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Pros And Cons Of Physician Assisted Suicide

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“First do no harm”, is the quote that is used over and over to support both sides of the debate over Euthanasia or Physician-Assisted Suicide. I dare to ask you one simple question, “How would you want you individual rights to live or no live to be determined?” Should an ancient oath written between 460 -380 B.C. determine your faith; or should your beliefs, wants and wishes rule your outcome? Do your life rally belong to you or can a judge, social society, medical team, legal team, and/or a jury of peers control more of your life than you. I say, “YES” physician-assisted suicide should be legal in all fifty states.
In 2003 a study found that 11 percent of physicians surveyed (1,902 total) would, under assured circumstances, be willing to accelerate a patient's death by prescribing medication, and that 7 percent would oversee a lethal injection, regardless of both acts being illegal at the time of the survey. This is proof that some doctors understand that the rights of …show more content…

5, 2008, Washington became the second US state to legalize physician-assisted suicide after voters approved a ballot initiative (59% to 41%) to implement the Washington Death with Dignity Act. And in recent years physician-assisted suicide is legal in four US states: Oregon, Washington, Montana, and Vermont. And just two years earlier the US Supreme Court voted 6-3 to uphold the ability of physicians to prescribe lethal doses of controlled substances to terminally ill patients. People have rights as an individual to receive great complete care; and this care includes mind, body and soul. In some ancient cities, it was said that, magistrates kept a supply of poison for anyone who wished to die regardless of religious beliefs. Individual beliefs and concerns should mean more the society’s’ beliefs when it comes down to physician-assisted suicide; the individual is the one that have to live the life not me or you, so stop letting your beliefs and wishes control someone else’s

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1554 Words | 7 Pages

“In the 20 years that Oregon’s Death with Dignity Law has been on the books, 1,749 patients have been prescribed lethal medications, and only 64% of them (1,127) used them to die, according to state data. Last year, Oregon doctors prescribed 206 lethal medications, 133 of which were reported used by patients” (Portland Press Herald). This statistic shows that not all patients who are prescribed the drugs, use them to end their life. Gale states, “The three most frequently cites reasons for requesting suicide were: a decreasing ability to participate in activities that made life enjoyable, loss of autonomy and loss of dignity.

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566 Words | 3 Pages

First, Oregon was the front-runner in the world of physician-assisted suicide in the United States. In 1994, the state of Oregon passed the bill of a terminally ill individual’s right to die by lethal injection. Shortly after the passage of the bill, Oregon received their first challenge in the courts. In the case of Lee v. Oregon State, doctors and patients challenged Oregon, stating that the law violated the Constitution’s 1st and 14th amendments, as well as many other federal laws (Devlin, 1996). Due to this challenge in the courts, there was a temporary hold on the law.

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857 Words | 4 Pages

In current society a debate on a controversial topic is rocking the nation. The debate of the Right to Die has been put back on the spotlight after an advocate for the cause made the choice to end her own life after being diagnosed with a terminal disease. The Right to Die is a campaign which supports every individual's choice to die when faced with a terminal disease. A specific form is called Physician Assisted Suicide which was the way the advocate chose to die. A Physician Assisted Suicide is when a physician prescribes a competent patient a lethal dose of drugs so he/she may use to intentionally end their own life whenever they see fit.

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191 Words | 1 Pages

In the Newsweek article, “Physician-Assisted Suicide Is Always Wrong,” by Ryan Anderson, it is stated that the legalization of assisted suicide “would be a grave mistake.” Anderson provides a few examples of why assisted suicide is detrimental. One, he states it leads to an endangerment of the weak and disenfranchised in societies. His outlook is that the purported safeguards of eliminating risk has mainly been nonexistent, which in some countries like the Netherlands who has legalized physician assisted suicide (PSA), has lead to doctors administering lethal injections to patients without request. Two, Anderson, sees assisted suicide as a compromise in the practice of medicine.

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361 Words | 2 Pages

“Be smart, be strong, live honorably and with dignity, and just hold on” (Fray). Physician assisted suicide or better known as Death with Dignity isn’t your everyday topic or thought, but for the terminally ill it’s a constant want. The Death with Dignity isn’t something that all people or religions are in favor of and nor is the act passed in all states in the United States. Only three states in the U.S. today, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington offer their residents the option to have aid in dying as long as all the requirements are met. Death with Dignity doesn’t effect just the terminally ill person, but as well as family and friends around them creating many conflicting thoughts when opinion if Death with Dignity is truly moral and a choice

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764 Words | 4 Pages

Doctors granted one in six requests for lethal prescriptions, and only one in 10 requests resulted in death, according to a survey of more than 2,600 Oregon physicians in the Feb. 24, 2000, New England Journal of Medicine. Of the 221 requests in the survey, 21% were denied because patients had symptoms of depression. Oregon’s policy for assisted suicide provides a careful way in which PAS can be implemented across the

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946 Words | 4 Pages

Physician assisted suicide, although legal in some states, should remain illegal because it goes against religious and moral beliefs. “In physician assisted suicide, the physician provides the necessary means or information and the patient performs the act” (Endlink). Supporters of assisted-suicide laws believe that mentally competent people who are in misery and have no chance of long-term survival, should have the right to die if and when they choose. I agree that people should have the right to refuse life-saving treatments, written in the patient bill of rights.

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1168 Words | 5 Pages

Physician-Assisted Suicide: A Right to Murder? Doctors spend over eight years attending college, studying and practicing how humans work and how to save them. So why should it be right for physicians to help out their patients in killing themselves? If a person chooses to end their life, they completely loose the possibility of a medical miracle of being able to live through whatever condition they have.

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1032 Words | 5 Pages

Many believe it is in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment, which states that, “no state shall deprive any person of life” (“14th Amendment”). However, the determining factor of life is not universally agreed upon, and one’s condition varies based on his or her ability to carry out daily tasks. Contrary to some common beliefs, the ban on physician-assisted suicide causes suffering for both the patient and for his or her family. Not only is it unfair to make the individual endure excruciating pain, but also no family member or friend should need to be a helpless bystander, watching a loved one slowly

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1994 Words | 8 Pages

Physician-assisted suicide should be legal in every state

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1800 Words | 8 Pages

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.

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1257 Words | 6 Pages

Hard choices about limiting how much healthcare we can have weren't considered”(Danforth 1).This brought up the question of an alternative to cut healthcare costs. Within this argument lies a fairly new discussion centered around the topic of Physician-Assisted suicide and the question around its legality.

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948 Words | 4 Pages

During the late 1800’s, medication to reduce pain, like morphine and chloroform, became widely used by physicians. A man by the name of Samuel D. Williams, who was not a doctor, suggested that these pain relievers could also be used for the “quick and painless death” of a patient (Emanuel). While William’s thought was not acted on right away, it stayed with many people for quite some time. Some attempts were made in different states to legalize euthanasia or PAS but none of the bills were successful. Some organizations, like the National Society for the legalization of Euthanasia and the Hemlock Society, began to attempt to educate the population about euthanasia and PAS and why it should become a practice in the

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522 Words | 3 Pages

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.

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1321 Words | 6 Pages

The Right to Die has been taking effect in many states and is rapidly spreading around the world. Patients who have life threatening conditions usually choose to die quickly with the help of their physicians. Many people question this right because of its inhumane authority. Euthanasia or assisted suicide are done by physicians to end the lives of their patients only in Oregon, Washington, Vermont, Montana, New Mexico and soon California that have the Right to Die so that patients don’t have to live with depression, cancer and immobility would rather die quick in peace.

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