bunny
08-14-2009, 06:31 AM
A friend of mine has an impeding debate on euthanasia. She is arguing (by random draw) that euthanasia should not be legal. She is a few days away from this debate and is looking for help in her argument. I'm copying her post as she was looking for any feedback to help her position.
The folks around here are some of the best debaters I have encountered so I'd like to see what you can do with this.
Bear in mind she is in first or second year university (I'm not sure which). I've given her some feedback already, but I'd like to see what you all make of this.
Please note, she is doing this for in class debate purposes only, so any emotionally charged responses should be held back. I'm posting this only to help her in her attempt to build a strong argument.
Assisted Suicide debate: Share
Yesterday at 11:11pm
This is what we have so far for our debate.
The debate is Monday.
If you have any arguments against our points please bring them up, as they will help us to prepare.
If this is an emotional topic for you, I will not be offended if you don't bother to read it.
Thesis statement:
Hippocrates mentions euthanasia in the Hippocratic Oath "Äbove all do no harm" Which is an oath that all physicians as healers must swear to.which was written between 400 and 300 B.C. The original Oath states: “To please no one will I prescribe a deadly drug nor will I advise someone of a plan which may cause his death.”
English Common Law from the 1300s until the middle of the last century made suicide a criminal act in England and Wales. Assisting others to kill themselves remains illegal in that jurisdiction. However, in the 1500s, Thomas More, in describing a utopian community, envisaged such a community as one that would facilitate the death of those whose lives had become burdensome as a result of "torturing and lingering pain".
Euthanasia is illegal in almost all countries at present.
There are several reasons for this
including the devaluation of human life, family members or others might be influenced over
monitary gain, and some cases doctors may be wrong, and obvious concern of people is that
they will be terminated without their consent, and would otherwise continue to live a healthy
life, a life they consider worth living.
The concept of euthanasia has been
talked about in the court system many times, yet the same conclusion is always reached through
due process "assisted suicide is morally unsound.
" People who are depressed or emotionally
unstable will be coaxed into taking the easy way out instead of checking into a hospital and
wracking up a medical bill. Medicine these days is whitout a doubt expensive, but this
expensive is small in comparason to the value of human life. One of the common worries in the UK
about voluntary euthanasia, according to the university of London study: People will feel pressured
into volunteering either to avoid being a buden on the state or their families. One account of this tendency for emotionally unstable people is the story of Henk Dykma who in 1993 was diagnosed with a case of HIV in a heart wrenching story, it is explained:
in 1993. Henk Dykma had asymptomatic HIV infection. Fearing future afflictions that might befall him, Henk asked his doctor to kill him. The film shows the doctor telling Henk that he might live for years at his current state of seemingly healthful living. When Henk still proclaims a desire to die, the doctor speaks with a colleague but never consults a psychiatrist or psychologist. He then helps kill Henk on July 28, a date, we are told, which had symbolic importance for the patient.
This killing, like those of the anorexic young woman and the bereaved mother, was clearly not a matter of last resort, as the guidelines claim to require. Henk and his doctor did not explore all other options available to him before ending his life. Indeed, psychiatric treatment, which might have alleviated Henk's obvious anxiety about being HIV-positive, was never even discussed or attempted. Nor was Henk advised of the steps that could be taken to alleviate his suffering should he fall ill. The doctor didn't even wait until Henk had actual symptoms of AIDS. There is a word for that level of care --abandonment --and it demonstrates the utter hollowness of the Dutch protective guidelines.
If laws are passed to legalise euthanasia, first it starts with a concentual assisted suicide
then as physicians become more and more comfortable with relieving suffering, and the general
populace starts to see it as the norm, it might be taken further and used as a way of opening
hospital beds, effectively devaluing human life. The doctors may just even over step their
boundries and pressure their patients into accepting euthanasia as a means to speed up the process
or even start administering assisted suicide without consent.
The journal of medical ethics has documented this slippery slope in the Netherlands where euthanasia
is legal.The study concludes that the practice of voluntary euthanasia remains beyond effective control.
20% of 4500 cases of reported euthanasia occurred in the absense of the patient's request. Even though
this is one of the conditions of legal acceptance in the Netherlands.
17% of assisted suicide doctors said that alternative pallative treatment options existed, but, euthanasia
was carried out reguardless, contrary to the legal guidelines.
Legal controls in the Netherlands that were supposed to be implemented have been excessively ignored. This
creates a sense of mis trust in the system among people that would have considered assisted death.
Legalization has done little to actually protect people from involuntary euthanasia, so we see no reason for it.
Ian Robinson, Calgary sun
Columnist had this to say, "Compassionate homicide. That's as sensible a concept as
"loving rape"
REBUTTAL:
-Our opponents have mentioned that the original "greek meaning"of euthanasia means easy death
but,We ask: is the greek word for someone whose death was hastened by a doctor eg:
with lethal injection. In greek or english that word is pronounced "murder"
- The only demographic that supports assisted murder is the emo or scenester population. If euthanasia was made legal with out a doubt our music scene and artistic aspect of North American living would be changed. It has long been known that depression and art go hand in hand, if it is made so simple to escape one’s troubles, what would they have to write about?
- (people have the right to die) - people have the right to die even if they do not ask to do so.
-
The folks around here are some of the best debaters I have encountered so I'd like to see what you can do with this.
Bear in mind she is in first or second year university (I'm not sure which). I've given her some feedback already, but I'd like to see what you all make of this.
Please note, she is doing this for in class debate purposes only, so any emotionally charged responses should be held back. I'm posting this only to help her in her attempt to build a strong argument.
Assisted Suicide debate: Share
Yesterday at 11:11pm
This is what we have so far for our debate.
The debate is Monday.
If you have any arguments against our points please bring them up, as they will help us to prepare.
If this is an emotional topic for you, I will not be offended if you don't bother to read it.
Thesis statement:
Hippocrates mentions euthanasia in the Hippocratic Oath "Äbove all do no harm" Which is an oath that all physicians as healers must swear to.which was written between 400 and 300 B.C. The original Oath states: “To please no one will I prescribe a deadly drug nor will I advise someone of a plan which may cause his death.”
English Common Law from the 1300s until the middle of the last century made suicide a criminal act in England and Wales. Assisting others to kill themselves remains illegal in that jurisdiction. However, in the 1500s, Thomas More, in describing a utopian community, envisaged such a community as one that would facilitate the death of those whose lives had become burdensome as a result of "torturing and lingering pain".
Euthanasia is illegal in almost all countries at present.
There are several reasons for this
including the devaluation of human life, family members or others might be influenced over
monitary gain, and some cases doctors may be wrong, and obvious concern of people is that
they will be terminated without their consent, and would otherwise continue to live a healthy
life, a life they consider worth living.
The concept of euthanasia has been
talked about in the court system many times, yet the same conclusion is always reached through
due process "assisted suicide is morally unsound.
" People who are depressed or emotionally
unstable will be coaxed into taking the easy way out instead of checking into a hospital and
wracking up a medical bill. Medicine these days is whitout a doubt expensive, but this
expensive is small in comparason to the value of human life. One of the common worries in the UK
about voluntary euthanasia, according to the university of London study: People will feel pressured
into volunteering either to avoid being a buden on the state or their families. One account of this tendency for emotionally unstable people is the story of Henk Dykma who in 1993 was diagnosed with a case of HIV in a heart wrenching story, it is explained:
in 1993. Henk Dykma had asymptomatic HIV infection. Fearing future afflictions that might befall him, Henk asked his doctor to kill him. The film shows the doctor telling Henk that he might live for years at his current state of seemingly healthful living. When Henk still proclaims a desire to die, the doctor speaks with a colleague but never consults a psychiatrist or psychologist. He then helps kill Henk on July 28, a date, we are told, which had symbolic importance for the patient.
This killing, like those of the anorexic young woman and the bereaved mother, was clearly not a matter of last resort, as the guidelines claim to require. Henk and his doctor did not explore all other options available to him before ending his life. Indeed, psychiatric treatment, which might have alleviated Henk's obvious anxiety about being HIV-positive, was never even discussed or attempted. Nor was Henk advised of the steps that could be taken to alleviate his suffering should he fall ill. The doctor didn't even wait until Henk had actual symptoms of AIDS. There is a word for that level of care --abandonment --and it demonstrates the utter hollowness of the Dutch protective guidelines.
If laws are passed to legalise euthanasia, first it starts with a concentual assisted suicide
then as physicians become more and more comfortable with relieving suffering, and the general
populace starts to see it as the norm, it might be taken further and used as a way of opening
hospital beds, effectively devaluing human life. The doctors may just even over step their
boundries and pressure their patients into accepting euthanasia as a means to speed up the process
or even start administering assisted suicide without consent.
The journal of medical ethics has documented this slippery slope in the Netherlands where euthanasia
is legal.The study concludes that the practice of voluntary euthanasia remains beyond effective control.
20% of 4500 cases of reported euthanasia occurred in the absense of the patient's request. Even though
this is one of the conditions of legal acceptance in the Netherlands.
17% of assisted suicide doctors said that alternative pallative treatment options existed, but, euthanasia
was carried out reguardless, contrary to the legal guidelines.
Legal controls in the Netherlands that were supposed to be implemented have been excessively ignored. This
creates a sense of mis trust in the system among people that would have considered assisted death.
Legalization has done little to actually protect people from involuntary euthanasia, so we see no reason for it.
Ian Robinson, Calgary sun
Columnist had this to say, "Compassionate homicide. That's as sensible a concept as
"loving rape"
REBUTTAL:
-Our opponents have mentioned that the original "greek meaning"of euthanasia means easy death
but,We ask: is the greek word for someone whose death was hastened by a doctor eg:
with lethal injection. In greek or english that word is pronounced "murder"
- The only demographic that supports assisted murder is the emo or scenester population. If euthanasia was made legal with out a doubt our music scene and artistic aspect of North American living would be changed. It has long been known that depression and art go hand in hand, if it is made so simple to escape one’s troubles, what would they have to write about?
- (people have the right to die) - people have the right to die even if they do not ask to do so.
-