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. With the help of a doctor, the terminally ill patient can die in peace and hopefully free of pain. Today, assisted suicide has …show more content…
Two court cases, Vacco v. Quill and Washington v. Gluksburg, brought about many controversies to the U.S. Supreme Court about Assisted Suicide. Directly from U.S Legal it says, “… The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that physician-assisted suicide is not a protected liberty interest under the Constitution. However… left the door open for states to permit physician-assisted suicide” (U.S Legal 2004). Although the U.S. Supreme Court believes assisted suicide to be a felony by the national government there isn’t a total ban in every state. The Supreme Court left this decision to be decided among each state individually whether to ban physician-assisted suicide or not. In both of these cases the Supreme Court gave sympathy to the terminally ill patients and claimed that the patient does have the right to refuse medical treatment. With the improving technology and medicine many states have started to take another look behind their stances on assisted suicide. So, because of the rising and improvements in medicine and technology, many states have started to investigate to see if physician-assisted suicide is appropriate under certain circumstances. All doctors have access to so many different kinds of …show more content…
Assisted suicide can be explained through using the Utilitarianism Theory that supports physician-assisted suicide. Utilitarianism is by definition the actions that are right if they are useful, benefit the majority of people or promote someone’s happiness (Youngman 2013). Assisted suicide is the want of a patient to be relieved of suffering, thus comparing that to their happiness. The Utilitarianism theory holds true for assisted suicide. The patient wants to feel relief from their suffering thus making them happy. On the other hand, Catholic morals and values can reject assisted suicide. Many Catholics believe that God created you thus only God can take you away from your life. This would hold true even if a patient is suffering and wants to die. Catholics believe that no physician could help kill a patient; only God can take the patient from the Earth. Although some people do belief this, I believe that all humans can make their own choices and if someone’s choice is to die through assisted suicide because they feel that they aren’t getting any better than it should be that patient’s doctor to help get them there. Our life is all about making choices and when a terminally ill patient decides it is their time to go then their doctor can help provide drugs to help reduce the suffering and kill
Physician-Assisted Suicide: A Right to Murder? Doctors spend over eight years attending college, studying and practicing how humans work and how to save them. So why should it be right for physicians to help out their patients in killing themselves? If a person chooses to end their life, they completely loose the possibility of a medical miracle of being able to live through whatever condition they have.
Assisted Suicide: A Controversial Topic Assisted suicide, also known as physician-assisted death (PAD), has been a topic of controversy for decades. While some argue that PAD should be legalized to grant terminally ill patients the right to die with dignity, others believe it goes against the sanctity of life. This essay will explore the arguments for and against assisted suicide and offer recommendations on how to approach the issue. PAD is Important
In the last decade, a controversial topic in the medical field in America is about Physician-assisted suicide. Many citizens are questioning where the line stands in whether or not this goes against medical ethos, and if it is a right for terminally ill patients. While there are benefits and deficits to either side, I believe everyone should have the right to choose to participate in assisted suicide when battling a terminal illness. While a handful of states in America that include, Oregon, Washington, California, Colorado, Vermont, and with court decision, Montana have already passed the Death with Dignity Act, it is still not easily accessed and there are a lot of parameters regarding the Act ("Death with Dignity"). In Oregon you have to meet certain criteria.
Physician-assisted suicide is a great way for someone who is terminally ill to die comfortably, without suffering through months of pain and agony. There are, of course, rules and regulations that control who can take advantage of these new laws. In the six states that currently allow this by law, physicians can aid someone in death in a few different ways. The most common procedure is to prescribe a lethal dose of medication to hasten the dying process.
The claims that physician-assisted suicide is used unethically have been disproved by overwhelming evidence that it can be an ethical process. The evidence has been collected from many reliable sources in Oregon and analyzes both sides of the
Most of these statements come from religious persons or the physicians themselves. They claim that not only is it morally unjust but it is considered murder, “Today, nearly all states prohibit assisted suicide and euthanasia. In Illinois, Michigan, and Ohio, assisting suicide is considered murder.” (Raed Gonzalez, J.D., LL.M candidate) For religious people assisted suicide goes against the laws of God.
Patients have the right to the kind of treatment they want. 3) Conclusion a) Physician assisted suicide can help treat the terminally ill how they would like to be treated. b) The long history of assisted suicide speaks for itself in the matter of if it should be legal or
Physician assisted suicide has been an intensely debated problem for years but if used properly, could be an effective way to help those who are suffering at the end of their life. Countless people have been advocating for physician assisted suicide for years and the most famous advocate for assisted suicide was Dr. Jack Kevorkian. He was a pathologist but received the nickname Dr. Death after it was estimated that between 1990 and 1999 he assisted 130 terminally ill individuals in their assisted suicides (“Jack Kevorkian”). Dr. Kevorkian is considered a crusader for physician
As said by A. C. Grayling, philosopher and founder of New College of Humanities in London, "To believe that mere length of existence, however, unbearable and painful, trumps the kindness of granting someone's request for help to end their suffering easily and quickly, is to have one's priorities utterly wrong" (10). What would you do if you knew the person closest to you was going to suffer for the rest of their life? Assisted suicide is more than just a last resort you are protecting your loved one’s or maybe even your own sanctity of life. America’s governing system should nationally allow physician-assisted suicide for the terminally ill, not only because the morality of the situation is justified, also it is any patient’s own will to die, and patients would not abuse the gift of physician-assisted suicide.
But to me, I see it as an ethical way to be relieved of the incurable illness you must live with until your days are up. As of right now, there are only five states that allow the practice of assisted suicide to partake, those being; Oregon, Washington, Vermont, California, and
People will forever disagree with assisted suicide but it will help many. People who support legalizing assisted suicide say that it is a moral right to choose what they want to do with their lives as long as it doesn't harm anyone else. That right should also include the right to end their life. For most people, the right to end one's life is a right they can easily exercise but there are many who want to die, but whose disease, handicap, or condition renders them unable to end their lives in a dignified manner ("Assisted
Assisted suicide has been practiced for many years and has been long discussed. " Assisted suicide involves one person providing the means and instructions to help another person commit suicide." (“Fast Facts Assisted Suicide”) Assisted suicide and suicide is a right to all citizens, the prevention of this act by the government is a violation of religious freedoms.
Have you ever known a friend or family member who had cancer or was critically ill and in the hospital? It’s hard to watch those suffer due to a physical injury or disease. It’s even harder to watch someone struggle in a critical mental state whether it’s caused by a mental or physical disease. Would you rather ease the pain of those people than watch them suffer? The answer solution is assisted suicide because it is supported by ethics and should legally be allowed.
For the medical community, treatment is considered ideal, even if the patient’s condition is terminal. In the article “California right-to-die bill set for hearing this month”, from the on-line newspaper “The Press Democrat”, there is an issue presented for the approval of the bill: people who can’t afford health care will find what they call “physician-assisted suicide”, an attractive option to end their suffering (Moore). However, it is even more concerning that the patient has to pay and endure treatment that will not improve their health, and will only prolong the process of personal financial recession, and the suffering of the sickness' consequences. According to the previously quoted article “Record numbers sign up to Swiss right-to-die organization” from “Yahoo! News”, The French Parliament has been pushing a bill that would give permit to doctors so that they could put terminally ill patients into deep sedation - which is a viable, although expensive, solution for the medical community issue (Katharina). There is also the matter of morality; the thought of assisted death being legal conflicts with certain personal and religious views.
In every state they have some law regarding assisted suicide, it is also a topic that’s been discussed outside of the U.S. too. The people most affected by the laws on this topic are those who are sick. The majority of the states say assisted suicide is illegal, so those who are terminally ill don’t have a second option. Their only choice is to manage the pain and continue to live their life until their illness takes