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Should We Legalize Physician Assisted Suicide?

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Within the past thirty years, scientists have made multiple medical breakthroughs, such as the identification of HIV/AIDs, a successful attempt at cloning, and the first vaccination for Lyme disease. Compared to the lack of medical knowledge in the 19th century, the average American lifespan was around 30 years old. Currently, Americans live, on average 70 years of age. However, an unsettling percentage of these survivors begin to decline before the age of 70 from illnesses that cause great discomfort or pain. Regardless of the extended lifespan, what is the difference between being alive and living? Being alive suggests physical, mental, and emotional ability to complete desired tasks, whereas living implies having a pulse and breathing. When an individual is terminally ill or in a comatose state, is it moral to kill a suffering patient or to force them to continue in their suffering? Physician-assisted suicide should be legal in all states because it is inhumane to force a human being to suffer since they should have the right to determine their own fate. …show more content…

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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Washington chose to enforce the ban as it is rationally related to a state interest, therefore related to the exercise of its police powers. In my opinion, Washington 's ban on physician assisted-suicide did not violate the Fourteenth Amendment 's Due Process Clause. Analyzing the guarantees of the Due Process Clause, the Court focused on two main aspects: the protection of our nation 's objective fundamental, historically rooted, rights and liberties; and the cautious definition of what constitutes a due process liberty interest. The Court held that the right to assisted suicide is not a fundamental liberty interest protected by the Due Process Clause since its practice has been, and continues to be, offensive to our national traditions and practices.

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Physician-assisted suicide is a serious and controversial topic discussed throughout society today. On the contrary to popular beliefs, physician-assisted suicide is morally wrong and should be ceased. But physician-assisted suicide continues to grow throughout America, with 68% of Americans in favor of legalizing physician-assisted suicide. Some cons of physician-assisted suicide include: violation of Hippocratic oath, religiously unjust, decreases the value of human life, and gives doctors too much power.

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Was banning physician assisted- suicide unconstitutional according to the Fourteenth Amendment Due Process Clause by denying deathly ill, competent people the right to end their suffering? This was the constitutional question that was asked. This question correlated with the fourteenth amendment and the due process clause (ITT Chicago- Kent College of Law, 2015). When the question was contemplated whether or not the ban was constitutional or not, the debating started with was the option to even assist with suicide ? deeply rooted in this Nation?s history and tradition,?

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Those in favor of these laws argue that pain cannot always be managed, there is no reason a person should be forced to suffer through the processes of death, and physicians are abiding by the Hippocratic Oath of “do no harm,” by not allowing their patient to have prolonged suffering. As controversial as these laws are, they are necessary. Laws regarding physician-assisted death should be passed in all states, because it allows terminally ill patients to have a peace of mind, choose how much suffering they will endure, and have an opportunity to die with dignity without losing their mental or

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Should Medically Assisted Suicide Be Legalised? Although medicine in the 21st century has provided people with a variety of illnesses a chance at a “normal” life, there is still a handful of people whose suffering cannot be eradicated. Medically assisted suicide is “when a physician supplies the necessary means and information to facilitate a patient's choice to end his or her life.” [Lydia S. Dugale, Barron H. Lerner and Daniel Callahan, 2019, Pros and Cons of Physician Aid in Dying, PubMed].

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Should assisted suicides be allowed for terminally ill patients? In my perspective, I believe they should be allowed for a few different reasons. Many people worry that legalizing doctor assisted suicide is irrational and violates the life-saving tradition of medicine. However, physician-assisted suicide should be legalized because it offers terminally ill people an opportunity for a peaceful death by recognizing the inadequacies of current medical practice in their treatment. First off, how do you think a patient would feel if they have been in a hospital bed for many months suffering a battle they know they can’t defeat?

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In this case, and many others worldwide, physician assisted suicide is morally permissible at all ages for anyone with a terminal illness with a prognosis of 6 months. This is supported by act based utilitarianism and the idea of maximizing pleasure and reducing pain and suffering on an individual circumstance. By allowing a terminal patient to die a less painful death, in control of the situation, and with dignity, the patient will have amplified

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Currently physician assisted suicide is only legal in 7 states within the United states. Those for the legalization of physician assisted suicide are also thinking about this situation in an ethical manner. They believe that patients have the right to say whether or not it is their time to go. If a patient is suffering or hooked up to multiple ventilators and machines while lying in a hospital bed, then they should have the right to legally let a doctor help them die through their authority. When considering the idea of legalizing it, people like to make you think about the idea of you being in that person’s shoes.

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" Meaning that a physician who is taught to protect a life at all cost may need to go against their personal feelings and offer the patient the best method to keep them comfortable even if it means informing them of physician assisted suicide. In other instances where there are no signs of recovery and only suffering, the most humane and professional thing a doctor could do is give the patient the choice, after all, we do not have the cure for every disease out there or the medication to end a patients pain. Therefore, physician assisted suicide should be legalized as a method to help those who do not

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Assisted Suicide is “the painless killing of a patient suffering from an incurable and painful disease or in an irreversible coma.” My issue relates to Amendment 9, which states,”The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.” People debate over this issue for many reasons. Some believe doctors shouldn’t take a human’s life intentionally. Others believe a person in pain and suffering should have an easy way out.

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Both advocates for and against physician assisted suicide have realistic reasons behind their feelings and facts, but ethical issues will be present either way. In the states that physician assisted

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For most people, the word suicide brings up negative emotions and images. They see people who could not battle their inner, or their outer demons any longer, and so took a drastic and permanent solution. However, what if your problem was permanent, unfixable, and suicide could be your only way out? Here is the idea of physician-assisted suicide, which is already legal in a few states in the United States, and in some other countries around the globe.

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The 10th amendment explicitly states that “the powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people,” (Annebergclassroom). Therefore, the states utilized this statement by justifying the argument that since there is no enumerated law in the constitution about specifically physician assisted suicide, then it should be up to the states to control the issue. Originally, the federal government used the 14th amendment - “No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States” (Law Cornell) - as a justification claiming that they should have power because they viewed assisted suicide as a right and a privilege; however, the states rebuttled by claiming that this was not applicable in the western culture, resulting the Supreme Court to allow states to override the federal government’s argument. A lot of their reasons for arguing over this cause is for the protection of public health. Since physician assisted suicide is has to do with public health, it resulted in both national and states to be concerned, resulting concurrent

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Euthanasia is only legal in five U.S states and in three countries. Many have debated whether euthanasia should be legalized in more states. Euthanasia, also known as physician-assisted suicide is the painless killing of a patient who is suffering from an untreatable disease, illness or is in an irreversible coma. It wasn’t until recently, in 2016 that the first minor was granted euthanasia. Euthanasia should be legalized across the U.S.

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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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