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Pros And Cons Of Right To Die Law

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Two Sides of The Right-To-Die Law The history of the right-to-die movement in the U.S. begins in the 1970s in the New Jersey Supreme Court. After the World War II, the medical field advanced greatly through the discoveries of powerful antibiotics and the machinery to prolong the lives of the patients in coma. However, the treatments aimed at prolonging the life did not bring the recovery to the patients. Soon the families started questioning the usefulness of these treatments. In 1975, the parents of Karen Anne Quinlan asked the Supreme Court to disconnect her daughter, who was in a vegetative state, from the ventilation system. The court ruled in their favor and it was a first win for the right-to-die movements (McCormick). Forty years later, …show more content…

The “Death with Dignity” law is applicable to everyone in the state above the age of twenty-one. The law covers many areas to make sure that the right to die is not abused or used for the wrong reasons. For instance, in the state of Oregon, only terminally ill person with six month or less left to live can make a request to take a medication that will bring the anticipated death. The person has to be able to prove the residency, clear state of mind, and the absence of any mental illness. In addition, the person should be able to take the medication orally without any help (“Public Health’s Role”). Despite the legality of the right to execute “Death with Dignity” in some states, the right-to-die law does not exist from the perspective of the federal government. The opponents of the law state that it is against the Hippocratic oath. The oath is outlining the obligations of the doctors and is used in most medical schools. The part of the Hippocratic oath refers to the promise of not giving a medicine that will cause death to anyone, even if the patient requests it (“Greek Medicine”). This is exactly what is required of the doctors in the cases of the physician-assisted

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