Dworkin, Gerald. " The Nature of Medicine." Euthanasia and Physician Assisted Suicide: For and Against. 1st ed. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1998.
The legalization of assisted suicide has been a controversial topic that has created a divide within the medical community, as well as the general public, for many years. Assisted suicide occurs when a patient decides to take their own life, with help from their doctor. The doctor can end the patient’s life without causing any additional pain or suffering. While some believe that assisted suicide should be legal for patients who are suffering from a terminal and painful condition, others argue that it is unethical and going against the doctor’s oath to help and not harm their patients. As the average life expectancy age increases, people are living longer while also having to live with more serious illnesses. As a result, lives are ending with a great amount of suffering and pain, rather then dying peacefully. Since death is ultimately inevitable, I will therefore argue in favor of the proposition that assisted suicide should be legal for those capable of making a rationale end of life decision.
...ractices. Their article gives an in depth, statistical look from a physician’s point of view about physician assisted suicide. They also give many emotional examples as to why this subject is so controversial.
Sullivan, Stephen. "The right to die: a discussion of 'rational suicide'." Mental Health Practice 14.6 (2011): 32-34. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 27 Sept. 2011.
Dieterel, J.M. "Physician Assisted Suicide: A New Look At The Arguments." Bioethics 21.3 (2007): 127-139. Academic Search Complete. Web. 11 Mar. 2014. http://eds.b.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.uta.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=4fd20a10-6e81-4245-8e38-b60febd4c8a6%40sessionmgr113&vid=6&hid=107
Physician Assisted Suicide is a freedom of choice. According to ecologist John Barlow “Exercising choice over the time and place of one’s death, once death is a certainty and there is no hope, is the ultimate personal dignity” (McCuen153). Considering Physician Assisted Suicide offers people a choice when end of life care fails to provide adequate relief of suffering. Having that freedom can be a peaceful and freeing experience. Dr. Charles McKhann believed “The decision to die, with or without the help, is exceedingly difficult, with many questions to examine and conflicts to resolve” (McKhann 234). This decision is ultimately made by the patient after a deliberation with doctors abou...
Callahan, Daniel. "Physician -assisted Suicide Should Not be Legal." Suicide: Opposing Viewpoints. Biskup, Michael. ed. San Diego. Greenhaven Press, Inc.1992.
Newman, E. (1996). Making the final choice: Should physician-assisted suicide be legalized? San Diego, CA: Truth Seeker Co., Inc.
To address these fears, many people attempt to control when and how they end their lives. Naturally, they turn to their physicians for assistance because the physicians know what amounts of drugs are lethal and how to administer such drugs to ensure death and prevent pain. However, in recent decades, when a patient feels that his or her life is no longer worth living for, they will commonly ask for their physicians’ assistance in suicide. Many people feel that it is the physician’s moral responsibility to end the suffering of the patient, while others feel that it is unethical to interfere with a natural process of death. Physicians exist to save the lives of patients. Assisted suicide puts them in the position of ending lives and naturally creates arguments of ethicality and legality.
"Suicide; No Evidence Physician Assisted Death Leads to "Slippery Slope"." Mental Health Weekly Digest. 08 Oct. 2007: 41. eLibrary. Web. 03 Feb. 2014.
"Assisted Suicide: Finding Common Ground." Lois Snyder, JD; and Authur L. Caplan, PhD. Annals of Internal Medicine. March 21, 2000. v.132, n.6
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.
Steinbock B, ‘The Case for Assisted Suicide: Not (Yet) Proven’ (2005) 31 Journal of Medical Ethics 235
Physician Assisted Suicide, or PAS, has been a highly controversial ethical dilemma for almost as long as suffering has existed; both sides can be soundly argued, still, the evidence is eminently clear. Meant as a means of relief from pain, suffering, and financial stress, euthanasia seems to
Markoff, Steven. “State by-State Guide to Physician Assisted Suicide” ProCon.org. 13 December 2013, 30 March 2014.