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Pros And Cons Of Legalizing Physician Assisted Suicide

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Recommended: Ethical principles in physician assisted suicide

Physician-assisted suicide is very controversial. Some people believe in death with dignity and that we shouldn’t have to suffer from terminal diseases if we don’t want to. Others believe that the act of assisting someone to their death is playing God. Many people also think that the practice of physician-assisted suicide corrupts the practice of medicine and the doctor-patient relationship. The Hippocratic Oath states: “I will keep the sick from harm and injustice. I will neither give a deadly drug to anybody who asked for it, nor will I make a suggestion to this effect.” Many doctors stand firmly by the Hippocratic Oath and believe that they should not stray from these beliefs. By legalizing and allowing assisted suicide, every physician …show more content…

"Physician-assisted suicide isn 't about physicians becoming killers. It 's about patients whose suffering we can 't relieve and about not turning away from them when they ask for help” says Dr. Peter Rogatz. Assisted suicide isn’t an option for most terminally ill patients and even the patients that to decide they want the prescription, up to 40% of them never even take the pills. All doctors for assisted suicide just want to help their patients from living and dying in pain. Others think that assisted suicide should be legal because it will save the United States and the Government money. Over $50 billion dollars is spent of end of life care for terminally ill patients. Many people believe that providing these dying patients with this less-costly option will save the United States enormous amounts of …show more content…

I believe that Physician-assisted suicide should be legal in the United States for many reasons. I don’t believe in letting people live in pain and suffer. I think the option should be open to every terminally ill person in America. The option should always be there for people as it is for animals. One major code of ethics in the medical field is that a physician shall exercise his/her independent professional judgement and I think that should apply to this. If a physician believes that aid-in-dying should be an option to his/her patients then they should be able to exercise those rights wherever they reside. A physician should also always act in the patient 's best interest when providing medical care and provide them with full knowledge of what is going on. I believe that if a physician is talking to a patient about assisted suicide they should provide the patient with every piece of information they have. They should also always do what is best for the patient, which means not misleading them or putting them in any harms way. If Physician-assisted suicide is a valid and safe option for a patient, then the doctor has every right to inform them. These code of ethics are extremely important and should always be in play when physician-assisted suicide is being talked about. I am pro life and I believe that everyone should live life to the fullest. But when you are in nonstop excruciating pain and there is no way of relief, then i truly think that physician assisted suicide

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