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The Pros And Cons Of Euthanasia And Assisted Suicide

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Imagine your best friend is terminally ill and getting worse each day, would you rather have him/her die in pain or die with little to no pain at all? Euthanasia helps suffering people die a short, painless death. The patient also gets a say in when and if they die most of the time. In Annapolis, Maryland, a 16 year old watched and assisted his girlfriend with her suicide. The boy had stolen a .38 caliber handgun from his father and gave it to his girlfriend for her to use to commit suicide. He was charged with assisting in a suicide because it was illegal in the state of Maryland. If euthanasia was legal in all states, things like this wouldn’t happen. Euthanasia is legal in 5 US States, Switzerland, Belgium, and the Netherlands.The 5 states …show more content…

Oregon’s “Death with Dignity Act” allows terminally ill Oregon residents to use prescriptions in lethal doses. Ludwig Minelli, founder of Dignitas, (A swiss suicide clinic) stated “The idea of a terminal illness as a condition for assisted suicide is a British obsession. We never say no. Even those suffering from Alzheimer's will have lucid moments in which they may choose to die. We would never assist the death of someone with acute depression... But if somebody comes after 10 or 12 years of depression and says they do not want to prolong their life under such conditions, then we might help them to die. We should not start from the premise that suicide should not happen.” At the moment, not much is being done to legalize euthanasia within the states, but in Australia, people are still fighting to keep the “Rights of The Terminally Ill” law …show more content…

54% of medical practitioners support euthanasia, and about 86% of the public support it. The minimum age for euthanasia is 18 in most places. However, Belgium passed a child euthanasia law to allow children born with diseases that will probably kill them later on in life to die a quick, painless death. Although child euthanasia is legal in Belgium, many other countries that have legalized euthanasia have had people pushing for child euthanasia to be legal as well, but they have never succeeded.
Jack Kevorkian, a widely known PAD and Euthanasia advocate, had began his campaign on June 4th, 1990. He had assisted the suicide of a woman diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease, but at the time Michigan had no law on Euthanasia so Kevorkian was not arrested. Kevorkian’s next assisted suicide took place on October 23rd, 1991. He treated two women, one with multiple sclerosis and one with chronic pelvic pain. He was arrested for murder but the case was dismissed. However, Kevorkian had drawn a lot of attention to himself and assisted suicide. As a result, euthanasia was later announced

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“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.

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He did not get into trouble with the law until he submitted a recording of him administering a lethal injection to a patient. He was charged with second degree murder and sentenced 10 to 25 years. Some previous physicians spoke out against Dr. Kevorkian stating that not all his patients were terminally ill. This is the slippery slope that J. Gay-Williams talks about in his piece titled The Wrongfulness

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Numerous legal issues are present in the trials of Dr. Kevorkian. All the issues circulate around the question, is Dr. Kevorkian’s actions in assisting a person with suicide and sometimes personally ending the person’s life considered murder if they want to willfully die? This issue cannot be easily solved, that is why to this day it is still argued in legislation. It contains an objective legal aspect, but a subjective moral, therefore until one is personally in that tragic situation, they cannot really state what is the right or wrong thing to do. A large issue in this case was not only that Dr. Kevorkian was assisting people in committing suicide, which is illegal in the state of Michigan, but he was also using doctor issued medicine and practicing without a medicine license.

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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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"Physician-assisted suicide isn 't about physicians becoming killers. It 's about patients whose suffering we can 't relieve and about not turning away from them when they ask for help” says Dr. Peter Rogatz. Assisted suicide isn’t an option for most terminally ill patients and even the patients that to decide they want the prescription, up to 40% of them never even take the pills. All doctors for assisted suicide just want to help their patients from living and dying in pain. Others think that assisted suicide should be legal because it will save the United States and the Government money.

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The author agrees with Oregon that assisted suicide is legal, but does not agree with the fact that it is only offered to the terminally ill. I also agree that it should be legalized, but I agree with Oregon’s law that it should only be offered to the terminally ill. What if the patient just hasn’t received the proper care yet? I will go into more detail about that further into my essay. In Montana, assisted suicide is mandated by court

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“The question of whether or not euthanasia is ethical revolves around the meaning of human existence. Those who favor euthanasia argue that human life only has meaning when the individual is free from unendurable physical and mental suffering” (“Preface to ‘Is Euthanasia Ethical?’” 1). Physician-assisted suicide is a practice that was first introduced by Dr.Jack Kevorkian in June of 1990 (“Chronology of Dr.Jack Kevorkian’s Life”, 1), in which a patient is either injected with life-ending drugs or given a carbon monoxide mask to place over their mouth and nose in order to end his or her life (Jackson 3).While this practice may sound harsh and unethical, it is the exact opposite; assisted suicide grants terminally-ill patients the option to end their suffering early and to avoid the loss of meaning to their life (“Preface to ‘Is Euthanasia Ethical?’”, 1). When a person is faced with the possibility of suffering through a dehumanizing and humiliating death, they should always be given the option of legally undergoing physician-assisted suicide; this option benefits both the patient and their family by allowing the patient a chance to end their life in a euphoric state, eliminating the costs of long term care, and to allow a morally acceptable

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For individuals with mental illness in New Zealand, the most common cause of premature death is suicide (Monasterio 77). Legalizing physician-assisted suicide could allow individuals with suicidal ideation to die peacefully. While this is a relevant and compelling position, it is not sufficient. Every case of mental illness is different, so they all need to be considered independently (Brodeur 19). A different deontological take would be that the physician would be violating the idea of what it is to be a physician by participating in assisted suicide.

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In the United States there are six states that have their own modifications on allowing Physician Assisted Suicide. Oregon became the first state to legalize assisted suicide for terminally ill, mentally competent adults in 1994, followed by Washington and Vermont. California was then the fifth state to sign the “Right to Die” bill legalizing Physician Assisted Suicide. Many

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Jack Kevorkian’s case opened the eyes of the people and his actions had lasting effects on the Nation. According to the existing Hippocratic Oath, “an oath or promise all physicians must swear to uphold regarding the ethical practices of the medical profession.” (“Assisted Suicide”) This oath was a guide in many states decisions regarding assisted suicide cases. In 1997, the Supreme Court banned assisted suicide laws in New York and Washington.

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1424 Words | 6 Pages

Patients who decide to end their lives but lack the proper resources for physician-assisted suicide will take drastic measures to end their lives. As described in a YouTube video The New York Times uploaded, “Jack Kevorkian and the Right to Die” many patients still find ways to end their lives, often more dreadful and burdensome. The video described how many patients choose to starve themselves to accelerate their time of death or relocate to a state where physician-assisted suicide is allowed. Despite the illegalization of physician-assisted suicide, patients determined to end their lives continue to find methods to go through with their desires. By not allowing people to have the proper means to end their lives, they turn to more drastic and painful measures to force death upon themselves.

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Legalization of physician-assisted suicide has been in discussion throughout the years in the United States. While many state and federal lawmakers have this up in discussion, the state of Oregon is the only U.S state were physician-assisted suicide is legal. Not only is assisted suicide illegal, the use of euthanasia is also an illegal substance being prescribed to patients. There are four distinguished types of euthanasia, all with different meanings that are mentioned later on in the text. Over the last forty years and counting, Pakes had informed that the views of physician-assisted suicide have been changing, and it is still ongoing today.

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According to the article Dangers of Euthanasia by Nathaniel Centre, suicidal thoughts can sometimes be associated depression. This is one of the many risks of euthanasia, or physician assisted suicide. Many people also like to consider that if this procedure becomes legal, it will then be difficult to distinguish between an assisted suicide and a murder. This statement is inaccurate because of the extent of permission that the patient has to go through to receive this permission. For instance, there needs to be proof that the patient has a terminal disease as well as all of the correct paperwork that needs to be received by the government as well as multiple medical offices and second opinion doctors.

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The possible legalization of euthanasia can cause a great disturbance in how people view life and death and the simplicity of how they would treat it. "There are many fairly severely handicapped people for whom a simple, affectionate life is possible." (Foot, p. 94) As demonstrated, the decision of terminating a person 's life is a very fragile and difficult one, emotionally and mentally. Nevertheless, it’s a choice we can make if it is passive euthanasia being expressed.

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There are real case incidents in which a 14 year old girl suffering from terminal cystic fibrosis is asking her country’s president for permission to end her life. She had self shot a video in which she says “I am tired of living this disease and she can authorize an injection through which I can sleep forever”. The girl's video has sparked a broader conversation about whether euthanasia should be legalized in the largely Catholic nation. According to me we should let euthanasia be legal as there is no significance in keeping them alive against their wish as we don’t know how much they are suffering. Another incident is where the woman moved to Oregon where euthanasia is legal to take advantage of Oregon’s death with Dignity Law.

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