Living Wills and Euthanasia
Penny Hockensmith
Social Ethics PHI 320
Professor Haussmann
May 30th, 2012

A) It is good to be in control of my medical.
B. An informed living will prescribes my medical decisions when I am unconscious.
C. A living will is good.
Should living wills over ride doctors and caretakers?
THE STORY Imagine someone you love or better yet, imagine yourself lying in a hospital bed oblivious to the world around you, unable to move or show any signs of life, your own existence controlled by an I.V., a respiratory machine, and a feeding tube. In essence you are dead. Your body is no longer able to sustain life, its entire purpose is now replaced by a machine - you are being kept alive by artificial means. At this point the question arises - should you be kept alive by these means or should you be allowed to die a natural death? Unfortunately you are unable to answer this question because your voice is limited to a "beep" on a heart monitor machine. Who then is going to decide if you live artificially or die naturally? Who gets to play God? Well, if your family doesn't have your written consent in the form of a living will, to cease life support, then the doctor will make the ultimate decision for both you and your family.
Most often this is the case. Even though writing a living will is just as easy if not easier than writing a death will, many people don't take the time to do so. Therefore, doctors have to debate the question of euthanasia – a question that each one of us should ponder long before we are put in this situation.
Euthanasia is defined by The American Heritage Dictionary as "the action of Killing an individual for reasons considered to be merciful" (469). The word "euthanasia" comes from the Greek eu, "good", and Thanatos, "death," literally, "good death"; however, the word "euthanasia" is much more difficult to define.