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The Pros And Cons Of Physician Assisted Suicide

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As American citizens, we are guaranteed certain unalienable rights, stated in the Declaration of Independence, “[w]e hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness” (Jefferson). Still thousands of terminally ill patients are being denied these rights as they discuss end of life care. Physicians assisted suicide involves management of life, the accomplishment of liberty from crippling diseases, and the pursuit of happiness to remove current suffering. Physician assisted suicide should be legalized around the country as an option for terminally ill patients to calmly end their life of …show more content…

Physician assisted suicide differs from “active euthanasia” which is when a doctor administers a lethal dose of drugs to a patient, to “passive euthanasia” refers to the removal of comatose or unresponsive patient from life support. Euthanasia means good death, from the Greek eu “good” and thanto “death”. It is extremely unethical to condemn a suffering patient to a lengthened life when the patient’s wish is a dignified death. The right to die is important because it is the choice of life or death for terminally ill people, who are living a life of pain and suffering. These people only have a short amount of time to live and most of the time when they come to the end of their life, it is just full of hospital visits, medical bills, and pain for them and their family. The right to die is moral and just and needs to be legalized in more states in order to help people with a very low quality in life, to help people save money on medical bills, and let people decide their own fate. Physician assisted suicide is legal in only few states: Montana, Oregon, Vermont, Washington, Washington DC, California, and Colorado. Many other states have considered enacting this right, but have received stiff opposition from religion, anti-abortion, and disability rights groups. Courts have made it legal to refuse life prolonging treatment or “pulling the plug” on life support, but the right to request medical assistance to speed dying has been argued. Many of the protests on this topic have come from people who are religious and pro-life, saying that doctors should focus on relief and curing of patients and not ending

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Today’s medical staff faces ethical dilemmas that are more perplexing, challenging, and controversial than ever before. As medical technology develops and we create more ways and machines that serve to prolong life, we face the legal and ethical debates over quality of life, patient autonomy, professional integrity, beneficence, social consequences, nonmaleficence, and the definition of death itself. Raising more ethical, moral, and practical issues than any other issue is physician assisted suicide. Physician assisted suicide is the provision of the means of ending his or her own line with the assistance of a medical professional. Arguments in defense of and in opposition to assisted death have traditionally been centered on the same bioethical

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If physician- assisted suicide was legal so many patients would be in peace not having to deal with all the pain they went through. The pain these patients are suffering from could continue for who knows how long, they should not have to go through the suffering if they don’t have to. The patient’s

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In current society a debate on a controversial topic is rocking the nation. The debate of the Right to Die has been put back on the spotlight after an advocate for the cause made the choice to end her own life after being diagnosed with a terminal disease. The Right to Die is a campaign which supports every individual's choice to die when faced with a terminal disease. A specific form is called Physician Assisted Suicide which was the way the advocate chose to die. A Physician Assisted Suicide is when a physician prescribes a competent patient a lethal dose of drugs so he/she may use to intentionally end their own life whenever they see fit.

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Only those who have been diagnosed with a terminal illness or otherwise diagnosed with a condition that will inflict intense, debilitating, and chronic pain with very little to no chance of a cure should be able to volunteer for physician-assisted suicide. According to Lois Snyder-Sulmasy and Paul S. Mueller (2017), “Ethical arguments in support of physician-assisted suicide highlight the principle of respect for patient autonomy and a broad interpretation of physician’s duty to relieve suffering. Proponents view physician-assisted suicide as an act of compassion that respects patient choice and fulfills an obligation of nonabandonment” (p. 577). The premise here is that the death process has already been initiated in those that have a terminal illness or in those that are experiencing the worst pain imaginable. Because the process is irreversible, at least in the present day, physician-assisted suicide should not only be legalized, the terminology should be changed as well.

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Assisted suicide is a tough decision that comes down to what you morally believe in. The author of the article “The right to die” believes that doctor assisted suicide should be legalized in more states than just the four that it is. He approaches the topic from an ethical standpoint, stating its rights and wrongs. This essay will include reasons as to why assisted suicide should be legalized, how the system of death should work and if it is morally right. Only in four states is assisted suicide mandated by state law: Oregon, Washington, Vermont and California.

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“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

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Physician-assisted suicide should be legal throughout the United States as a lawful medical procedure for able, terminally ill adults with a limited amount of time, because it is a compassionate response to ease the suffering of dying patients and respect their rights and freedom. Currently, Oregon, Montana, New Mexico, Vermont, and Washington have adopted this policy. It is often offensive to call this suicide, because these patients are physically healthy and are not clinically depressed. “Dying patients who see their lives being destroyed by illness sometimes come to view death as the only way to escape their suffering and, therefore, as a means of self-preservation—the opposite of suicide.” (3) For most of these patients, there are no other options but to wait and stay stagnant in their often poor quality of life.

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Physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia has been one of the most debated subjects in the past years. There are resilient advocates on both sides of the debate for and against physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia. Advocates of euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide believe it is a person ’s right to die when faced with terminal illness rather than suffer through to an unpleasant demise. Whereas, opponents contend that euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide is not only equivalent of murder, but it is ethically and morally incorrect.

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The National Public Radio (NPR) once said and states, “Advocates of assisted-suicide laws believe that mentally competent people who are suffering and have no chance of long-term survival, should have the right to die if and when they choose. If people have the right to refuse life-saving treatments, they argue, they should also have the freedom to choose to end their own lives” (NPR Staff). As a patient’s pain grows increasingly worse, their only option is to adopt physician-assisted suicide. If there is no cure or chance of

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When Suicide Is the Best Option Physician-assisted suicide is the voluntary termination of one’s own life by administration of a lethal substance with direct, or indirect assistance of a physician. This year approximately 1,228,600 people are expected to be diagnosed with cancer. Of those diagnosed 564,800 are expected to die. Why should these people have to suffer in pain before they die? Fatally ill people should be able to have the right to decide to end their pain.

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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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Fighting a terminal illness is hard for a person to experience especially since there are many devastating hardships that come with it. In the Right-to-Die Debate it argues on if people should have the choice to die with dignity and whether or not assisted suicide and the use of Euthanasia should be legal. An article states, “While 58 percent of Americans support physician-assisted suicide, 69 percent back the right to "end patient's life by painless means," showing that the people of the United States are having a hard time agreeing with the limitations on assisted suicide (2). Assisted Suicide should be legal in every state to allow someone living with a life threatening disease to feel more content on his or her passing.

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In the United States freedom, liberty, and pursuit of happiness has always been important in people’s lives, the right to choose and the right for people to do what they would like with their lives. When it comes to terminally ill patients there is a debate if it is ethical to allow them to end their life with aid from a physician. There are many names for this, euthanasia, assisted suicide, death with dignity, physician aided suicide, and right to die. It all comes down to the patient’s rights and their suffering. By legalizing assisted suicide, it will allow patients to have control of the end of their life and will allow, provide a safer, clean environment for them to pass, and ease patients suffering.

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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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The Right to Die has been taking effect in many states and is rapidly spreading around the world. Patients who have life threatening conditions usually choose to die quickly with the help of their physicians. Many people question this right because of its inhumane authority. Euthanasia or assisted suicide are done by physicians to end the lives of their patients only in Oregon, Washington, Vermont, Montana, New Mexico and soon California that have the Right to Die so that patients don’t have to live with depression, cancer and immobility would rather die quick in peace.

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