaction between relatives and family, considering euthanasia is
fairly unacceptable, to point out the idea of the choice to live more and not to take the
decision of prolonging or not of one’s life by anyone else. It will never be comfortable to
bear with pain and suffering and seeing your loved ones go through it while one can not
do something to ease the situation. In addition to this, it is also unbearable to be among
those who decide to end somebody else’s life. It is a lifelong agony, emotional suffering
and even a sense of guilt to deal with as long as one lives. The idea of recall of the patient
involved may keep haunting those who agreed to euthanasia and much more if the person
is one of your closest family member.

Several individuals still consider euthanasia even if the person does not suffer from
pain or illness but rather a way out of boredom with life. This is evident to those who
keeps living past their 90s. Some consider it since they do not have any family members
of their generation to be with and does not feel to belong to the current generation. It is
considered as a personal choice and conflicting to the norms of what is being defined
under euthanasia. It shows that social status, wealth and even good health are not to be
considered to secure a person not to consider euthanasia. It can be said that boredom
can really kill. The search for happiness is indeed a case here as no one may consider
ending his life if he is happy, with good social standing, healthy and the idea of being
valued.

I grew up filled with happy ideas, simple ways, loving family, nice friends and fond
memories with family and relatives, as for this, having such a great family support, I may
never consider euthanasia for anyone or even for myself suppose I feel lonely or bored
because I believe that prayers can console a lonely being and that life is a constant
challenge, a chance to keep upgrading one’s experience, it maybe an endless search but
with a supportive family background then it is never for me to give up.

With all of these ideas, I can conclude that legalizing euthanasia for terminally ill
patients is not the best way to ease the pain, agony, or boredom, but I can consider
working hard to discover medical intervention or ways to further alleviate the scientific
knowledge in addressing the pain and disease management so no one will need to bear
the sufferings both among patients, family members and loved ones. It will be a
continuous struggle in finding the cure for any illness but chance is at hand to keep moving
forward until it is attained. Furthermore, I believe that suffering is part of the human
condition and part of life’s experience. Life is something complicated, but it always has a
reason why we ended up in that situation.