Ethics Research Paper on Euthanasia Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Ethics on Euthanasia - Research Paper Example ciety that undervalues life sees no guilt in committing acts of violence, particularly murder, thereby making life value dangerously demoralized and humanity altogether  ­weakened (Doerflinger, 1989, p. 16-19, Koop, 1989, p. 2-3). The â€Å"slippery slope† or the â€Å"wedge theory† is an assumption that makes the distinction between voluntary euthanasia and involuntary euthanasia hardly recognizable, thereby supposing that agonizing individuals request their deaths because they feel they are a burden to themselves; and society requests to terminate an individual’s life because of being a burden to the people around them and to society, as a whole. Kamizar, a professor of law at the University of Michigan and a non-supporter of the â€Å"wedge theory† argues that "Once society accepts that life can be terminated because of its diminished quality, there is no rational way to limit euthanasia and prevent its abuse.† (Wolhandler, 1984, p. 377). If euthanasia is legalized, the probability for exploitation and mistreatment of individuals by the more supreme individuals will enormously amplify (Le Baron, 2010). In direct conjunction with this dispute is the argument that individuals having control over the more vulnerable individuals might develop addiction to euthanasia (Le Baron, 2010, Doerflinger, 1989, p. 19). A strong proof of advocacy on euthanasia was done by the Nazis in 1939, when Hitler ordered mass â€Å"mercy killing† of the sick and the disabled or those individuals with unworthy lives. Disabled children were killed by means of lethal injection or gradual starvation, while sick/disabled adults, particularly those with epilepsy, schizophrenia, senility, paralysis and syphilis were murdered in gas chambers. Six killing centers were established in Germany. It was approximated that more than one hundred thousand people perished in the Nazi euthanasia program (â€Å"Holocaust Timeline: Nazi Euthanasia,† 1997). The Netherlands, being the first nation to