Death With Dignity in California
Facing the diagnosis of a terminal illness is an incredibly personal experience for many individuals. Those who suffer from the same illness may experience it in different ways or process their emotions differently as an individual contemplating their own mortality. How a person decides to deal with their diagnosis, even wanting to end their own lives before allowing illness to take it, is a choice that inherently belongs to the individual. While there are many ethical and professional dilemmas to contemplate when considering physician-assisted suicide, the choice to live or die should ultimately come down to the patient. Physician-assisted suicide is currently a controversial topic in the state of California.
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They not only face an ethical dilemma as a moral individual, but they must also consider potential legal repercussions and consequences. Medical professionals are often dedicated to saving lives and may disagree with the endorsement of ending lives. According to Esther B. De La Torre, the author of a model essay on sympathetic euthanasia for the Academic Department of Lone Star College claims that physicians “...differ where they place the line that separates relief from dying-and killing” (Torre). For this reason, they may deny involvement in assisted …show more content…
These conditions include the patient having to get “two doctors to agree, before prescribing the drugs, that a patient has six months or less to live” (NPR). This law also requires that the patient requests a prescription “...for an aid-in-dying drug without influence from others.”(CCCC). For these reasons, the fear that people who opt for physician assisted suicide are unable to truly choose death for themselves is misplaced. People who qualify for death with dignity should not have to fear a doctor turning them down when what they are requesting is