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Essays on doctor assisted suicide
Objections to physician assisted suicide
Views on physician assisted suicide
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One of the main objections to autonomy-based justifications of physician-assisted suicide (PAS) that Gill talks about is that many people believe it does not promote autonomy, but instead is actually taking it away (366). First, it is important to clarify what autonomy means. According to Gill, it is the ability of a person to make big decisions regarding their own life (369). Opponents of PAS argue that it takes away a person’s ability to make these big decisions and so it is intrinsically wrong for them to choose to take their own life.
Lee Johnson, who lived in Oregon, was a retired federal worker who began a subsequent career as a furniture maker. He then developed brain cancer. Although the disease was inevitably going to kill him, he took the necessary precautions intended to extend his life. However, his condition worsened and he became bedridden and endured blurred vision, soreness, and a lot of pain.
The medical field is filled with opportunities and procedures that are used to help improve a patient’s standard of living and allow them to be as comfortable as possible. Physician assisted suicide (PAS) is a method, if permitted by the government, that can be employed by physicians across the world as a way to ease a patient’s pain and suffering when all else fails. PAS is, “The voluntary termination of one's own life by administration of a lethal substance with the direct or indirect assistance of a physician.”-Medicinenet.com. This procedure would be the patient’s decision and would allow the patient to end their lives in a more peaceful and comfortable way, rather than suffering until the illness takes over completely. Physician assisted suicide should be permitted by the government because it allows patients to end their suffering and to pass with dignity, save their families and the hospital money, and it allows doctors to preserve vital organs to save
The topic of Physician-assisted suicide, or physician aid-in-dying, is a highly debated topic, especially when it comes down to whether this action be legal or not. The definition of Physician-assisted suicide can be defined as the act of intentionally killing yourself with the aid of a medical professional, such as a physician. The practice of Physician-assisted suicide still remains illegal in forty-five states excluding the states of Oregon, Vermont, Montana, California, and Washington. Although states have tried to make this practice legal, the practice of Physician-assisted suicide has become a crime in most. The practice of Physician-assisted suicide should not be illegal.
Even with all the advances that America has had in their health care and their research with cancer treatments there are still patients that get diagnosed with terminal cancer and they have no hope. Dying is a natural thing that everyone will have to do at some point in their life. In the book Physician Assisted Suicide: Expanding the debate the Author talks about how people all have the right to live and with that should come the right to die (Battin, M. P.). This is also a moral decision and will vary with every person. Some people are at peace with dying while some fear it.
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.
When I was twelve years old, my grandfather passed away after a long, excruciating struggle with lung cancer. He endured months of insufferable agony, which continued until the mercy that came with his dying breath. Looking back on this experience, I am firm in my belief that nobody should have to endure the suffering that my grandfather did. This however, is just one instance in which physician-assisted suicide would have proven beneficial. According to the New York Times, Jerry Brown, who recently signed California’s own assisted suicide law said that if he were ill, it “would be a comfort to consider the options afforded by this bill” (Boffey 1).
After researching both sides of the argument, it is clear that the benefits of physician-assisted suicide outweigh the disadvantages. The benefits of ending a patient’s pain and suffering, minimizing the emotional and financial effects on families, and preserving the right for patients to decide their own fate, supports the legalization of physician-assisted suicide.
Physician assisted suicide is not innovative. Health Care providers are telling their clients that they are not worth the money of treatment when it would just be cheaper for death. In 2008, Oregon resident Barbara Wagger needed chemotherapy to fight lung cancer. The Oregon Health Plan office would not pay $4,000 per month because it was not within their guidelines of treatment.
A survey of physicians conducted by the Canadian Medical Association found that "a significant proportion of respondents reported that they had been asked for assistance in dying by patients whose primary motivation appeared to be loneliness, lack of social support, or perceived burden on others" (Downar et al., 2017). This means that if physician-assisted suicide is legalized, at-risk people could be vulnerable to coercion or abuse. Opponents say allowing doctors to assist in suicide would undermine their role as healers and could lead to unwanted or unnecessary deaths, or a loss of respect for human life. The American Psychological Association echoes these concerns and highlights the major risks associated with such decisions. Among those concerns are, “Depression causing a desire for death,” “A loss of autonomy and function causing a desire for control,” and “worries about future pain” (Weir).
Physician assisted suicide is when a physician provides the means required to commit suicide, including prescribing lethal amounts of harmful drugs to a patient. In the United States alone, there is great controversy about physician assisted suicide. The issue is whether physician assisted suicide is murder or an act of sympathy for the patient. The main point is that terminally ill patients should have a right to physician assisted suicide if it meets their needs and is done properly. Physician assisted suicide is an appropriate action for the terminally ill that want to end their life in peace before it ends at the hands of the terminal disease.
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
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
A very controversial topic lately is that of euthanasia. Physician assisted suicide is a very debatable ethical issue because people have different morals. I argue that in some cases it is ethical and others it is not. I believe that if someone is going to die, that there is absolutely no cure available that if they want to die via physician assisted suicide that is their choice. One of the main reasons that people chose to die via PAS is because they are in pain and don’t want their families to see them miserable.
The Right to Die 1) Introduction a) Thesis statement: Physician assisted suicide offers patients a choice of getting out of their pain and misery, presents a way to help those who are already dead mentally because of how much a disease has taken over them, proves to be a great option in many states its legal in, and puts the family at ease knowing their love one is out of pain. i) The use of physician assisted death is used in many different countries and some states. ii) Many people who chose this option are fighting a terminal illness.
