Is The Choice Really Yours?

840 Words2 Pages

Do you want to place a bet? What are the odds on this bet? Fifty to one? Seventy-five to one? Or zero to one? With these odds, the core questions asked by terminally and non-terminally ill individuals, Federal and State lawmakers and health professionals today, should it be legal to have the choice of physician-assisted suicide? In this synthesis, I will outline proponents and opponents arguments: moral, legal, and health care professional options on the “right to die” decision. “If wisdom is rooted in the knowledge of the alternatives of choice, it must be reliably informed of the state one is in and its likely outcome. Each one should be permitted to make his own choice-especially when no one else is harmed by it. The responsibility for the decision, whether deemed wise or foolish must be with the chooser.” (Hook p239). The quote from Sidney Hook, “In Defense of Voluntary Euthanasia”, is also how Kenneth Swift, a contributor to the LA Times feels “as death should be an option for the dying”. (Swift p242) While working in Oregon Vital records division (2006-2009) approximately 46.4 Oregonians per year succumbed under the Death with Dignity Act over the last 10 years. (DHS website). Based on statistical information from the Division Of Human Services the request for prescriptions rose from 25 in 1998 to 95 in 2009 (26% increase). The actual death toll was 15 in Wray2 1998 to 59 in 2009 (25% increase). That is an estimated ¼% increase in deaths by patients request in the State of Oregon. Therefore, Attorney General Janet Reno’s statement of “the death toll in Oregon will really begin to rise now” is a fallacy. (Wagner p240) The moral questions terminally ill patients frequently mentioned were end-of-life ... ... middle of paper ... ...de law. Some are moral reasoning, while others are legal reasoning So, should the decision to choose physician-assisted suicide be an individual, legal, or medical one? The right to die is a deep question. It might come to a point in your own life or another’s that you might have to decide. Are you willing to still place that bet? Works Cited Hook, Sidney. “In Defense of Voluntary Euthanasia.” New York Times 1987: 237-239. Print. Swift, Kenneth. “The Right to Choose Death.” LA Time June 2005: 242-244. Print. Oregon.gov. State of Oregon Department of Human Services. 2010. Web. 1 June 2010. Wagner, Teresa. “Promoting a Culture of Abandonment.” Family Research Center Council. 2005. 239-242. Rudden,, Lawrence & Bradley Gerard. “Death and the Law: Why the Government Has an Interest in Preserving Life.” World and I May 2003: 244-246. Print

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