English Journal Entry # 2

Today we have begun the I-Search Experience, and frankly I’m not so excited about it. I’ve been talking to people and they say it is a long, boring, and miserable experience. My topic is Euthanasia and today I will start preparing for part 1.

Part 1: What I know
Euthanasia is a very controversial topic, people say no and people say yes. Euthanasia is known also as “mercy killing”. When someone has a chronic illness like cancer and is already dying, he or she might request the doctor to inject them with a substance that can kill them, this is Euthanasia. This choice to die is totally the patient’s decision. Some people view Euthanasia as murder for taking some one’s life away, and others view it as helping patients in pain. I know that Euthanasia is an illegal practice in many countries such as the USA, but it is also a legal practice in other countries such as the Netherlands. The way in which I look at Euthanasia is that it’s like murder in some ways, and like suicide in others. The doctors who practice Euthanasia can be looked at as murderers, but the patients who choose to die can be looked at as suicidal. In modern technology, they are a lot of inventions which can make the dying process longer, but some people think as long as I’m going to die, Why don’t I die and save myself the pain? Others think, you will die when you die, doctors can’t act as God, God will choose for you to die. Does the patient have a right to choose his mortality? I don’t know. Life is a miracle and you have to live it, but what if you’re in so much pain?

Samar Al Ansari
Grade 8A
20/4/2002