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Legal and ethical issues surrounding euthanasia
Legal and ethical issues surrounding euthanasia
Legal and ethical issues surrounding euthanasia
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Many believe that God has a plan for when a person should die, and that should be obeyed. It is seen as sinful when you disobey God and have help dying from someone else other than God himself. It is a sin to die until God has called for you to die. In the holy book The Koran, the book states, “Do not kill yourselves. God is merciful to you, but he that does that through wickedness and injustice shall be burned in fire” (The Koran 64). This quote is stating that no matter how much pain you are in it is morally wrong and sinful to end your suffering as it is an act against God. The Koran believes you should not in any way interfere with death as God has a plan for when everyone dies. By interfering with death, they believe you have messed up all of God’s plan. …show more content…
Many states outlaw assisted suicide because they believe it pressures the ill and vulnerable into choosing death. In the article “Court rules assisted suicide out,” we read one of the reasons why assisted suicide was ruled out in New York, “In a unanimous, unsigned opinion, the seven judges of the New York Court of Appeals said the state had legitimate reasons for outlawing the practice, including to protect vulnerable patients from pressure to end their lives”( ). Many believe that patients could be talked into assistant suicide by physicians wanting financial gain. People believe that a physician should not have that much power because it is seen as a license to kill, and could kill many patients who were not ready to die, but talked into
Assisted Suicide, also known as mercy killing, occurs when a physician provides the means (drugs or other agents) by which a person can take his or her own life. This assistance is one of the most debated issues today in society followed by abortion. Physicians are frequently faced with the question of whether or not assisted suicide is ethical or immoral. Although assisted suicide is currently illegal in almost all states in America, it is still often committed. Is assisted suicide ethical? Studies have found that the majority of Americans support assisted suicide. One must weigh both sides of the argument before they can decide.
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
Imagine a family member being extremely ill and suffering from day to day. When they decide they cannot take the pain any more, would you want them to pull through for you or would you fulfill their dying wish and let the doctor pull the plug? Could you even make a decision? Many people would not allow such an event to happen because with all the pain and confusion the patient is enduring may cause confusion and suicidal tendencies. However, there are people who believe otherwise. This is called physician-assisted suicide. Physician-assisted suicide (PAS) is a controversial topic that causes much debate. Though it is only legal in the three states Oregon, Washington and Montana, there are many people who are for it and think it can be necessary. Even with morals put aside, Physician-assisted suicide should be illegal because it will be a huge violation of the oath every doctor must abide by, there would be no real way to distinguish between people who are suffering and the people who are faking or depressed, and it causes a lot of confusion to people with new diseases or new strands of disease that does not have a clear cure.
...their own life and die with their own dignity is huge thing among anyone. No one should be denied the right to leave this earth if they are in constant and terrible pain. But people were also asked whether physician-assisted suicide should be allowed for people in severe pain who aren't terminally ill or for those with disabilities and the outcome was, “a solid majority — 71 percent — opposed the idea, with only 29 percent in favor of it. The results were the same as in 2011.” (Hensley, 2012). The whole idea of having physician-assisted suicide is for a patient with a severe illness with months to live is to go out in peace and without any complications. Overall, physician-assisted suicide has many pros and cons but the main issue is the patient. It should not be up to anybody except the dying patient. There are only four states that have legalized assisted-suicide.
Active Euthanasia: Physician Assisted Suicide is Wrong? The issue at hand is whether physician-assisted suicide should be legalized for patients who are terminally ill and/or enduring prolonged suffering. In this debate, the choice of terms is central. The most common term, euthanasia, comes from the Greek word meaning "good death."
Ethical decisions are being made by terminally ill patients as they face death. Some are choosing to end life through PAS, physician-assisted suicide. Dr. Jack Kevorkian has been helping patients end life through his machines. The public opinion is the use of this machine is considered murder, but some have changed their thinking and created laws to make it legal for a physician to help a terminally ill patient die. Physician assisted suicide is a dignified way to end life.
Physician assisted suicide is immoral in the case of people who are alive and desire to terminate their life. However, there are extreme cases when hastening the dying process is justified in the circumstances of individuals who are in intense physical impairment.
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.
...le pain to both the patient and to their families. One procedure, known as Physician-Assisted suicide, alleviates suffering by having a physician provide a patient the means to painlessly kill him or herself. This procedure however, remains controversial and illegal in many states. This is unfair to patients who wish to be assisted in seeking death and escaping their terminal illness. Despite all of the benefits that are brought about because of Physician-Assisted suicide, people across America still seek to ban the practice because it clashes with personal moral and ethical beliefs. Although many people disagree with the procedure of Physician-Assisted suicide, it should still become legal because it alleviates suffering, allows patients to die in a dignified manner, and allows people to take control of the ultimate choice, death, away from their terminal illness.
In current society, legalizing physician assisted suicide is a prevalent argument. In 1997, the Supreme Court recognized no federal constitutional right to physician assisted suicide (Harned 1) , which defines suicide as one receiving help from a physician by means of a lethal dosage (Pearson 1), leaving it up to state legislatures to legalize such practice if desired. Only Oregon and Washington have since legalized physician assisted suicide. People seeking assisted suicide often experience slanted judgments and are generally not mentally healthy. Legalization of this practice would enable people to fall victim to coercion by friends and family to commit suicide. Also, asking for death is unfair to a doctor’s personal dogma. Some argue that society should honor the freedom of one’s choice to take his own life with the assistance of a physician; however, given the reasoning provided, it is in society’s best interest that physician assisted suicide remain illegal. Physician assisted suicide should not be legalized because suicidal people experience distorted judgments resulting in not being mentally equipped to make such a decision, people who feel they are a burden to their family may choose death as a result, and physicians should not have to go against their personal doctrines and promises.
...with as we see fit. To kill oneself, or to get someone else to do it for us, is to deny God, and to deny God's rights over our lives and his right to choose the length of our lives and the way our lives end”. ("BBC - Ethics - Introduction to ethics: Euthanasia.") Taking one’s life would equate to playing God. The right to decide whether you live or not does not belong to humans. God created humans and therefore taking one’s life is tantamount to playing God.
Assisted suicide brings up one of the biggest moral debates currently circulating in America. Physician assisted suicide allows a patient to be informed, including counseling about and prescribing lethal doses of drugs, and allowed to decide, with the help of a doctor, to commit suicide. There are so many questions about assisted suicide and no clear answers. Should assisted suicide be allowed only for the terminally ill, or for everyone? What does it actually mean to assist in a suicide? What will the consequences of legalizing assisted suicide be? What protection will there be to protect innocent people? Is it (morally) right or wrong? Those who are considered “pro-death”, believe that being able to choose how one dies is one’s own right.
When a person is suffering, denying them the right to die can lead to extreme repercussion such as trying to bring harm to themselves.
Physician assisted suicide is illegal in all states but Oregon. Physician assisted suicide is defined by Religious Tolerance.org: a physician supplies information and/or the means of committing suicide to a person, so that they can easily terminate their own life. The decision of when and where the time of our death should occur is one that only God has the right to decide. Because no person or doctor has the right to end a life, physician assisted suicide should be illegal.
Islam has definite views on euthanasia, and this essay will bring to the fore all of the main beliefs relevant to the issue of euthanasia/assisted suicide. Islam spells things out quite plainly, with enough similes to clarify every point in the system of beliefs.