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The Pros And Cons Of Physician Assisted Suicide

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Imagine going into a doctor’s office with a sibling. The doctor sits down to explain that she have been diagnosed with a terminal illness and only had months to live. A few months later, the illness is getting worse; she is in intolerable pain and wants it to end. The sibling asks for help, she wants to die in a peaceful way, but she wants it now. Is physician-assisted suicide an acceptable way to end the life of anyone? Physician-assisted suicide, or euthanasia, is defined as “the act or practice of causing or permitting the death of hopelessly sick or injured individuals in a relatively painless way for reasons of mercy.” The controversy over euthanasia pits courts, medical professionals, and the ill against questions of reason, laws, and …show more content…

Some people feel that death is a part of their responsibility in life and also the timing of death to help end their suffering and their families. Physician-assisted suicide is a way for people to choose to die with dignity. When someone wants to die they feel as if their own existence is so bad that they would be better off dead (Balkin). There are many examples of patients wanting the aid of a physician to end their lives but where euthanasia is illegal patients have found other ways to end their suffering. Nicholas Loving, who was Dr. Kevorkian's youngest patient, was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s disease at the age of twenty-seven. It had gotten to the point in his journey that all of his muscles were being affected by the disease. Loving was bound to a bed and was having someone feed him when he came to the decision that he wanted to die. He was tired of fighting the incurable disease. On May 12, 1995, Nicholas Loving left this Earth with the help of Dr. Kevorkian and his carbon monoxide machine (Loving). On June 11, 1996, a woman named Ruth Neuman was assisted by Dr. Kevorkian to end her life. Neuman was suffering from terminal uterine cancer and after a series of strokes was left paralyzed on the left side of her body. When taken to the hospital,

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