Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Right to die argumentative essay
Right to die argumentative essay
Physician assisted suicide, the right to choose
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Right to die argumentative essay
Living life at age twenty-eight is an amazing adventure. People are at their prime – being active and living life to the fullest. However, for Nancy Cruzan, a terrible car accident took that all away. One night, driving on a quiet road in Missouri, Nancy’s car rolled off the road and into a ditch. For twenty minutes she lay there alone and lifeless. Then, a paramedic car drove by and saw the car in distress. They pulled Nancy out, and miraculously revived her back to life. However, she had damaged her cerebral cortex, the vital end of the brain that gives humans all motor functions, senses, and communication. Nancy was left in what is called a persistent vegetative state (PVS), which “is a legal term defined in 765.101 (12) Florida statutes as: ‘a permanent and irreversible condition of unconsciousness in which there is – a) the absence of voluntary action or cognitive behavior of any kind; and b) an inability to communicate or interact purposefully with the environment.” (Snow 3). Many people refer to this state as being a “vegetable.” After contemplating the situation for a long while, Nancy’s family decided that it would be best to remove the feeding tube that was forcibly keeping her alive. However, Nancy had no living will or health care power of attorney which was needed by law to remove the tube. Does her family have the right to make the decision to end her life, when she cannot make that decision herself? Who does have that right? Do people have the right to die?
This incident started many people thinking about what they believe about the issue of the right to die and physician assisted suicide. The story of Nancy Cruzan is only single scenario out of many that people have to decide where they...
... middle of paper ...
...ec. 24 November 1998. Video. Right to Die. Public Broadcasting System, Oregon.
Newman, Ed. “Part Five: Making The Final Choice: Should Physician-Assisted Suicide Be Legalized.” The Truth Seeker 121.5 (1992). 15 October 2005
http://www.cp.duluth.mn.us/~ennyman/DAS-5.html>
Newman, Ed. “Part Three: Local Perspectives on the Right to Die Debate.” Detroit Free Press FREEP 15 October 2002 http://www.cp.duluth.mn.us/~ennyman/DAS-3.html>
Paris, John. “Hugh Finn’s Right to Die.” America (1998). 15 October 2005
http://www.americapress.org/articles/ParisFinn.htm>
Snow, Constance. “The Right to Die?” Tampa Bay New Times May/June (2000). 23 October 2005
http://www.altnewtimes.com/e03csn.html>
“The Perspectives in Brief.” Public Agenda Online (2002). 13 October 2002
http://www.publicagenda.org/issues/debate_brief.CFM?issue_type=right2die>
The flip side of the signing a confidentiality document under HIPAA policy healthcare officials many times has been frustrated because bounds they can’t cross. Many times family or friends who aren’t authorizes obtains valuable medical information are coming all hours of the day to ask for critical medical reason, the nurses, physicians and others officials bid my law not to get out information on the telephone, or in personal if the individual or individuals name aren’t on the privacy document. Having a ...
Barrington, Mary Rose. "The Right to Suicide." Problems of Death. Ed. Bender, David L. Anoka: Greenhaven, 1974. 114-119.
There are many convincing and compelling arguments for and against Physician Assisted Suicide. There are numerous different aspects of this issue, including religious, legal and ethical issues. However, for the purpose of this paper, I will examine the ethical concerns of both sides. There are strong pro and con arguments regarding this, and I will make a case for both. It is definitely an issue that has been debated for years and will continue to be debated in years to come.
Barbara Huttman’s “A Crime of Compassion” has many warrants yet the thesis is not qualified. This is a story that explains the struggles of being a nurse and having to make split-second decisions, whether they are right or wrong. Barbara was a nurse who was taking care of a cancer patient named Mac. Mac had wasted away to a 60-pound skeleton (95). When he walked into the hospital, he was a macho police officer who believed he could single-handedly protect the whole city (95). His condition worsened every day until it got so bad that he had to be resuscitated two or three times a day. Barbara eventually gave into his wishes to be let go. Do you believe we should have the right to die?
Imagine, if you will, that you have just found out you have a terminal medical condition. Doesn’t matter which one, it’s terminal. Over the 6 months you have to live you experience unmeasurable amounts of pain, and when your free of your pain the medication you’re under renders you in an impaired sense of consciousness. Towards the 4th month, you begin to believe all this suffering is pointless, you are to die anyways, why not with a little dignity. You begin to consider Physician-Assisted Suicide (PAS). In this essay I will explain the ethical decisions and dilemmas one may face when deciding to accept the idea of Physician-Assisted Suicide. I will also provide factual information pertaining to the subject of PAS and testimony from some that advocate for legalization of PAS. PAS is not to be taken lightly. It is the decision to end one’s life with the aid of a medical physician. Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary states that PAS is “Suicide by a patient facilitated by means (as a drug prescription) or by information (as an indication of a lethal dosage) provided by a physician aware of the patient’s intent.” PAS is considered, by our textbook – Doing Ethics by Lewis Vaughn, an active voluntary form of euthanasia. There are other forms of euthanasia such as non-voluntary, involuntary, and passive. This essay is focusing on PAS, an active voluntary form of euthanasia. PAS is commonly known as “Dying/Death with Dignity.” The most recent publicized case of PAS is the case of Brittany Maynard. She was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer in California, where she lived. At the time California didn’t have Legislative right to allow Brittany the right to commit PAS so she was transported to Oregon where PAS is legal....
...e Canada tend to not put others lives in perspective and to not think about what may or may not be happening to them. We are so fortunate to not be in a place where most people don’t starve to death and whole villages have to move because of bombing in their area or some other bad event to take place.
Some of the things that HIPAA does for a patient are it gives patients more control over their health information. It sets boundaries on the use and release of health records. It establishes appropriate guidelines that health care providers and others must do to protect the privacy of the patients’ health information. It holds violators accountable, in court that can be imposed if they violate patients’ privacy rights by HIPAA. Overall HIPAA makes it to where the health information can’t b...
...endent judgments about their own fate. In keeping with this trend there is now a growing drive to review the current laws on euthanasia and assisted suicide.” (McCormack, 1998) Nurses are faced with various ethical dilemmas every day. If theses ethical decisions are not treated in a professional manner there can be harsh consequences for both the patient and the nurse.
Do people have the right to die? Is there, in fact, a right to die? Assisted suicide is a controversial topic in the public eye today. Individuals choose their side of the controversy based on a number of variables ranging from their religious views and moral standings to political factors. Several aspects of this issue have been examined in books, TV shows, movies, magazine articles, and other means of bringing the subject to the attention of the public. However, perhaps the best way to look at this issue in the hopes of understanding the motives behind those involved is from the perspective of those concerned: the terminally ill and the disabled.
Cotton, Paul. "Medicine's Position Is Both Pivotal And Precarious In Assisted Suicide Debate." The Journal of the American Association 1 Feb. 1995: 363-64.
In 1865, the 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution ended the institution of slavery (McGough). Even though slavery was abolished, modern day slavery still exists and has evolved under a different appearance and is known as “Human Trafficking” in today’s society. Each year, thousands of people are trafficked across borders or internally, and exploited for cheap labor or sexual services. According to the U.S. Federal Law, human trafficking consists of children involved in sex trade, adults who are coerced or deceived into commercial sex, anyone forced into different forms of labor or services (Polaris Project). Human trafficking is a human rights violation; it is a crime against the dignity and integrity of an individual. It is the trading of human beings as commodities. It is “modern-day slavery” with more slaves at work today than there has ever been at any point in history.
Ball, Howard. At Liberty to Die: The Battle for Death with Dignity in America. New York: New York University Press, 2012. Print.
When we think about the word addiction we usually think about marijuana, alcohol, nicotine or drugs. In the article “A World Wide Woe - Internet addiction sounds like a punch line. But it ruined my brother’s life”, author Winston Ross (2009), written as a Newsweek Web Exclusive, gives us a look into the world of internet addiction.
Fein, Bruce. "Individual Rights and Responsibility - The Death Penalty, But Sparingly." Speech. American Bar Association. Feb. 2003. Web. 20 Nov. 2013.
Should a patient have the right to ask for a physician’s help to end his or her life? This question has raised great controversy for many years. The legalization of physician assisted suicide or active euthanasia is a complex issue and both sides have strong arguments. Supporters of active euthanasia often argue that active euthanasia is a good death, painless, quick, and ultimately is the patient’s choice. While it is understandable, though heart-rending, why a patient that is in severe pain and suffering that is incurable would choose euthanasia, it still does not outweigh the potential negative effects that the legalization of euthanasia may have. Active euthanasia should not be legalized because