Annotated Bibliography Essay

Submitted By Shannon-Sharrel
Words: 1152
Pages: 5

Annotated bibliography

"Euthanasia, Assisted Suicide, and Patient Rights." Louisiana Right to Life Federation. Louisiana Right to Life Foundation, 2008. Web. 06 Feb. 2015.
Louisiana Right to Life Federation (LARTL), established in 1970, is an opposer to abortion, euthanasia, and "other life destroying actions." this organization advocates for the right to life and promotes pro-life legislation throughout Louisiana. In this article, it describes what euthnasia is, arguments for and against the issue, and questions that arise when talking about euthanasia. Euthnasia is defined as "the direct killing of a person, usually by injecting a lethal substance." Euthnasia is only legal within a few states in the US including: Oregon, Washington, Montana; and throughout the world euthnasia is legal in the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg. Euthnasia is prohibited in Louisiana and the Lousiana's Natural Death Act solidified this ban of euthanasia by stating "Nothing in this Part shall be construed to condone, authorize, or approve mercy killing or euthanasia or to permit any affirmative or deliberate act or omission to end life other than to permit the natural process of dying."
Arguments for euthnasia state that: It provides a way to relieve extreme pain, provides a way of relief when a person's quality of life is low, fees up medical funds to help other people, and is just a simply case of freedom of choice. Arguments against euthnasia state that: Euthanasia devalues human life, it can become a means of health care cost containment, physicians and other medical care people should not be involved in directly causing death, and that here is a "slippery slope" effect that has occurred where euthanasia has been first been legalized for only the terminally ill and later laws are changed to allow it for other people or to be done non-voluntarily. But the question that still stands is "Should someone have the right to end one’s own life?"

Johnston, Kathleen. "Staff at New Orleans Hospital Debated Euthanizing Patients." CNN. Cable News Network, Oct. 2005. Web. 08 Feb. 2015.
Kathleen Johnston is a senior investigative produces for CNN (Cable New Network) and was one of the reporters assinner to cover hurricane Katrina in 2005. Three days after Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, staff members at the city's Memorial Medical Center had repeated discussions about euthanizing patients they thought might not survive the aftermath of the storm. The Louisiana attorney general's office investigated allegations that mercy killings occurred and requested that autopsies be performed on all 45 bodies taken from the hospital after the storm. In the coming days of the storm the hospital began to run out of resources to support patients and staff member alike. Reporters talked to some of the hospital staff members who went in to say, "We weren't really functioning as a hospital but as a shelter. We had no electricity. There was no water. It was hot. People are dying. We thought it was as bad as it could get. Why weren't we being evacuated? That was our biggest thing. We should be gone right now." Fran Butler, a nurse manager told reporters that a doctor (who was not named) approached her at one point and discussed the subject of putting patients to sleep. After Ms. Butler stated that she did not see anyone perform a mercy killing, and she said because of her personal beliefs, she would never have participated. Dr. Bryant King, who was working at Memorial during the storm, as aid another doctor came to him and recounted a conversation with a hospital administrator and a third doctor who suggested patients be put out of their misery. King said that the second physician, who opposed mercy killing, told him that "this other [third] doctor said she'd be willing to do it." About three hours later, King said, the second-floor triage area where he was working was cleared of everyone except patients, a second hospital administrator and two doctors, including