Should patients with non-standard reasons such as non-terminal conditions (i.e. pain, disability, depression, free choice and etc.) have the right to end their own lives with physician-assisted suicide?
Physician-assisted suicide is a highly emotional and controversial ethical debate on whether patients have rights to end their lives with the lethal drug. A physician-assisted suicide is when a doctor helps a patient who is dying with the aid or instructions on how to commit life-ending acts (Gopal, 2015). In the United States there are five states (i.e. Oregon, Vermont, California, Colorado, Washington and Washington, DC) that legalized physician-assisted suicide but in one state (i.e. Montana) status is in dispute. Five states require an approval upon legislation whereas one state needs approval through a court ruling. Notably, the courts recognize the rights of patients to “die with dignity” however, others see these states encouraging patients to request the lethal injection to not become a burden on others instead of not suffering in pain or even fear of future pain. In this essay, I will focus on the six states law on physician-assisted suicide on the patients terminal condition or disease and whether patients with non-standard reasons such as non-terminal conditions (i.e. pain, disability, depression, free choice, etc.) have the right to end their own lives with physician-assisted suicide by the law.
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pain, disability, depression, free choice, etc.) to not become a burden to others is not permissible to address one's