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Persuasive Essay On Physician Assisted Suicide

1550 Words7 Pages

Physician assisted suicide (PAS) is a very controversial topic in both the medical community and elsewhere. Physician assisted suicide is defined by the McGraw-Hill Concise Dictionary of Modern Medicine (2002) as the “voluntary termination of one’s life by administration of a lethal substance with the direct or indirect assistance of a physician. In most US cases, a physician gives a terminally ill patient a prescription for a lethal medication, and the patient takes the medication in their own home with no physician present, at the time of their choosing. In PAS, the physician plays a passive role in the patient’s death, prescribing the lethal medication but not administering it. PAS is different from euthanasia in that euthanasia requires the physician to take a more active role, and that euthanasia is illegal across the US. Certain patients should have the legal right to physician assisted suicide, but the right must be effectively implemented and regulated. …show more content…

The Republican platform states: “We oppose euthanasia and assisted suicide, which endanger especially those on the margins of society. We urge the Drug Enforcement Administration to restore its ban on the use of controlled substances for physician-assisted suicide.” President Trump’s Supreme Court Nominee, Neil Gorsuch, agrees with Republicans, saying, "Human life is fundamentally and inherently valuable, and that the intentional taking of human life by private persons is always wrong." (ProCon.org) The Democratic Platform says nothing about PAS, however their most recent Presidential nominee, Hillary Clinton has said: “I believe it's within the province of the states to make that decision...with appropriate safeguards and informed decision-making, I think it's an appropriate right to have." The fact the PAS is supported is supported by major Democrats gives it more

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