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Persuasive Essay About The Right To Die

1824 Words8 Pages

The right to die is among the most widely debated controversies present in today’s society. It is a concept based upon the refusal of extensive medical procedures that would otherwise prolong the lives of terminally-ill patients. This form of suicide is carried out by means of voluntary euthanasia, prescribed by the doctor only when approval on behalf of the family has been received. Those who support this procedure reason that those in possession of the life at stake should be able to choose when to terminate it. Additionally, physician-assisted suicide provides an alternative to prolonged suffering and significantly lowers medical expenses. Research indicates that this procedure takes just as great a toll on the patient’s families as would allowing a …show more content…

People should be granted the right to die simply because it is their own life at stake. Maintaining this sense of personal freedom is crucial to preserving natural human rights. Globe and Mail columnist, Margaret Wente, discusses this concept in her publication of “What's So Difficult About the Right to Die?”. In regards to assisted suicide, Wente explains. In other words, in order to protect “personal autonomy”, those who wish to end their lives should be “provide[d] the means” to do so. In this way, the decision seems “straightforward”; people who “want to die” should be able to die, and since it is their lives, they should ultimately be granted the authority to make that decision. “Yet hospitals systematically deny such requests if even one relative objects. The relative may be someone the patient hasn't seen in years. . In this current system, a distant “relative” may have the final say in choosing to end one’s life. To such a degree, a member of the family has greater authority than the patient themself. Inevitably, this system has resulted in the universal

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