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Assisted suicide and ethical and legal
Pros of assisted suicide
Assisted suicide pros and cons
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More handpicked essays just for you.
Assisted suicide and ethical and legal
Pros of assisted suicide
Assisted suicide pros and cons
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
“The real reason for not committing suicide is because you always know how well life gets again after the hell is over.” People are unable to realize how their situation can be resolved better than having to kill themselves. Terminally ill patients are notorious for taking their lives before they can realize the mistake they are making. They believe that it is best for their situation, however, there are multiple reasons for why they should reconsider their actions before something terrible happens. Doctor assisted suicides should not be allowed because of the effects it has on the deceased loved ones and how more terminally ill patients are overcoming their disabilities.
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.
Physician Assisted Suicide Within the past decade, Physician Assisted Suicide (PAS) has become a controversial topic within the medical field. However, many people are not entirely aware of the terminology regarding PAS (3). PAS is when a physician provides the necessary means and/or information to enable the patient to perform a life-ending act (AMA). In regards to physician assisted suicide there are many positive and negative arguments that can help us decide for ourselves on how we feel about PAS.
“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
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.
Physician-assisted suicide for psychiatric patients has become a highly debated ethical issue. In the United States, only a handful of states allow for assisted death (“Physician-Assisted Suicide Fast Facts”). Growing awareness for mental health has stirred conversation about whether physician-assisted suicide should be extended to individuals with severe mental illness. For physicians, the ethical principles of beneficence, non-maleficence, and justice are in direct conflict with autonomy. Does the idea of “do no harm” outweigh the potential emotional benefit patients receive from choosing to no longer suffer from their mental illness?
Even though the ban of PAS was challenged in several court cases such as Vacco versus Quill in 1997 and Glucksberg versus Washington also in 1997, the Supreme Court and Congress left it as a state issue not a federal law because of the violation of the due process clause of the fifth amendment which states, “No person shall be… deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law…” and the fourteenth amendment which states “nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without the due process of law”. The United States Constitution allows states to prohibit physician assisted suicide but in 1997 the Supreme Court ruled that “assisted suicide is not a constitutional right” (Hall, Kermit). In 1997, U.S. Congress
In the last decade, a controversial topic in the medical field in America is about Physician-assisted suicide. Many citizens are questioning where the line stands in whether or not this goes against medical ethos, and if it is a right for terminally ill patients. While there are benefits and deficits to either side, I believe everyone should have the right to choose to participate in assisted suicide when battling a terminal illness. While a handful of states in America that include, Oregon, Washington, California, Colorado, Vermont, and with court decision, Montana have already passed the Death with Dignity Act, it is still not easily accessed and there are a lot of parameters regarding the Act ("Death with Dignity"). In Oregon you have to meet certain criteria.
One is sitting in the hospital with a terminal illness, thus he/she will be awaiting their death. How would one feel about this, would it be lonely? Euthanasia or assisted suicide is a medical personal helping a patient end his or her life to usually end suffering by way of lethal injections or in some cases drinking. Assisted suicide should be a choice a terminally ill patient should have to relieve their pain, the burden they feel, and to not live in a debilitated body. Pain is something nobody ever wants to suffer day in and day out, thus those who are slowly dying and want a way out of the pain they resort to a quicker way of ending the pain.
In the modern world, all humans have the right to live their lives as they chose to do, as long as it does not break any law. In Canada, the Charter defines these rights as an individual's own freedom in terms of freedom of speech, freedom to work, freedom to travel and any other basic structures that does not allow infringing on their human rights. Assisted dying arrives from the greek word Euthanasia - good death, or the practice of ending a life intentionally to relieve pain and suffering. Assisted dying has been an issue debated since the start of the 20th century.
Many debates and controversies arrive on topics many people don’t agree upon. Some of those topics include abortion, medical marijuana, and many more. Assisted suicide also known as euthanasia is upon those topics that many people may or may not agree on. Some may say that it helps people end the pain or suffering they may go through, others say that it is like suicide and it is wrong and unjust, in many religions it is even a sin and in others it is a way to heaven and having people waiting for you. There are some pros and cons about assisted suicide.
Some consider assisted suicide to be a cowardly act. Assisted suicide can be known for some people as an easy way out of life without having to kill themselves in a violent way. Even though they could be in a lot of pain or going through different mental stages it still is no excuse to try and kill your self. They could be using these excuses because they are in a deep depression and tired of living. Like abortion the issues of euthanasia and assisted suicide are wrapped in a complex and sometimes contradictory web of morality ,theology, philosophy, psychology, and personal experience.
Patients have the right to the kind of treatment they want. 3) Conclusion a) Physician assisted suicide can help treat the terminally ill how they would like to be treated. b) The long history of assisted suicide speaks for itself in the matter of if it should be legal or
Assisted suicide is when a terminally ill patient takes physician provided medication to help the patient commit suicide (Euthanasia 1). These are illegal in several states throughout the United States. Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide should be legal In every state of our nation. Would you ever say that your life belongs to another person? Your life belongs to you and only you.
Dying is not a person’s first choice of thinking. When people think of assisted suicide, they think it is wrong for a person to take their life. Some people think killing themselves is wrong because we were made to take care of our bodies and not harm it. Assisted suicide is necessary because a suffering person should not continue to suffer even though they know they will not make it in the end. Assisted suicide is necessary to some patients because it can make the pain go away when the patient knows they are going to die in the end, but there can be negatives to assisted suicide.