在线英语听力室

VOA慢速英语2014 Should You Have the Right-to-Die?

时间:2014-11-19 22:30:30

搜索关注在线英语听力室公众号:tingroom,领取免费英语资料大礼包。

(单词翻译)

 

Should You Have the Right-to-Die?

The topics of euthanasia and assisted suicide are getting a lot of media attention recently. Euthanasia means killing1 someone who is very sick to prevent more suffering. Assisted suicide is less direct. It is when one person helps another person kill him or herself.

The topics have been in the news following the death of a young, terminally ill woman in Oregon. Doctors told Brittany Maynard she had cancer in her brain and would live only several more months. But Ms. Maynard did not die from cancer. She died from drugs her doctor gave her so she could end her life.

Ms. Maynard had publicly spoken about her plan to kill herself. In a piece on the CNN website, she wrote that she wanted to die before the cancer and treatment for it “destroyed the time she had left.” She was dying, she argued, and she wanted to do so on her terms.

Ms. Maynard said she would not make the choice of what she called “death with dignity” for anyone else. So, she argued, why would others have the right to say she did not deserve that choice?

Ms. Maynard took action on November 1.  She was 29 years old.

In the 10 months between her diagnosis2 and death, Ms. Maynard campaigned for laws to permit physician assisted suicide across America. Oregon is one of only four U.S states to permit doctor, or physician, assisted suicide.

However, last week the New Jersey3 State Assembly passed legislation to permit physician assisted suicide. If the Senate passes the legislation, and Governor Chris Christie signs it, New Jersey will become the fifth U.S. state to permit the practice.

The others are Montana, Vermont and Washington. The remaining 46 U.S. states consider the activity illegal.

A few countries around the world permit assisted suicide, including Belgium, the Netherlands and Switzerland. Many other governments with laws against the practice refuse to prosecute4 cases.

American attitudes

In 2013, the Pew Research Center reported on American attitudes toward euthanasia and assisted suicide.  The center found that the majority -- more than 60 percent -- of Americans believe people suffering from severe pain with no hope for improvement have a moral right to end their lives.

However, Pew researchers found that the issue of physician assisted suicide is more sharply divided. Pew said 49 percent of Americans oppose laws that permit doctors to provide drugs for patients to end their lives.

Debate about the right to die

The debate in the U.S. about the right to die is not new. In the 1990s a doctor in Oregon made physician assisted suicide a hotly debated subject.

Jack5 Kevorkian invented a suicide machine to help deathly sick patients end their lives. Dr. Kevorkian helped more than 100 patients kill themselves. He was found guilty of murder in connection with one of them and sentenced to eight years in prison.

Should doctors help patients kill themselves?

Physician assisted suicide is even noted6 in the ancient Hippocratic Oath. The oath is a promise doctors traditionally take when they enter the field of medicine.

The original oath bans a doctor from administering poison in all cases. It also says a doctor will not advise someone to take such action.

The American Medical Association strongly opposes physician assisted suicide. It says the activity conflicts with a doctor’s position as healer. 

The AMA says medical professionals should instead aggressively seek improvement in end of life care. It says doctors should work with those in other fields like counseling and hospice to make sure patients receive the physical and emotional treatments that can ease suffering.

Advocacy for and against the right to die

Compassion7 and Choices is a national non-profit group in America. It educates and advocates for end-of-life issues. It seeks rights for Americans to control their dying process.

Brittany Maynard made two videos for the group to use on its website. Barbara Coombs Lee is the Compassion and Choices president. She said the group would work “to carry on [Brittany Maynard’s] legacy8 of bringing end-of-life choice to all Americans.”

But many groups oppose laws to permit assisted suicide and euthanasia. Some, like the non-profit Not Dead Yet, are concerned that such laws could be used in a discriminatory way against the sick and disabled. The group notes examples like Terri Schiavo.

Terri Schiavo suffered severe brain damage following cardiac arrest in 1990.  She entered what doctors call a “permanent vegetative state.” In other words, a person seems to be awake but is not conscious.

Ms. Schiavo’s husband and her parents fought about whether she should be kept alive by a feeding tube. The public and press argued over the issue as well. The case was so hotly debated that even then-President--- George W. Bush got involved. He signed a law aimed at keeping Ms. Schiavo alive.

In 2005, Michael Schiavo won the right to speak for his wife. Her feeding tube was removed. Terri Schiavo died 13 days later.

The case of Terri Schiavo continues to influence opinion on end-of-life issues. The case of Brittany Maynard likely will as well.

Words in This Story

terminal – adj. causing death eventually : leading finally to death

dignity – n. a way of appearing or behaving that suggests seriousness and self-control

diagnose – v. to recognize (a disease, illness, etc.) by examining someone

prosecute – v. to hold a trial against a person who is accused of a crime to see if that person is guilty

attitude – n. the way you think and feel about someone or something


分享到:


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 killing kpBziQ     
n.巨额利润;突然赚大钱,发大财
参考例句:
  • Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
  • Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。
2 diagnosis GvPxC     
n.诊断,诊断结果,调查分析,判断
参考例句:
  • His symptoms gave no obvious pointer to a possible diagnosis.他的症状无法作出明确的诊断。
  • The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做一次彻底的调查分析。
3 jersey Lp5zzo     
n.运动衫
参考例句:
  • He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
  • They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致,都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。
4 prosecute d0Mzn     
vt.告发;进行;vi.告发,起诉,作检察官
参考例句:
  • I am trying my best to prosecute my duties.我正在尽力履行我的职责。
  • Is there enough evidence to prosecute?有没有起诉的足够证据?
5 jack 53Hxp     
n.插座,千斤顶,男人;v.抬起,提醒,扛举;n.(Jake)杰克
参考例句:
  • I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
  • He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。
6 noted 5n4zXc     
adj.著名的,知名的
参考例句:
  • The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
  • Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。
7 compassion 3q2zZ     
n.同情,怜悯
参考例句:
  • He could not help having compassion for the poor creature.他情不自禁地怜悯起那个可怜的人来。
  • Her heart was filled with compassion for the motherless children.她对于没有母亲的孩子们充满了怜悯心。
8 legacy 59YzD     
n.遗产,遗赠;先人(或过去)留下的东西
参考例句:
  • They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
  • He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。

本文本内容来源于互联网抓取和网友提交,仅供参考,部分栏目没有内容,如果您有更合适的内容,欢迎 点击提交 分享给大家。