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Mya Harkness

Research Paper

2A British Literature

01 March 2018

Annotated Bibliography

Ahsan, Ali. “Euthanasia Kills Sanctity of Life | Opinion.” The Harvard Crimson, 17 Dec. 1996,

www.thecrimson.com/article/1996/12/17/euthanasia-kills-sanctity-of-life-pbtbhree/.

Euthanasia violates the basic sanctity of human life. Most people that support euthanasia

will argue that ending someone’s suffering at their request actually instead of living a life

of pain respects the sanctity of life. However, some may say that quality is better than

sanctity. Who's to say that one deserves to use euthanasia rather than another? In

Northern Territories the law requires for a psychiatrist and three doctors to examine the

patient to tell whether or not the patient is terminally ill. In some scenarios patients who

are not only terminally ill, but they’ve made a rational decision that they want to end their

lives. So then, who is to determine who actually qualifies for the procedure?

This article questions Euthanasia’s regulations and guidelines. This helps me with my

research because it shows that there is really no way to justify the ending of of life

without other obstacles coming into play.

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Byock, Ira. "Think Twice about 'Death with Dignity'." Los Angeles Times, 01 Feb, 2015, pp.

A.19, SIRS Issues Researcher,https://sks.sirs.com.

“We should bring the same skepticism to physician-assisted suicide that we do to

fracking and genetically modified food.” Suicide is unpleasant so instead they use things

phrases like "physician aid-in-dying” and "death with dignity". They find any way to

mislead you from the fact that their taking someone's life. “The phrase "right to die" is

brilliant branding. You will not, however, find any such right within the U.N.'s Universal

Declaration of Human Rights or U.S. Constitution. Americans have a constitutional right

to refuse life-prolonging treatments. But there's a big difference between being allowed to

die of your disease and having a doctor intentionally end your life.”

This article demonstrates how assisted suicide is wrong. If it wasn’t wrong then why try

to change the name of it. At the end of the day taking a life no matter how you do it is

wrong.

Cheng, Maria. "Doctors Clash Over Euthanasia for Mentally Ill." Jackson Sun, 26 Oct, 2017, pp.

n/a, SIRS Issues Researcher,https://sks.sirs.com.

A 59 year old woman by the name of Cornelia Geerts was so desperate to end her life that

she asked for her psychiatrist to kill her. Geert’s sister, Adriana Geerts, felt that her

sister’s judgement was compromised. Cornelia was taking at least 20 pills a day,

Including antidepressants, an opioid, a tranquilizer, and two medicines often used to treat
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bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. On October 7, 2014 cornelia was given a lethal dose

of drugs from her doctor. Adriana Geert’s stated “ I know it was Cornelia’s wishes, but I

said to the psychiatrists that it was a shame that someone in treatment for years could just

be brought to the other side with a simple Injection”.

This article helps Uncover how hard it is to guide the boundaries between someone's

freedom and the protection vulnerable patients. Society should take in and treat the

mentally ill instead of putting them to death. This just shows how doctors disregard legal

requirements in some of these cases.

Gross, Kevin. "Belgian Twins Legally Euthanized." University Wire, 09 Dec, 2015, pp. n/a. SIRS

Issues Researcher,https://sks.sirs.com.

"Late last year [2014] identical Belgian twins Marc and Eddy Verbessem, 45, who were

born deaf and with spinal problems, were diagnosed with incoming blindness. Upon this

diagnosis, they decided that their lives were not worth living anymore, and they were

legally euthanized Dec. 14. This case subsequently caused an uproar in the world of

medical ethics. Physician assisted suicide, already a touchy subject, is usually reserved in

rare cases for the terminally ill, but the Verbessem twins were not diagnosed with a

terminal disease.” If it’s okay for people to just end their live so easily then it will

become more acceptable. This includes the disabled, elderly and other marginalized

demographics.
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This article discusses the ethics surrounding assisted suicide when a patient is not

terminally ill. Suicide has always been look down upon so since when has it been okay

for someone to just end their life?

Kheriaty, Aaron. "Assisted-Suicide Laws' Contagious Effect." Washington Post, 22 Nov, 2015,

pp. A.27, SIRS Issues Researcher,https://sks.sirs.com.

"The debate over doctor-assisted suicide is often framed as an issue of personal autonomy

and privacy. Proponents argue that assisted suicide should be legalized because it affects

only those individuals who - assuming they are of sound mind - are making a rational and

deliberate choice to end their lives. But presenting the issue in this way ignores the wider

social consequences”.(washington post) Cases of suicide that are published may produce

a wide range of copycats, commonly young people. Different organizations have

published strict journalistic guidelines for reporting on suicides to minimize its effect.

It’s discouraging to say that these guidelines were ignored and many patients decided to

end their life and it was frequently presented in the media as inspiring. Evidence shows

that suicidal behavior can spread person to person through social networks. The decision

to take one's life wouldn’t only affect my friends and family, but it would affect their

friends and their friends friends.

This article is a good reference because it shows how assisted suicide and euthanasia will

have a negative effect on society. The author argues that assisted suicide will increase

overall suicide rates by the social contagion effects of suicidal behavior.

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Lane, Charles. "Euthanasia for the Vulnerable." Washington Post, 25 Jan, 2018, pp. A.17, SIRS

Issues Researcher, https://sks.sirs.com.

“The euthanasia of mentally ill or cognitively impaired patients is inherently

controversial. Given the risk of fatal error, how many botched cases would it take to

discredit the practice completely?”(washington post) In 2016, a 74 year old woman with

dementia, in the Netherlands was involuntarily given euthanasia. The patient had

requested euthanasia prior to this, but the directive was worded poorly. She couldn’t

make her wishes clear by the time she was placed in a home, yet her husband still

requested euthanasia for her. Regardless of the lack of a clarification from the patient, a

physician still decided her suffering was unbearable even though there was no terminal

physical illness.

This article show how physicians knowingly disregard the law. This leaves innocent

people dead , but not at their will. The author reviews the ethics involved with euthanasia

of mentally ill patient.

Lane, Charles. "Euthanasia's Slippery Slope." Washington Post, 20 Aug, 2015, pp. A.15, SIRS

Issues Researcher, https://sks.sirs.com.

Between October 2007 and December 2011, One Hundred people went to a clinic in

belgium with Depression, Schizophrenia, etc. The doctors concluded 48 of the patients

were “Untreatable” and they were offered Euthanasia and 35 went through with it.
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Euthanasia was becoming normalized in many places like Belgium and the Netherlands.

Though this is becoming common, there has not been any guidelines for someones

“Unbearable Suffering” and it has not been sufficiently defined. In Belgium one of every

twenty two deaths was because of Euthanasia in 2013. Belgium has also legalized the use

of Euthanasia for children under 12, but no child has been put to death by Euthanasia.

Even though Europe is becoming more accepting to Euthanasia physicians should still

follow their doctoral code.

This article informs readers of the increase of euthanasia and how it is becoming more

and more common everyday. Reading this article shows you that the use of this lethal

injection is becoming normalized in society.

O'Morain, Padraig. "Is it Time we Talked about Euthanasia?" Irish Times, 26 Sep, 2017, pp. 3.

SIRS Issues Researcher,https://sks.sirs.com.

“Nic and Trees Elderhorst were 91 years of age when they died by euthanasia in Holland

recently. He had suffered a stroke and she had been told she had dementia.” “I should add

that this wasn't just a matter of deciding they wanted to die together and getting on with

it. Each had to meet the criteria for euthanasia which include being able to give full

consideration to what they were planning to do, and that their suffering was permanent

and intolerable.” “Then there is the matter of whether conditions such as dementia should

qualify people for euthanasia, even if consent was given while they were still of sound

mind. What if it's the family and not the person with dementia who is suffering?”
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This article shows how euthanasia may never be legal in ireland. It’s hard to tell whether

or not the patient is the one who's really consenting.

Pacholczyk , Tadeusz. “Please Step Back From the Assisted-Suicide Ledge” Washington Post.”

SIRS Issues Researcher, 8 Oct. 2012, sks.sirs.com/webapp/article?artno.

Why should only physicians be allowed to erode the trust of the public in their profession

through the use of euthanasia. “The assisted-suicide paradigm readily admits of other

creative approaches as well -- we could sanction, for example, assisted drownings, with

lifeguards asked to help those wishing to die by providing millstones to take them to the

bottom of lakes and oceans. If a lifeguard helped people drown, though, would you want

him watching your family at the beach?” Suicide is wrong no matter how it is played out.

People may decide to end their lives every other day, but society has always recognized

the decision as a misfortune and affliction.

This article makes you look at suicide as a whole, and it shows how its wrong no matter

the method. Suicide is a serious issue that has been looked down upon for a while. Even

for it to be voluntary it still violates the trust of society.

Pereira, J. “Legalizing Euthanasia or Assisted Suicide: the Illusion of Safeguards and Controls.”

Current Oncology, Multimed Inc., 18 Apr. 2011,

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www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3070710/.

All Jurisdictions, Safeguards, and Procedures were put forth to prevent the misuse of

Euthanasia, But it is impossible to establish guidelines that will be strict enough to limit

the use of this lethal injection. For example In oregon, a woman received a letter from

her own insurance company stating that they wouldn’t be paying for her chemotherapy

but offered assisted suicide. In all jurisdictions Euthanasia must be voluntary despite

more than 500 people in the Netherlands are injected involuntarily. The rate of

Involuntary and Non-Voluntary Injections are three times higher that the Netherlands. In

addition to this Mandatory reporting is also ignored by many health profession.

This article is a good reference because it shows how hard it is for euthanasia to be

controlled. The simple guidelines and procedures that have been set forth can’t even be

followed which puts others at risk.

Polley, Helen. "Rage Against the Dying of what's Right." Australian (Canberra), 29 Dec, 2017,

pp. 10, SIRS Issues Researcher, https://sks.sirs.com.

“Voluntary assisted euthanasia is open to abuse; we should improve end-of-life care.”

Society portrays older people as a burden. “Voluntary euthanasia cannot promote the

dignity or humanity of vulnerable older Australians in an environment in which our

elderly feel undervalued, ignored and forgotten.” Instead, it will lead to underestimation

of life. “I am particularly concerned that euthanasia may increase the risk of elder

financial abuse and subsequently put pressure on older people to opt for voluntary
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euthanasia. Elder abuse is more prevalent than we care to think. How are we to know if

someone is being persuaded to view themselves as a burden and encouraged to adopt

euthanasia by their family or carer?”

This article shows how the elderly may be persuaded to end their life when they really

don’t want to. Their judgement is compromised because they might feel as if they are a

burden or their family could force them into ending their lives for financial reasons.

Schadenberg, Alex. "A Dangerous Euthanasia Ruling." National Post, 07 Feb, 2015, pp.

A.13, SIRS Issues Researcher,https://sks.sirs.com.

Canada’s Supreme Court has made the decision to give physicians the right in law to

cause the death of people by euthanasia and assisted suicide. This decision will lead to

the abuse of euthanasia which now common in the Netherlands, Belgium and

Switzerland. Euthanasia does not have any limits or clear parameters. “One would

assume "competent adult person" is clear enough, but what if that person is depressed?”

In addition the decision states that the person must clearly consent that they want

euthanasia, but what if a person is unable to consent then someone will make this

decision for them.

This article shows how different states have legalized euthanasia, but the decision isn’t

well thought out. Euthanasia doesn’t have set guidelines and parameters. This will only
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lead to unnecessary and involuntary deaths.