Assisted Suicide: Murder or Mercy?

2039 Words5 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Issues pertaining to doctor assisted suicide

Assisted Suicide: Murder or Mercy?
Physician assisted suicide is becoming a larger issue in our society. More people are learning about it, and that is creating more controversy. Oregon passed their Death with Dignity Act on November 8, 1994. A court battle took place in 1997 to repeal the law, but it failed. The law came into full effect in November 1997. There's a problem with this law, though. The laws in place to protect its patients from abuse are shaky. Even though legal physician assisted suicide will be hard to control, if it is handled properly, it should be legalized (Oregon Right to Life).
There are different types of suicide recognized in the United States. “Regular” suicide is the most well-known. “Regular” suicide is when a person simply kills himself with no outside help. Assisted suicide is when a person kills themselves with the help of another person. This person is usually a doctor. This is the reason it is also known as physician assisted suicide. Another type of suicide is euthanasia. Euthanasia is kind of like assisted suicide, but the person who ends up dead isn't privy to the decision of their death. An example of euthanasia is lethal injection. Lethal injection is the same way we put down our dogs, and the same way people on death row die. The final form of suicide is passive euthanasia. When passive euthanasia is chosen, most people say they are “letting nature take its course.” This could be by stopping medication, taking someone off of a ventilator, or taking someone out of the hospital (Glover).
Two of the main types of suicide are very controversial. “Regular” suicide is not illegal. It is not smiled upon, but it only involves the person himself, so no one can punish them for it. You cannot prevent...

... middle of paper ...

..."Provisions of Oregon's Death with Dignity Act." Death and Dying: End-of-Life Controversies. Detroit: Gale, 2010. Information Plus Reference Series. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 20 Nov. 2013.
Smith, Michael. "There Is No Evidence of a Slippery Slope with Right-to-Die Laws." The Right to Die. Ed. John Woodward. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2006. At Issue. Rpt. from "No 'Slippery Slope' Found with Physician Assisted Suicide." MedPage Today. 2009. Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 8 Nov. 2013.
Tucker, Kathryn L. "Assisted Suicide Works Well in Oregon." Assisted Suicide. Ed. Noël Merino. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2012. Current Controversies. Rpt. from "In the Laboratory of the States: The Progress of Glucksberg's Invitation to States to Address End-of-Life Choice." Michigan Law Review 106.8 (June 2009): 1593-1611. Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 7 Nov.

Show More
Related

  • The Debate on Whether Assisted Suicide is Ethical or Immoral

    1755 Words  | 4 Pages

    Currently, Oregon is the only state that has legalized assisted suicide. The Oregon statute, which came into e...

    Read More

  • The Pros And Cons Of Physician Assisted Suicide

    908 Words  | 2 Pages

    “On October 27, 1997 Oregon enacted the Death with Dignity Act which allows terminally-ill Oregonians to end their lives through the voluntary self-administration of lethal medications, expressly prescribed by a physician for that purpose.” (The Oregon Health Authority, 2010). Physician assisted suicide can be constructed to have reasonable laws which still protect against its abuse and the value of human life. Recent Oregon and U.K. laws show that you can craft reasonable laws that prevent abuse and still protect the value of human life. When one thinks of suicide, we think of a person who takes their own life.

    Read More

  • Physician Aid-in-Dying (PAD): The Right to Choose

    1783 Words  | 4 Pages

    Sloss, David. "The Right to Choose How to Die: A Constitutional Analysis of State Laws Prohibiting Physician-Assisted Suicide." Stanford Law Review. 48.4 (1996): 937-973. Web. 2 March 2015.

    Read More

  • Oregon's Death With Dignity Act

    1287 Words  | 3 Pages

    Office of Disease Prevention and Epidemiology. (n.d.). Frequently Asked Questions: Death with Dignity Act. Oregon Health Authority. Retrieved October 7, 2011, from http://public.health.oregon.gov/PROVIDERPARTNERRESOURCES/

    Read More

  • Physician Assisted Suicide: The Right to Choose

    2039 Words  | 5 Pages

    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...

    Read More

  • The Right to Die with Dignity: Physician Assisted Suicide

    777 Words  | 2 Pages

    There are only three states that allow physician-assisted suicide: Washington, Oregon, and Montana. Oregon became the first by enacting the Death with Dignity Act which allows terminally-ill patients to end their lives through the voluntary self-administration of lethal medications, expressly prescribed by a physician for that purpose. (Oregon.gov) In November of 2008 Washington became the second and in December of the same year Montana agreed and became the third. A poll was given to Oregon physicians in 1999, nurses, and social workers in 2001. The majority of physicians 51% supported the death with dignity act, 48% of nurses were in favor, and 72% of social workers were in support. (Miller) These polls clearly show that the majority of voters are in support of Physician assisted suicide.

    Read More

  • Physician Assisted Suicide

    986 Words  | 2 Pages

    In conclusion, all should firmly believe that physician assisted suicide should not be legalized in any state. Although it is legalized in Oregon it is not wise for any other state to follow that example. By now, all should strongly believe the growing public support for PAS still remains a very dangerous trend. The role of our physician is that of a healer, not a killer. It must be understood that in some cases the only way to relieve someone from their pain is to let them go. On the contrary, each human life has an

    Read More

  • The Pros And Cons Of Assisted Suicide

    1494 Words  | 3 Pages

    Waiting, suffering, pain, and death. These words constantly flow through the minds of people lying on their death beds. Some have cancer or life threatening diseases while others just wish they were not alive and want their lives to end. In today’s world, too many people encounter these life or death situations. Because of this, a controversy over assisted suicide has grown all over the United States. Assisted suicide, the “termination of one’s own life by the administration of a lethal substance” with the help of a physician, has been passed and made legal in a few states such as California and Oregon; however, other states are weary and unsure about passing such a disputed issue. While some people

    Read More

  • Should Physcian-Assisted Suicide be Legal

    826 Words  | 2 Pages

    Although widely condoned around the world, only one nation, the Netherlands has made physician assisted suicide legal. Five states tried Washington in 1991, California in 1992, Michigan in 1998,and main in 2000, Oregon in 1994 approved the “Death with Dignity Act” it won 51 percent to 49 percent. 91 people committed suicide with the aid of a physician in the first four years the law was in effect.

    Read More

  • The Death With Dignity Act

    1734 Words  | 4 Pages

    However, “The United States Supreme Court found that liberty as defined in the 14th Amendment does not include the right to assistance in dying” (Vacco v. Quill). It was later decided that the responsibility for determining whether assisted death should be legalized should belong to individual states. According to a report by CNN, in 1994 Oregon became the first state to legalize assisted suicide for terminally ill, mentally able adults. Today there are five states in which physician assisted suicide is legal. In Oregon, Vermont, Washington and California the option is given by each states individual laws. In Montana the patient must have a court decision. Oregon was the first state to pass the death with dignity act.

    Read More

  • Downfalls of Assisted Suicide

    680 Words  | 2 Pages

    Although Dr. Jack Kevorkian was ultimately incarcerated for murder, his practices of euthanasia sparked interest in the idea of physician-assisted death. The general consensus of the public was his actions were malpractice due to the possibility of his patients not actually wanting to die. Assisted suicide arose from the remnant of Dr. Kevorkian’s infamy. In 1994, Oregon passed a law called Death with Dignity, which legalized assisted suicide. Although many people found the law to be a social breakthrough, the implications that have arisen exemplify how assisted suicide is too complex to be legalized.

    Read More

  • Human Beings Have a Right to Die

    3634 Words  | 8 Pages

    "Legalized Physician-Assisted Suicide in Oregon ñ The Second Year." Amy D. Sullivan, Katrina Hedberg, David W. Fleming. The New England Journal of Medicine. February 24, 2000. v.342, n.8

    Read More

  • The Pros And Cons Of Assisted Suicide

    718 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • A Defense of Euthanasia

    1271 Words  | 3 Pages

    Urofsky, Melvin I. Lethal Judgments: Assisted Suicide and American Law. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2000. Print.

    Read More

  • Suicide Prevention

    1876 Words  | 4 Pages

    “Suicide is not chosen; it happens when pain exceeds resources for coping with pain” (I-10). Ending a life is a big step in the wrong direction for most. Suicide is the killing of oneself. Suicide happens every day, and everyday a family’s life is changed. Something needs to be done to raise awareness of that startling fact. Suicide is a much bigger problem than society will admit; the causes, methods, and prevention need to be discussed more openly.

    Read More

More about Assisted Suicide: Murder or Mercy?

Open Document