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Right to die argumentative essay
Right to die argumentative essay
Right to die argumentative essay
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The Deaths of Nancy Cruzan follows an ordinary family's unexpected journey to the United States Supreme Court. The book goes behind the scenes at the painful human cost exacted in a highly public legal battle. It is the true story of an American tragedy that could visit any of us in an instant. In 1983, Nancy Beth Cruzan lapsed into an irreversible coma from an auto accident in Jasper County, Missouri. Cruzan was discovered lying face down in a ditch without detectable respiratory or cardiac function. Paramedics were able to restore her breathing and heartbeat at the accident site, and she was transported to a hospital in an unconscious state. An attending neurosurgeon diagnosed her as having sustained cerebral injuries combined with significant lack of oxygen. The estimated length of the period without oxygen was twelve to fourteen minutes. (Permanent brain damage generally results after six minutes without oxygen.) After the accident Nancy was not breathing on her own and was connected to a machine, five days later she was breathing on her own and the respirator was disconnected. She remained in a coma for approximately three weeks and then progressed to an unconscious state in which she was able to orally ingest some nutrition. She was moved out of ICU into a private room where the family tried on a daily basis to get a response. In order to ease feeding and further the recovery, surgeons implanted a gastrostomy feeding and hydration tube in Cruzan with the consent of her then husband. Nancy's parents Joe (Lester) and Joyce stayed at the hospital around the clock sleeping on couches and chairs. Her sister Chris visited as much as she could while her two daughters Miranda and Angie were in school. Nancy and Chris were be... ... middle of paper ... ... others with decision making at the end of life through the Cruzan Foundation.The Cruzan case drew national attention, and the family was put under media throughout the process. Missouri now allows health care directives (though not living wills) to instruct that medically assisted nutrition and hydration be removed after a diagnosis of permanent or persistent vegetative state has been made. The Cruzan case became the first "right to die" argument ever heard by the United States Supreme Court. The deaths of Nancy refers to the near fatal car accident, which left her unable to respond to anyone; the family's realization that she would never be the person she was; and the actual physical release that Colby and the Cruzans fought to achieve. Attorney Colby tells of a family suffering the loss of a daughter, but unable to gain closure due to interfering medical care.
Terri Schiavo is a forty year old women who had a severe heart attack 15 years ago which resulted in brain damage. She had no living will so there is no legal document of what she would have wanted if she became brain damage and couldn’t function on her own but her husband, Michael Schiavo, says that after 15 years of being on a feeding tube she would have wanted to die. The question is should he have the right to remove the feeding tube? Anybody who knows me will know that my answer is no! The reason for that is because I am a Christian and I do not believe in terminating someone’s life. It’s my belief that as long as a persons heart is beating he or she stills has life in them.
A living will is a type of advanced health care directive, which states an individual’s wishes for health care treatment when he/she is terminally ill. Living wills are often applied to end-of-life decision making when patients are no longer deemed competent to direct care for themselves. The form of living wills can vary widely. But, most address whether or not to use life-prolong medical treatment such as CPR, respirators, and artificial nutrition and hydration. These documents can also contain information about the importance of quality of life for patients and can name a healthcare proxy to make medical decisions in their place. Having a living will allows individuals to state their
There is great debate in this country and worldwide over whether or not terminally ill patients who are experiencing great suffering should have the right to choose death. A deep divide amongst the American public exists on the issue. It is extremely important to reach an ethical decision on whether or not terminally ill patients have this right to choose death, since many may be needlessly suffering, if an ethical solution exists.
1976- The New Jersey Supreme Court rules that the parents of Karen Ann Quinlan, who has been in a tranquilizer-and-alcohol-induced coma for a year, can remove her respirator. She dies nine years later.
In What Dying People Want, Kuhl comments, "Dying involves choice"(xviii). People choose what they wear, what they do, and what they will eat on a day to day basis. Choosing how, when, or why sick people die is just like an everyday decision for them. This however, has not been accomplished by some individuals in this Country. Americans have the right of choice. When a patient communicates the desire to die, the inspection of acceptability for palliative care begins instantly. Inspections include evaluation of pain management, depression, anxiety, family burnout, spirituality and other observed issues (Baird and Rosenbaum 100). When working or living with an elder, never ignore the words "I want to die". If this is ignored, that person will not receive their wishes they deserve. Countries are starting to understand that people should be able to die if they choose, "In the United States there are assisted dying laws restricted to terminally ill and mentally competent adults" (Firth). The assisted dying law is only in Oregon, Montana, Washington, Vermont, and California. That is five states out of fifty states. This must be expanded to all fifty states because all individuals have the right of this law. In 2013, Vermont passed an "End of Life Choices" bill. This bill allows terminally ill people to get
Should terminally ill patients have the right to choose how they would like to die? There ar...
Many people wonder if we as citizens have the right to die. There are some legal and illegal ways to go about doing so. Euthanasia is by law illegal in the United States. However, there are some states that have legalized physician assisted suicide. As we wait for more states to follow the steps of the other states, we wonder why they have not done so already. There have been many famous cases that occurred over the past couple decades that given states reason to legalize physician assisted suicide. Nonetheless, there are still the pros and cons to why physician assisted suicide should be legal or illegal. It is safe to say that the establishment of living wills, the patient bill of rights and natural death laws have allowed the U.S. to come a long way since 1906.
St. Olaf College's theme for Women's History Month is "Women in Politics." The featured guest speaker was Sarah Weddington, the attorney who, in 1973, argued the winning side of Roe vs. Wade before the United States Supreme Court. This decision significantly influenced women's reproductive rights by overturning the Texas interpretation of abortion law and making abortion legal in the United States.
In the article 'A Defense of Abortion' Judith Jarvis Thomson argues that abortion is morally permissible even if the fetus is considered a person. In this paper I will give a fairly detailed description of Thomson main arguments for abortion. In particular I will take a close look at her famous 'violinist' argument. Following will be objections to the argumentative story focused on the reasoning that one person's right to life outweighs another person's right to autonomy. Then appropriate responses to these objections. Concluding the paper I will argue that Thomson's 'violinist' argument supporting the idea of a mother's right to autonomy outweighing a fetus' right to life does not make abortion permissible.
Whether or not it is acceptable for a terminally ill patient to end their life with physician assistance is widely debated on moral and ethical grounds. Assisted dying is in some way legal in Belgium, the Netherlands, Ireland, Columbia, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Germany, Japan, Albania, Canada, and in the U.S. states of Washington, Oregon, Vermont, New Mexico, Montana, and California. The first euthanasia law, though unsuccessful, was drafted in 1906. The first legalization under certain circumstances came in 1983. Assisted dying comes with legal, ethical, medical, moral, and religious contention. Opponents may believe in the preservation of life for as long as possible. They may believe that ending one’s life purposefully is against medical practice. They may also find the practice morally abhorrent, for personal or religious reasons. Some opponents simply cite that suicide is illegal and assisted dying is akin to suicide, and stepping too close to the edge of the law. Proponents of the right to assisted dying believe, often for moral reasons, that it is a viable option and should be legal and open to those who want it. They argue that a terminally ill person’s decision to end their life while they still maintain the quality of life and dignity they desire is a fundamental right every person should be afforded should they become terminally ill, and
Countries throughout South America, Europe, and Asia, and states throughout America have come to legalize euthanasia by not attempting to determine how much pain a person can endure. In the US legal measures such as the Death with Dignity Act of Oregon and Washington have been made to keep the terminally ill patient’s life from being unnecessarily miserable. In Vermont, a similar law was proposed and passed under act thirty-nine of the End of Life Choices. In Montana, physician assisted suicide was legalized after the Baxter v. Montana case, when terminally ill Robert Baxter decided to end his life with the assistance of his doctors.The court found that under the Montana Constitution a death with dignity right did in fact exist. Other global legal provisions include those of Belgium, which has has legal physician assisted suicide since September of 2002, which requires two physicians and psychologist to be apart of the process. As of May 10th, 2010 the Colombian Constitutional Court outlines the terminal conditions that would make it legal to terminate their lives, these include: AIDS, cancer, liver failure, etc. In 2002, the Netherlands officially legalized euthanasia, even though it was being permitted since the 1980s. All of the laws and provisions made to legalize physician assisted suicide were made with the patient’s autonomy right in mind to save their families from emotional distress and financial instability. These governments realized that patients have the right to determine their treatment options and if that means death than they also have the right to die humanely and with dignity. Physicians as well as families recognize that in the face of death, those who are terminally ill lose hope in life and should be supported in their
On April 15, 1975, the Quinlan family received a tragic phone call at approximately 2am; their daughter, Karen Ann, was in a coma. Earlier that evening, Quinlan was at a party and consumed drugs and alcohol. She became unconscious and eventually fell into an irreversible coma. She was conditioned to be in a persistent vegetative state. Since she was unable to recover from her coma, Quinlan’s parents requested her life support to be withheld. The removal of life support was more complicated than what the Quinlan family imagined it to be. They had to take the case to court to have the request approved. The first round in Superior court, the Quinlans lost. Eventually, the family took the case to the New Jersey Supreme Court. The court ruled that Quinlan’s father is appointed as her guardian and can make any decision regarding her care. It took the family over a year to have the approval to remove their daughter from life support; it took five days for Karen Ann Quinlan to be weaned off her respirator. Miraculously, she was able to breathe on her own for the next nine years until she died of pneumonia. This case led to the creation of the “living will” and required medical institutions to allow patients to live their last stage in life with dignity and respect (Karen Ann Quinlan Hospice
When I initially think of the right to die, I think of terminally ill patients. I think of physician assisted suicide. I believe that if you are terminally ill, meaning there is no chance of recovery, you should have the right to determine when it’s time to die. You and only you, as the patient, should be able to determine when the suffering should stop.
The living will is the principle right by law in the United States for all citizens of adult age who are competent to control the course of treatment regarding their body. That includes surgery and the surgeon who must have the patient’s consent to operate, and the use of any life-sustaining treatment, the administration of any type of aggressive therapies, such as the kind used for cancer, and other terminal diseases once the patient has gone beyond medical ability to restore the patient to a decent quality of health. This is when the instruction of the patient’s desires in the living will is crucial. It instructs the physicians how to proceed with wishes of the patient, such as not allowing any prolonging of life sustaining treatment. The
McGowan, C. M. (2011). Legal issues. Legal aspects of end-of-life care. Critical Care Nurse, 31(5), 64-69. doi:10.4037/ccn2011550