Arguments Against Assisted Suicide

Death is a natural process that will be experienced by everyone at some point, desirably at the end of a long, well lived life. The reality is that no one knows when that time will come or how it will happen. Unfortunately, for the terminally ill, death is in the near future and it is a sobering reality. Therefore, when that time comes, people need to know that they will have options, and the assurance that death does not have to be an agonizing end. They can choose to endure the annihilating pain that comes with the disease and allow it to take its natural course or choose to put an end to it, surrounded by those who love them.

Anna Acton writes the reading “The Progressive Case Against Assisted Suicide”. In this argument she states she is against assisted suicide. Acton says that money and power play a huge impacting role when it comes to the topic of assisted suicide. Some health care companies are rejecting treatments in order to raise their bottom line. This is outrageous to know that people companies put their financial stability before the well being of those who are disabled, poor, and sick.

Lauren Kenney Ms. Braswell English 12 9 April 2018 TITLE The hippocratic oath is one of the oldest binding documents in history and is still held sacred by physicians. The document requires physicians “to treat the ill to the best of one's ability, to preserve a patient's privacy, to teach the secrets of medicine to the next generation, and so on”(medicalnet.com). Clearly, the intention of a physician is to keep the patient alive no matter what, although there are some instances where this is not the case.

Once an individual reaches late adulthood, many physical, cognitive, and health changes occur. There is an increased vulnerability to disease and illness. This is something any person must be aware of when entering late adulthood. You are reaching the end of your life and you have to accept the possibility of developing health problems or illnesses that may be incurable. One of the most controversial issues in society today is the topic of physician-assisted suicide.

I am concerned about physician assisted suicide. I do not believe that suicide is the answer, no matter the situation. I am against assisted suicide because I believe it is unethical to be allowed to choose to die. I think that assisted suicide should not be allowed. I also do not understand how a doctor or nurse could help a patient commit suicide.

Physician Assisted suicide is the act of a doctor helping the patient die because the patient is suffering from an incurable disease and are terminally ill. Unless you are terminally ill this is something you might never understand. Until I started researching more about assisted suicide I never understood really what it was. If a patient is terminally ill I believe that they should have the right to decide whether to end their life or continue. If the patient decides ending their life will help them, it should be the job of the doctor to provide and help the patient die safely and free of as much pain as possible.

Physician-assisted death is the practice in which a physician provides a mentally competent patient with the means to take his/her own life, usually in the form of prescribing death-dealing medications. It first became legal in the United States in Oregon in 1998. It is now legal in four other states: Washington, California, Montana, and Vermont. In order for one to exercise their right to die this way, the law states that the patient must be at least 18 years old, be mentally competent, be diagnosed with a terminal illness that will lead to death within six months, and must wait at least fifteen days before filling the death-dealing prescriptions. This controversial practice has raised the question of whether or not it is ethical for a physician

Physician assisted suicide, although legal in some states, should remain illegal because it goes against religious and moral beliefs. “In physician assisted suicide, the physician provides the necessary means or information and the patient performs the act” (Endlink). Supporters of assisted-suicide laws believe that mentally competent people who are in misery and have no chance of long-term survival, should have the right to die if and when they choose. I agree that people should have the right to refuse life-saving treatments, written in the patient bill of rights.

Should you let anyone or any animal go through pain only to die in the end anyway? This question is hard for many people to answer or even think about. Choosing to end another person's life can be justifiable if you are taking someone out of painful existence. Killing another is justifiable act in certain situations such as Capital Punishment and Euthanasia, also in the case of George and Lennie.

Current Issues Surrounding Death A hot topic in today’s media and in discussion is the idea of physician assisted suicide and end of life care. There are several legal, ethical, social, and political issues surrounding this idea, which makes it a controversial topic. This paper will discuss some of these issues and explore the idea of physician assisted suicide and end of life care in more detail. Physician assisted suicide is defined as, “suicide by a patient facilitated by means or information (as a drug prescription or indication of the lethal dosage) provided by a physician who is aware of how the patient intends to use such means or information (Merriam-Webster, 2015).

It is believed that once practicing physician-assisted suicides becomes an acceptable concept in society, the next steps will easily be taken toward unethical actions such as involuntary euthanasia. Edmund D. Pellegrino, MD, Professor Emeritus of Medicine and Medical Ethics at Georgetown University claims that our healthcare system is too obsessed with costs and principles of utility. He defies the belief that the slippery slope effect is no more than a prediction, by reminding the outlooks and inclinations of our society. Furthermore, he believes there comes a day that incompetent patients and those in coma won’t be asked for their permission to use euthanasia. The Netherlands is another example of such misuse.

What is Physician assistant suicide? Physician assistant suicide occurs when a physician facilitates a patient's death by giving the information to enable a patient to overdose. Giving the patient information about the lethal dose knowing the patient might commit suicide. Physician assistant suicide is one of the most ethical issues discussed in the medical field. If a Physician gave a lethal drug it would be euthanasia.

Many people think that there are too many problems with physician assisted suicide. Physician assisted suicide is a procedure that allows physicians to prescribe their patients a lethal medication that they can inject themselves with in order to die on their own terms. There are specific requirements that the patients must meet in order to receive this medication. Physician assisted suicide is only for patients that have life threatening illnesses and do not have much time left to live. It is legal in numerous places around the world including certain places in the United States.

A negative of assisted suicide is that not only can it affect the patient, but it can affect the people around them who do not support their plan. A family member of the patient can become depressed if their family member chooses to end their life. It can ruin relationships between the patient and the family. It can make the patient’s journey difficult if the family refuses, and it can corrupt the practice of medicine by using medicine in a harmful way to people (Anderson). Assisted Suicide can attract vulnerable patients, bullied by rogue doctors, grasping relatives, miserly insurers, or cash- strapped state (“The Right to Die”).

Argument Writing-PAS By:Avina Elangovan Life expectancy for humans all around the world is increasing. This is attributed to healthy lifestyle and advancement in medical care. We now have technology to prolong life for several years even if the person remains in a vegetative state. This in several circumstances has caused unnecessary suffering before the end of people 's lives.