Physician Assisted Suicide Essay - 1799 Words

Assisted Suicide A controversial human rights issue in modern society is the right to die, an issue that has much to do with the way that human beings relate to society at large, the notion that a man has ownership of their own body, and the obligations set forth in the Hippocratic oath and medical ethics. Physician assisted suicide, or the right to die as those in the pro-assisted suicide movement call it, divides two very different kinds of people into two camps. One’s opinion on the subject is entirely related to one’s core values. Whether one values the individual or whether one places more emphasis on the will of the majority has a great impact on one’s beliefs concerning the issue of the right to die. In this essay, I will prove†¦show more content†¦Most people should be able to accept that once they get to this point, these people have little to live for. Sometimes, those who are capable of communicating their desires, wish to pass on before the pain from their terminal disease starts to get too unbearable or they lose any sense of dignity they might have had. It is for the rights of those patients, that people within the assisted suicide movement are fighting for (ERGO). Only a small minority of people will ever experience illnesses that fall under the category of eligibility for assisted suicide. This is good, because these illnesses rob people of their lives and leave them in great suffering and without self-determinism or control over their state of being. The truth is most people will be able to go through life without ever having to deal with symptoms such as abscesses in the lungs, paralysis of the vocal cords, or internal hemorrhages. But it very well could have been or will eventually be any one of us afflicted with a terminal disease. Therefore, we should protect the rights of individuals afflicted by these disorders. Performing a physician assisted suicide is an act of great kindness, not murder as those against it would ha ve one believe. It is compassionate to end peoples suffering, especially when they have nothing to live for. When a patient is untreatable and in agony, then the only options is to treat the symptoms and make the patient more comfortable.Show MoreRelatedEssay On Physician Assisted Suicide1549 Words   |  7 PagesWriting Project Worksheet 1. This paper will examine the Washington state policy of physician-assisted suicide. 2. State Info: (characteristics, size, culture, political culture, industries, features, etc. to explain state support of policy) Washington is a state in the northwestern United States with an estimated population of 7,288,000, as of July 1, 2016. Washington’s population is primarily white at 69% (not including Hispanics), with Hispanics comprising 12.4%, Asians 8.6%, and African AmericansRead MoreThe Treatment Of Physician Assisted Suicide1025 Words   |  5 Pagesprecious hour will give the loved ones a time to say goodbye just before they die with dignity in physician assisted suicide. Terminally ill patients have the right to end their own lives using physician assisted suicide (PAS) without repercussions of laws and people with opposing opinions. According to an article from CNN.com, there are currently five states in the U.S. where physician-assisted suicide is currently legal. In order to be eligible legally for PAS the patient must have six months orRead MorePhysician Assisted Suicide1418 Words   |  6 Pagesresult in patients giving up on life, physician-assisted suicide should be legalized in all fifty states for terminally ill patients with worsening or unbearable pain. What is physician-assisted suicide? â€Å"Suicide is the act of taking ones own life. In assisted suicide, the means to end a patient’s life is provided to the patient (i.e. medication or a weapon) with knowledge of the patients intention† (American Nurses Association). Physician-assisted suicide is known by many names such as deathRead MorePhysician Assisted Suicide2301 Words   |  10 Pagesend-of-life decisions is â€Å"physician-assisted suicide† (PAS). This method of suicide involves a physician providing a patient, at his or her own request, with a lethal dose of medication, which the patient self-administers. The ethical acceptability and the desirability of legalization of this practice both continue to cause controversy (Raus, Sterckx, Mortier 1). Vaco v. Quill and Washington v. Glucksberg were landmark decisions on the issue of physician-assisted suicide and a supposed ConstitutionalRead MoreThe Ethics Of Physician Assisted Suicide926 Words   |   4 Pagesethics of physician assisted suicide since the late 18th century. According to medicinenet the definition of physician assisted suicide is â€Å"the voluntary termination of one s own life by administrating a lethal substance with the direct assistance of a physician.† This would typically come into play if/when a critically ill patient wants to end their suffering. Confirming with the State-by-State Guide to Physician-Assisted Suicide, 5 states have Paquin 2 Legalized physician assisted suicide. CaliforniaRead MorePhysician Assisted Suicide Essay1214 Words   |  5 Pagesrelentless pain and agony through physician assisted death? Physician-Assisted Suicide PAS is highly contentious because it induces conflict of several moral and ethical questions such as who is the true director of our lives. Is suicide an individual choice and should the highest priority to humans be alleviating pain or do we suffer for a purpose? Is suicide a purely individual choice? Having analyzed and even experience the effects of physician assisted suicide, I promote and fully support itsRead MorePhysician Assisted Suicide Is A Controversial Topic1929 Words   |  8 PagesOne may have heard of suicide, but not physician-assisted suicide. The two are very different in terms of the act of taking one’s own life. For instance, physician-assisted suicide is done with help from another person, usually a physician; where the doctor is willing to assist with e ither the means of how to take one’s own life or the actual act itself. This can either be by prescribing lethal doses of drugs to these patients who want to take their own life or by counseling these patients onRead MorePhysician Assisted Suicide : A Controversial Subject1692 Words   |  7 PagesPhysician-assisted suicide is a controversial subject all around the world. Although it is legal in some countries and states, such as the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Oregon, Montana, Washington, and Vermont it is not yet legal in most (Finlay, 2011). People travel from all around the world to these locations to receive information. Physician-assisted suicide is when terminally ill and mentally capable patients perform the final act themselves after being provided with the required meansRead MoreEssay on Legalizing Physician-Assisted Suicide1871 Words   |  8 PagesPhysician-assisted suicide should be a legal option, if requested, for terminally ill patients. For deca des the question has been asked and a clear answer has yet to surface. It was formed out of a profound commitment to the idea that personal end-of-life decisions should be made solely between a patient and a physician. Can someones life be put into an answer? Shouldnt someones decision in life be just that; their decision? When someone has suffered from a car accident, or battled long enoughRead MoreThe Rights Of Physician Assisted Suicide1347 Words   |  6 PagesThe Right to Die By: Antony Makhlouf Antony Makhlouf PHR 102-006 Contemporary Moral Issues Final Paper The Right to Die Physician-assisted suicide, also known as euthanasia, has been a hot topic as of late. If you do not know what this is, physician-assisted suicide is the taking of ones life. This usually occurs when a patient is in a irreversible state, and must live through a tube. With multiple cases occurring in the past, current and the more to occur the in the future, this looks