These people struggle to accept the diagnosis they have been given, many fight their illness in whichever ways they can for as long as possible, and likely suffer with much pain -- physically, emotionally, and mentally. The thing all of these people have in common is how their illness ends. The word “terminal”, as I’m sure you are aware, means the disease is likely incurable and will ultimately lead to the death of the patient. What can be different however, is how and when the end finally comes. Some choose to end their life before the illness takes it away.
At Issue). People in Oregon disagree about the morality and ethicality of assisted suicide but they have all agreed on what caused the citizens to pass a law, two times, that allowed physicians to prescribe lethal medications to terminally ill patients. It was the pain, the fear of being in pain, and the effects that pain can have on a persons life. According to “Prescription for Suicide” they found that people fear pain more than they fear death. Many people with these illnesses must go through chemotherapy.
This law allows patients who have been given six months or less to live that wish to hasten their deaths to obtain lethal doses of medication prescribed by two doctors. Between 1998 and 2000, ninety-six lethal prescriptions were written, and seventy patients took the fatal doses. Physician-assisted suicide is only legal in the states of Washington and Oregon, meaning in the rest of the country, the practice remains illegal. Many patients are unable to get the help necessary to end their lives and must involuntarily endure unbearable pain. Some terminally ill patients have to experience an intolerably poor quality of life and would prefer to end their life rather than continue until their body finally gives up.
When one has less than six months to live, has requested to have assisted suicide three or more times, and has family or friends present they can then apply for assisted suicide. Nevertheless, the assisted suicide is only legal in Oregon and the Netherlands. The law in Oregon that allows this is known more commonly as the Death With Dignity Act. Most of the patients that apply have an uncontrollable amount of pain and would rather not put any more of a damper on their family. Many feel that when the pain is so unbearable, one can’t control their own bodily functions, addicted to meds, and spending all of the family’s retirement or college funds, they feel it’s time for them to move on.
Is the role of a medical professional to ensure the well-being of their patients, or to assist them in ending their lives? Many people may believe that physicians would never perform the latter, but in actuality one practice does so. Physician assisted suicide is the intentional ending of one’s life brought on by lethal substances prescribed by a doctor. In the majority of cases, the patient is terminally ill and simply does not desire to live any longer. Their physician provides the medication necessary to end their life.
Chis passed away 3 days later at the age of 41. Chris died naturally, and that was the way he wanted it. Today, people have options in death. Physician assisted suicide is defined by Merriam Webster, as “suicide that is carried out with the help of a doctor” (Merriam Webster). It is usually carried out by a lethal dose of medication which makes you fall asleep and then stops your heart.
But a patient has to suffering from severe pain and be terminally ill to be able to get a physician to assist in their suicide. 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. The approach of physician-assisted suicide respects an individual’s need for personal dignity.
In March of 1998, a woman suffering with cancer became the first person known to die under the law on physician-assisted suicide in the state of Oregon when she took a lethal dose of drugs. This law does not include people who have been on a life support system nor does it include those who have not voluntarily asked physicians to help them commit suicide. Many people worry that legalizing doctor assisted suicide is irrational and violates the life-saving tradition of medicine and it has been argued that the reason why some terminally ill patients yearn to commit suicide is nothing more than depression. Physician Assisted Suicide would lessen the human life or end the suffering and pain of those on the verge of dying; Physician Assisted Suicide needs to be figured out for those in dire need of it or for those fighting against it. The main purpose for this paper is to bring light on the advantages and disadvantages of physician-assisted suicide and to show what principled and moral reasoning there is behind each point.
Quinlan went into a coma after ingesting large amounts of alcohol and prescription drugs when she was 21. She needed a feeding tube and respirato... ... middle of paper ... ... fears of the most extreme and distorted forms of the practice. Legalizing physician assisted suicide is not putting us on the road to genocide. It is only hastening a natural right of passage for all living things, death, to those who need it most. No one should have to look into a loved one’s eyes and tell them that they have no option to die with dignity, only to live with pain.
Those who disagree believe that people aren’t valuing the quality of life; however, it seems that those patients who choose assisted suicide often focus their last few good days on what’s really important, family and making good memories. Loved ones aren’t losing years of life because of assisted suicide, “More than ninety percent of assisted deaths shorten life by less than a month- most of them by less than a week” (A.C. Grayling). Therefore they really aren’t loosing that much time, and during those months their families would only get to stand by helplessly watching them suffer. Assisted suicide had been made into a much bigger deal than it actually is. Those opposed to the idea of euthanasia need to understand that only a small percent will actually want to proceed with this, and that small percent contains those who are greatly suffering, which is a right that ought to be respected by the people.