Persuasive Essay On Physician Assisted Suicide

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Recommended: Implications of physician assisted suicide

The will to undergo physician-assisted suicide most often comes from a fear of disability rather than as a mechanism to end the pain associated with a disability or terminal illness. In fact, polls have never found pain to be in the top three reasons for why individuals wanted assistance in their death. For instance, Amundson & Taira (2005) reported that the top three reasons individuals wanted to undergo physician assisted suicide was due to losing autonomy (84%), having a decreased ability of being able to participate in pleasurable activities (84%), and losing control over bodily functions (47%). This demonstrates that pain is not the primary factor that comes into play when individuals consider opting for physician-assisted suicide. The plethora of reasons patients want to opt for …show more content…

Calling physician assisted death a means of dying with dignity indicates that a life with disability is one that is not worthy of assistance and one not worthy of being lived. This is a widely held conception among a society who’s ideologies are deeply rooted in the belief that having a disability is an extremely undesirable outcome that leads to a decrease in life quality. Due to the fear associated with acquiring a disability “many people are convinced that death is better than the loss of (what amounts to) their self image” (Amundson & Taira, 2005, p.57). As a result of this fear many able bodied individuals are persuaded into supporting the right to physician-assisted suicide as a precaution for if they are to ever obtain a disability in the future. However, uplifting the ban on physician-assisted suicide will have many connotations that need to be addressed, as physician-assisted suicide is a complex issue with many

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