Imagine yourself lying in bed at the hospital hooked up to all sorts of machines that are just barely keeping you alive. Imagine the pain and suffering you are in on a daily bass and the medication being given to you isn’t cutting it any longer and all the doctors and nurses can do for you is just keep you comfortable. The doctors have literally given you no chance of survival and death is imminent. You have taken the time you have left to say your good-byes, came to terms with dying, and you are ready to leave this world. If you could choose to end your life instead of wasting away, would you take advantage of it?
Death is the inevitable fate of all humans. When facing death, the question may arise as to whether or not third parties should be allowed to intentionally end the life of the patient or help the patient commit suicide.
Physician’s assisted suicide should be a legal option for terminally ill patients all throughout the United States. Currently in the US there are three states that have physician assisted suicide laws in place. Oregon was the first state to pass a law allowing physicians to help end the lives of the terminally ill. This law was called the 1997 Death with Dignity Act. Washington was the second state that passed this law in 2008; they called this law the Initiative Measure No. 1000 which is also known as the Washington Death and Dignity Act. Both states law have the same requirements for which patient qualifies for a Physician’s assisted suicide. The first requirement is that the patient is an adult, must be 18 years of age or older. The second requirement is that the patient has to be competent, this part of the requirement is set in place so that the patient themselves can make an informed decision...
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... while preserving the value of human life. A terminally ill patient who is just waiting for his/her imminent death should be allowed to express his/her freedom by asking a Physician to help them to pass on. I believe that Physician’s assisted suicide should be legalized in all the United States so the terminally ill in every state are not denied their right to freedom and can leave this world on their own note giving them back the power that their illness took away from them. You wouldn’t let your pet suffer from his/her pain and suffering, so why not give the terminally ill the same dignity and let them be the voice of their own life!
References
(http://physician-assisted.weebly.com/pros-and-cons.html) (http://endlink.lurie.northwestern.edu/physician_assisted_suicide_debate/what.cfm) (http://www.focusonthefamily.com/socialissues/social-issues/euthanasia.aspx)
Should people have the right to kill themselves if they’re on the verge of dying? People are allowed to kill themselves in everyday life, so why can’t a person who knows that there is no way he will be able recover from his illness choose to end his life on his own terms? Many people don’t support and agree with assisted suicide. Even though many people don’t believe in physician assisted suicide, there are people suffering when they shouldn’t have too. A person who is terminally ill should have the right to choose to die if they choose.
Diane: A Case of Physician Assisted Suicide. Diane was a patient of Dr. Timothy Quill, who was diagnosed with acute myelomonocytic leukemia. Diane overcame alcoholism and had vaginal cancer in her youth. She had been under his care for a period of 8 years, during which an intimate doctor-patient bond had been established.
I would not want my family to be forced to watch me suffer and be in excruciating pain twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. I would want to save my family from that and save them the burden of giving up their lives to take care of me and pay for all the medication that will never save my life. I rather give them many happy memories to live on with of me and the things we’ve done together. I would never want their last image of me to be in a bed dying in pain that can't be helped. I have seen way to many people suffer from an illness, that has no cure. I’m sure if they had a choice, they’d want the option of assisted suicide. I’d want to die happy and on my own terms and I feel that many people want that and should have the option for
It should not be up to anybody except the dying patient. There are only four states that have legalized assisted suicide.
gotten to the point where they feel as if there is no point in living.
Did you know, about 57% of physicians today have received a request for physician assisted suicide due to suffering from a terminally ill patient. Suffering has always been a part of human existence, and these requests have been occurring since medicine has been around. Moreover, there are two principles that all organized medicine agree upon. The first one is physicians have a responsibility to relieve pain and suffering of dying patients in their care. The second one is physicians must respect patients’ competent decisions to decline life-sustaining treatment. Basically, these principles state the patients over the age of 18 that are mentally stable have the right to choose to end their life if they are suffering from pain. As of right now, Oregon, Washington, and Vermont have legalized physician assisted suicide through legislation. Montana has legalized it via court ruling. The first Death with Dignity Act (DWDA) became effective in Oregon in 1997. Washington and Vermont later passed this act in 2009, and Montana passed the Rights of the Terminally Ill Act in 2008. One concern with physician assisted suicide is confusion of the patient’s wishes. To get rid of any confusion and provide evidence in case someone becomes terminally ill, people should make an advanced care plan. The two main lethal drugs that are used during physician assisted suicide are secobarbital and pentobarbital. Appropriate reporting is necessary when distributing these drugs and performing the suicide in order to publish an analysis. Studies found a large number of people accepted this procedure under certain circumstances; therefore, physician assisted suicide should be legal in the United States because terminally ill patients over the age of 18 that are...
Imagine your laying in a hospital bed hooked up to various machines. The doctors and nurses are persistently coming in to check up on you while you’re trying to get through the pain, weakness and slow wasting away of your body. On top of that you are grieving the side effects from numerous drugs, constipation, restlessness, you can barely breathe. You have no appetite because you are constantly throwing up. The doctors have given you little to no chance of survival; and death is at hand, it is just a matter of when. You have said your goodbyes, you have come to terms with dying and you are ready to meet your creator. Now if you had the chance to choose how and when your life ended would you take advantage of it?
Physician assisted suicide is being debated more and more. “The large number of baby boomers facing end-of-life issues themselves is seen to have made the issue more prominent in recent years,” states Susan Haigh. Cathy Ludlum, a disabled rights activist, contributes her opinion. She says she wishes more people would focus on giving them a better life, rather than a better death (Haigh). Additionally, Physician assisted suicide would be granted to those with a terminal illness. The problem is that the word “terminal” has many different definitions. Some define it as something that is going to cause death eventually, while others say it is something that causes death to happen in under 6 months (Marker and Hamlon). Who and what is going to determine what is considered terminal enough for this procedure? Another concern is people petitioning to do assisted physician suicide, if they do not meet the requirements. Why would someone want to do this if they were not terminally ill? It could be the best option for the patient’s fami...
Terminally ill patients should have the legal option of physician-assisted suicide. Terminally ill patients deserve the right to control their own death. Legalizing assisted suicide would relive families of the burdens of caring for a terminally ill relative. Doctors should not be prosecuted for assisting in the suicide of a terminally ill patient. We as a society must protect life, but we must also recognize the right to a humane death. When a person is near death, in unbearable pain, they have the right to ask a physician to assist in ending their lives.
As patients come closer to the end of their lives, certain organs stop performing as well as they use to. People are unable to do simple tasks like putting on clothes, going to the restroom without assistance, eat on our own, and sometimes even breathe without the help of a machine. Needing to depend on someone for everything suddenly brings feelings of helplessness much like an infant feels. It is easy to see why some patients with terminal illnesses would seek any type of relief from this hardship, even if that relief is suicide. Euthanasia or assisted suicide is where a physician would give a patient an aid in dying. “Assisted suicide is a controversial medical and ethical issue based on the question of whether, in certain situations, Medical practioners should be allowed to help patients actively determine the time and circumstances of their death” (Lee). “Arguments for and against assisted suicide (sometimes called the “right to die” debate) are complicated by the fact that they come from very many different points of view: medical issues, ethical issues, legal issues, religious issues, and social issues all play a part in shaping people’s opinions on the subject” (Lee). Euthanasia should not be legalized because it is considered murder, it goes against physicians’ Hippocratic Oath, violates the Controlled
The right to assisted suicide is a significant topic that concerns people all over the United States. The debates go back and forth about whether a dying patient has the right to die with the assistance of a physician. Some are against it because of religious and moral reasons. Others are for it because of their compassion and respect for the dying. Physicians are also divided on the issue. They differ where they place the line that separates relief from dying--and killing. For many the main concern with assisted suicide lies with the competence of the terminally ill. Many terminally ill patients who are in the final stages of their lives have requested doctors to aid them in exercising active euthanasia. It is sad to realize that these people are in great agony and that to them the only hope of bringing that agony to a halt is through assisted suicide.When people see the word euthanasia, they see the meaning of the word in two different lights. Euthanasia for some carries a negative connotation; it is the same as murder. For others, however, euthanasia is the act of putting someone to death painlessly, or allowing a person suffering from an incurable and painful disease or condition to die by withholding extreme medical measures. But after studying both sides of the issue, a compassionate individual must conclude that competent terminal patients should be given the right to assisted suicide in order to end their suffering, reduce the damaging financial effects of hospital care on their families, and preserve the individual right of people to determine their own fate.
Thesis Statement: Physician assisted suicide or euthanasia may offer an accelerated and pain relieved alternative to end someone’s suffering, therefore people should not be denied the right to die especially when faced with terminal illnesses.
Throughout the course of history, death and suffering have been a prominent topic of discussion among people everywhere. Scientists are constantly looking for ways to alleviate and/or cure the pain that comes with the process of dying. Treatments typically focus on pain management and quality of life, and include medication and various types of therapy. When traditional treatments are not able to eliminate pain and suffering or the promise of healing, patients will often consider euthanasia or assisted suicide. Assisted suicide occurs when a person is terminally ill and believes that their life is not worth living anymore. As a result of these thoughts and feelings, a physician or other person is enlisted to “assist” the patient in committing suicide. Typically this is done by administering a lethal overdose of a narcotic, antidepressant or sedative, or by combining drugs to create an adverse reaction and hasten the death of the sick patient. Though many people believe that assisted suicide is a quick and honorable way to end the sufferings of a person with a severe illness, it is, in fact, morally wrong. Assisted suicide is unethical because it takes away the value of a human life, it is murder, and it opens the door for coercion of the elderly and terminally ill to seek an untimely and premature death. Despite the common people’s beliefs, assisted suicide is wrong and shouldn’t be legalized.
The question of whether or not an individual has the right to decide to end their life when they are suffering from terminal illness has long been at the center of many debates for a long time. This is perhaps because American society has often taken the stance that the life of the human being is sacred and therefore we must do whatever is needed to protect it. It is for this reason that the thought of a doctor assisting in ending a human life even when a person is suffering from terminal illness is quite taboo. However I take the view that a person faced with terminal illness does hold the right to choose to end their life with the assistance of a
Within the medical community euthanasia is a controversial issue which arises when the death could be a viable and acceptable alternative to life. According to Medical News Today, euthanasia is defined as “a deliberate action with the express intention of ending a life to relieve intractable, persistent, and unstoppable suffering.” The practice has been deemed illegal in a variety of countries and states, but some people may sympathize with the patient’s desire to end suffering through death. With all the medical advances over time, society has been able to keep individuals biologically alive. Yet certain terminal diseases could cause so much suffering and pain that some people rather die instantly then wait to live for only a bit longer. A