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The Pros And Cons Of Assisted Suicide

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Recommended: Legal and Ethical Issues Involving Assisted Suicide

Imagine being diagnosed and living with a painful terminal illness for years suffering from loss of autonomy, loss of dignity, and being unable to participate in activities that make life enjoyable. Would you seek assisted suicide if you were in this scenario? Assisted suicide is the act of a person deliberately ending their life with the help of someone, such as a doctor because they are suffering from a terminal illness (Glasper). While taking the life of another is considered murder globally, assisted suicide is sometimes seen as ok because they allow a patient who is suffering from a terminal illness to choose when and how they die (Lee). The discussion and debate surrounding assisted suicide has been around for many years. Assisted suicide …show more content…

Many people get assisted suicide confused with the terms physician-assisted suicide (PAS) and euthanasia. Physician-assisted suicide is when a physician assists with a patient’s death by providing them with the necessary sources and information to let the patient forgo ending their life (Weaver). Euthanasia is intentionally ending someone’s life to end their suffering; this involves a doctor giving a patient a fatal overdose or stopping all life-saving medical treatment (Glasper and Lee). Euthanasia can occur at either the request of the patient or is done without their consent (Weaver). There are also two types of euthanasia: voluntary passive euthanasia and voluntary active euthanasia. Voluntary passive euthanasia is when a person commits suicide with the best method instructed by a physician (Lee). Voluntary active euthanasia is where the patient requests for a physician to end their life with a fatal substance (Lee). People who seek these life-ending methods have personal reasons for doing …show more content…

The impact on healthcare professionals from assisted suicide and their views is also something to note in this discussion. It is stated in the Hippocratic oath, one of the earliest codified medical ethics, that physicians should not cause any harm whatsoever to a patient and some still believe that this should still apply and that assisted suicide directly violates this ethical principle (Lee). However, the Doctrine of Double Effect states “[a doctor] is entitled to do all that is proper and necessary to relieve pain even if the measures he takes may incidentally shorten life” (Frost). According to a survey of NHS doctors, 46% would consider forgoing the requests from patients wanting to end their lives while 54% would be required to inform patients that are eligible about assisted suicide as an option, even if they disagree with it ethically (Frost). Whether or not physicians think the act of assisted suicide is a major point in the argument for assisted suicide. Despite all this, many medical associations have adopted neutral stances on the subject; some of these being the British Medical Association, the Royal College of Nursing, and the Royal College of Physicians

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The concept and ideology behind Physician-Assisted Suicide within the contemporary generation has become an exceptionally sensitive and controversial issue as multiple factors conglomerate to define if Physician-Assisted Suicide is justifiable within the grounds of ethical understanding and moral principles. The idea concerning PAS is based on the grounds of rational and irrational thinking as in if death is a rational choice above all other alternatives (Wittwer 420).

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The right to assisted suicide is a heavily controversial and debated over topic that concerns people all around the United States. The arguments go back and forth about whether a dying patient has the right to end their life with the assistance of a doctor or physician. Some people are against it because of moral and religious reasons. Others are for it because of their compassions and respect for unhappy patients waiting to die naturally. Assisted suicide is prohibited by common law or criminal statute in all 50 U.S. states; medical aid in dying is specifically authorized in 5 states: Oregon, Washington, Vermont, Montana, and California.

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" Physician Assisted Suicide: An Unbiased Review." PDF. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Apr. 2016. .

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Chuc Tran T. Hollis-GInes ENG 101- Argumentative 23 October 2015 Physician-assisted Suicide The legalization of physician-assisted suicide has became an increasingly debatable topic in the United States today. The practice of assisted suicide pertains to a terminally ill patient who wants to end his or her life along with a physician’s acknowledgement of that patient’s desire to die.

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Euthanasia vs. Physician Assisted Suicide Euthanasia is the medical practice of taking someone’s life due to a terminal illness in a pain free way to end the suffering of a dying patient. Doctors would enforce this practice of deliberately killing the ill patient by using a lethal injection, on scene, with no second chances. The

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Physician-assisted suicide is the voluntary termination of one's own life by administration of a lethal substance with the direct or indirect assistance of a physician. They provide a competent patient with a prescription for medication for the patient to use with the primary

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For physicians to perform assisted suicide on their patients, there must be complete clarity on patient wishes, and having a mental illness that produces

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When I was twelve years old, my grandfather passed away after a long, excruciating struggle with lung cancer. He endured months of insufferable agony, which continued until the mercy that came with his dying breath. Looking back on this experience, I am firm in my belief that nobody should have to endure the suffering that my grandfather did. This however, is just one instance in which physician-assisted suicide would have proven beneficial. According to the New York Times, Jerry Brown, who recently signed California’s own assisted suicide law said that if he were ill, it “would be a comfort to consider the options afforded by this bill” (Boffey 1).

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Physician Assisted Suicide (PAS) is where a physician helps out critical condition patients who want to end their lives. This work is disputable, with people arguing that it provides patients another option to end their suffering. Although people who oppose Physician Assisted Suicide say it shortens human lives, it should be legalized since it helps people end their lives easily and effectively. Opponents of physician-assisted suicide insist it contravenes the Hippocratic Oath, which forbids doctors to damage or permit harm to their patients.

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Euthanasia is defined as a painless killing of a patient suffering from an incurable and painful disease which is illegal in most countries. Assisted suicide occurs when doctors decide to help a person transition to death with the little pain possible. Assisted suicide goes against all the basic practices of medicine and can affect the nurses or doctors who take a patient's life. Watching a patient struggle can be difficult and the viewing of them struggling. Opponents think it is ethical to end a patient's life.

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Physician assisted suicide is when a physician provides the means required to commit suicide, including prescribing lethal amounts of harmful drugs to a patient. In the United States alone, there is great controversy about physician assisted suicide. The issue is whether physician assisted suicide is murder or an act of sympathy for the patient. The main point is that terminally ill patients should have a right to physician assisted suicide if it meets their needs and is done properly. Physician assisted suicide is an appropriate action for the terminally ill that want to end their life in peace before it ends at the hands of the terminal disease.

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Assisted suicide can be explained through using the Utilitarianism Theory that supports physician-assisted suicide. Utilitarianism is by definition the actions that are right if they are useful, benefit the majority of people or promote someone’s happiness (Youngman 2013). Assisted suicide is the want of a patient to be relieved of suffering, thus comparing that to their happiness. The Utilitarianism theory holds true for assisted suicide. The patient wants to feel relief from their suffering thus making them happy.

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Current Issues Surrounding Death A hot topic in today’s media and in discussion is the idea of physician assisted suicide and end of life care. There are several legal, ethical, social, and political issues surrounding this idea, which makes it a controversial topic. This paper will discuss some of these issues and explore the idea of physician assisted suicide and end of life care in more detail. Physician assisted suicide is defined as, “suicide by a patient facilitated by means or information (as a drug prescription or indication of the lethal dosage) provided by a physician who is aware of how the patient intends to use such means or information (Merriam-Webster, 2015).

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Consenting adults who are at the end of their life and experiencing unbearable pain have another option than to just bear with the pain and die, they can request to take part in physician-assisted death if they live in a certain state or country. (Downar) Physician assisted death consists of euthanasia and assisted suicide. Euthanasia can be separated into to two groups it can be active or passive; the two groups can be split into three more sections: voluntary, involuntary, or non-voluntary. In passive euthanasia as a whole a patient should receive life-supporting therapy and if they don’t it often results in their death. Voluntary passive euthanasia is when a person refuses life-supporting therapy or is withdrawn if they are currently in a therapy session.

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Active euthanasia may be voluntary when the patient has requested to end their life (Naseh, Rafiei, & Heidari, 2015), involuntary when the person who is killed made an expressed wish to the contrary (Poreddi, Nagarajaiah, Konduru & Math, 2013), or non-voluntary in which the agreement of the person cannot be obtained because of his or her physical or mental state, thus, the patient has offered no opinion. Also Physician Assisted Suicide (PAS) kind of active euthanasia refers to the patient intentionally and willfully ending his or her own life with the assistance of another party (Parpa et al.,

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