BCJ 3601
Unit 4 Criminal Law Case Study
Columbia Southern University
BCJ 3601
What is
Euthanasia?
Euthanasia is defined as “Bringing about the death of a person who is terminally ill
and, usually, suffering. Sometimes called mercy killing” (NOLO, 2021). Euthanasia is the
Greek term for good death so we can only assume that euthanasia is sometimes a good thing
depending on the situation. When we talk about euthanasia the first thing that comes to mind
is usually with animals commonly cats and dogs. It is often used when an animal is suffering
and must be “put down” or “put to sleep”. A lesser-known use of euthanasia is when it is
used on humans that are suffering from a terminal illness and want to have a good death. In
most of the United States human euthanasia is not legal and a lot of times these people must
resort to a more violent form of euthanasia by either shooting their selves or also by hanging
and many other forms. These forms of euthanasia more commonly known as suicide are
called active methods of euthanasia. Another form of euthanasia is the passive method. This
method is performed by doctors discontinuing treatment of the patient or even prescribing the
patient a drug to help them slip away into death like you would see happen to an animal but
often these methods can take many hours for the patient to die and lastly taking the patient
off a ventilator. Human euthanasia has been a heated topic between doctors and government
and there are also some lobbyist groups
that advocate for this method of death. The doctors that advocate for this type of death do
want it to be done safely and in a painless method and not traumatic to the family that is
present while the doctor performs the procedure. The other doctors that do not believe in this
method argue it
Unit 4 Criminal Law Case Study
Columbia Southern University
BCJ 3601
What is
Euthanasia?
Euthanasia is defined as “Bringing about the death of a person who is terminally ill
and, usually, suffering. Sometimes called mercy killing” (NOLO, 2021). Euthanasia is the
Greek term for good death so we can only assume that euthanasia is sometimes a good thing
depending on the situation. When we talk about euthanasia the first thing that comes to mind
is usually with animals commonly cats and dogs. It is often used when an animal is suffering
and must be “put down” or “put to sleep”. A lesser-known use of euthanasia is when it is
used on humans that are suffering from a terminal illness and want to have a good death. In
most of the United States human euthanasia is not legal and a lot of times these people must
resort to a more violent form of euthanasia by either shooting their selves or also by hanging
and many other forms. These forms of euthanasia more commonly known as suicide are
called active methods of euthanasia. Another form of euthanasia is the passive method. This
method is performed by doctors discontinuing treatment of the patient or even prescribing the
patient a drug to help them slip away into death like you would see happen to an animal but
often these methods can take many hours for the patient to die and lastly taking the patient
off a ventilator. Human euthanasia has been a heated topic between doctors and government
and there are also some lobbyist groups
that advocate for this method of death. The doctors that advocate for this type of death do
want it to be done safely and in a painless method and not traumatic to the family that is
present while the doctor performs the procedure. The other doctors that do not believe in this
method argue it
