Death. It is the inevitable outcome of this journey we call life. It is human nature to embrace self-preservation and prolong life as long as possible. In the end, death comes for us all. It can come in the form of an unexpected and tragic accident. A person is taken from this world as quickly as they entered it, leaving their loved ones in shock and grieving the life that was ripped away so suddenly. But what of those who are faced with their impending death before it even happens; those who suffer from terminal illnesses or have sustained injuries that cannot be treated? In these cases, the question arises; should these individuals be allowed the option to end or receive assistance in ending their life on their own terms? Should someone suffering be given the choice to either hang on and let nature run its course or embrace death and face it without prolonging the pain. Many would argue the choice to end one’s own life would be immoral and defy the laws of God and that one who suggests taking their own life is in need of emotional or spiritual intervention. But one cannot fully grasp the emotions experienced when facing one’s own death, making the question of the morality of assisted suicide hard to weigh-. For me, humanity is what it all comes down to. When seeing a pet suffer from either illness or injury, the humane thing to do is to end their suffering. Why would this be any different for human beings? Every person should be given the freedom and the right to end their life by choice if it avoids prolonging pain and suffering. The most argued issue with assisted suicide is grounded in morals and religion. The sanctity of life is the philosophy that human life is sacred and should be protected from any form of v... ... middle of paper ... ...ice environment to be emotionally straining and a constant reminder of ones mortality as death is frequently witnessed. There are some who would prefer to spend their final moments being comforted and surrounded by their loved ones. Assisted suicide offers the individual that option. In the end, morals are the only argument surrounding the subject of assisted suicide. There is no real way of determining what is right and what is wrong. It all comes down to your own morals and beliefs regarding human life. Each of us is given our own life and throughout it, we all make our own decisions regarding our wellbeing. We can choose to smoke cigarettes, consume alcohol, speed in cars, and put our lives in danger every day. This is our right as human beings. We chose to live our lives the way we want to live them, why should we not be able to choose how we die?
If an individual wants to end their life, due to age, illness, or any other reason, they should be allowed to decide for themselves what they want. As a culture, we generally look down on suicide, and even disapprove the thought of someone wanting to die. It is often delineated as being selfish, and often leads to preventative course of action to prevent suicide. However, if someone believes that he or she has a moral right to die, and someone else agrees or disagrees, then begins an ethical dilemma. In my personal opinion, if someone wants to die, he or she should be allowed to commit suicide, or be assisted in death. There are implementations, such as not allowing anyone not of a set legal age to commit suicide or seek out an assisted death. If someone has a utilitarian approach to his or her death, believing that they have no further purpose in life, who
Velasquez, Manuel, Andre, Claire “Assisted Suicide A Right or Wrong.” Santa Clara university n.d. web 24 March 2012
The issue of physician assisted suicide has been around for quite a while. There has been many court cases on it to make it legalized but all of it has been struck down by the Supreme Court. What seem to be a lost cause in the past is now becoming a real possibility as America moves further into the twenty-first century. As citizens increase their support for PAS, many states are beginning to draft bills to legalize this cause, with tough restriction and regulation of course. In 1997, Oregon became the first state to legalized physician assisted suicide for the terminally ill. Soon after, three other states (Washington, Vermont, and Montana) follow Oregon’s footstep while two other states are inching closer to making this procedure legal. Even so, there are still many people against PAS and are constantly fighting this from becoming legal. With the rise of popularity on this issue, the debate on whether one has the right to end their life, and the morality of this issue are reason why the UTA community should care about this topic and why it is worth exploring the three position concerning PAS. In this paper, I will discuss the three main position on this debate: that physician assisted suicide should be illegal, that physician assisted suicide should be limited to terminally ill patient, and that physician assisted suicide should be available for everyone.
There are many people in this world who feel they have a justifiable reason to end their lives but are not able to do it by themselves for physical, mental, or religious reason. However, there is a procedure called Physician Assisted Suicide (PAS) where a doctor prescribes a lethal dose of a medication that kills the patient in the most humane way possible. This procedure differs from others, such as euthanasia —the act if deliberately ending a person’s life to relieve suffering —, because it is the patient who decides when to take the medication and end his life. There are many controversial debates on whether assisted suicide is right or wrong and consequently whether it should be legal. Opponents of this medical procedure, especially those with strong religious believes, maintain that regardless of one’s health condition people should never decide when to end their lives. But this controversy raises a question: who is the owner of an individual’s life? Is it the government? Is it god? Or is it the person who is struggling and therefore it should be this person’s legal right to decide when and how to give up its life? There is many views on this question based ethics, religion ---
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.
The topic of euthanasia and assisted suicide is very controversial. People who support euthanasia say that it is someone 's right to end their own life in the case of a terminal illness. Those in favor of this right consider the quality of life of the people suffering and say it is their life and, therefore, it is their decision. The people against euthanasia argue that the laws are in place to protect people from corrupt doctors. Some of the people who disagree with assisted suicide come from a religious background and say that it is against God’s plan to end one 's life. In between these two extreme beliefs there are some people who support assisted suicide to a certain degree and some people who agree on certain terms and not on others.
Today's society is now introduced to one of the most controversial issues; assisted suicide. Just like in other controversial arguments, there are many people that feel that it is wrong for people to ask their healthcare provider to end one's life; while others feel that if the person is terminally ill and has given their will to die, that they can be assisted in suicide. Though both sides are reasonable many people believe that people should not take part in helping someone take their own life, assisted suicide should be legal because, it plays a factor of conquering one’s feelings, gives an option to those whom are terminally ill or in immense pain, and every human
Assisted suicide is suicide in which a physician or someone else helps a person take his or her own life. There are several ways a patient can end his or her life through assisted suicide. According to the Postgrad Medical Journal (2006), physician-assisted suicide is defined as making a means of suicide available to a patient with knowledge of the patient's intention to kill himself or herself. The final act resulting in deat...
Abstract: Religious or moral beliefs may prevent some of us from seeking the assistance of others to hasten our own death. But should we hold others accountable because of the standards that we choose to live by? With adversaries of assisted-suicide opposing the legalization of such acts, we are forcing our beliefs onto others who prefer peace and comfort at their time of death. As Christians, non-Christians, philosophers, teachers and laypersons, we all share one very key affiliation other than life and death itself. We are born with the "freedom of will", either by the Grace of God, or some other greater force. As such, it appears logical that we have some preconceived right to choose whether or not we aggressively seek death.
The ethical issues of physician-assisted suicide are both emotional and controversial, as it struggles with the issue of life and death. If you take a moment and imagine how you would choose to live your last day, it is almost guaranteed that it wouldn’t be a day spent lying in a hospital bed, suffering in pain, continuously being pumped with medicine, and living in a strangers’ body. Today we live in a culture that denies the terminally ill the right to maintain control over when and how to end their lives. Physicians-assisted suicide “is the voluntary termination of one's own life by the administration of a lethal substance with the direct or indirect assistance of a physician” (Medical Definition of Physician-Assisted Suicide, 2017). Physician-assisted
Human life is intrinsically good, and ending life goes against what is good about the human life. The human life has a natural life expectancy and natural disasters like AIDS or Ebola. In accordance to the natural law, dying from AIDS or natural causes is morally permissible. Depending on the severity of the causes, they can either die a peaceful or a slow and painful death. But, most of the time death or an illness is uncertain. So, this issue makes people think about whether they want to partake in assisted suicide. The major obstacle is that there are people who believe in the natural law and are willing to endure the suffering for a long period. However, there are people who do not want to suffer a painful death. Assisted suicide may be the best option to end suffering. Assisted suicide would be the best option for Norma because it minimizes the suffering and maximizes the overall good. Because the utilitarian principle favors assisted suicide for those with natural illness like cancer, it is therefore morally justified.
Assisted suicide can be a positive and a negative resolution to a sick person who will eventually die. If someone is sick and they are feeling pain they would not want to bear the pain anymore. The moral philosophy of Aristotle would determine whether assisted suicide is right or wrong by that the fact that Aristotle would state the three elements in any moral problem. There are three different things to remember when you are making a judgment. The act itself; the consequences of that act; and the moral agent which is the person doing the act in question.
take into consideration if it is appropriate that assisted suicide holds up the health professional ethical principles of beneficence, and autonomy for the patient. Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem.
So what options are out there? You are a terminally ill patient drowning in debt and unable to pay the bills. But, you have a choice to stop the treatments that have no significant effect on you, or do you keep suffering? So let’s say you decide to end this agony, you know the inevitable is coming, but you want to take charge of your own death. Although the state you live in does not support your decision and only gives the option of lying in your death bed on life support. This research paper examines, if assisted suicide should be allowed in all states? Within this essay, will be points about why someone would choose to end their life, what states have legalized assisted suicide, pros and cons, and why this topic should be more talked about. Evidence will be gathered from, written sources. Sources that will likely be scholarly-reviewed journals, magazine articles and other articles from a religious viewpoint along with a doctor, family, and the patient’s viewpoint. The public should be more informed of the pros and cons to assisted suicide and which one has the greatest benefit for the patient and their families.
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.