Assisted Suicide Argumentative Essay

Assisted suicide is a topic that has ignited a severe debate due to the controversy that surrounds its implementation. Assisted suicide occurs when a patients expresses their intention to die and request a physician to assist them in the process. Some countries like Oregon, Canada, and Belgium have legalized the process terming it as an alternative to prolonged suffering for patients who are bound to die. Unlike euthanasia where a physician administers the process, assisted suicide requires that the patient voluntarily initiates and executes the process. Although there exists concession such a process is important to assist patients die without much suffering, there has emerged criticism on its risk of abuse and as an expression of medical

prescribe drugs to terminally ill patients who request to end their lives. Attorney General John

Everyone will die at some point, and many people wish to have a good death. The Institute of Medicine defines a good death as one that is free from avoidable stress and suffering for both the patient and family, and is in accord with family and patient wishes. Physician assisted suicide can help those who are terminally ill receive the good death that they wish to have. Physician assisted suicide allows patients to die on their own terms before suffering from their terminal illness becomes too much for them to bear. Jason Barber’s wife, Kathleen, was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Both Kathleen and Jason believed in physician assisted suicide. Kathleen had watched her mother battle leukemia, and stated, “I wish there were a pill which would

How does one know when a practice is morally sound or not? Is it the information that follows it? Is it the ethics involved in the situation? Is it the persons involved happiness or their autonomy? Constantly this question is being asked about every single medical decision out there. One of the most debated topics right now is physician assisted suicide. This is the idea that a doctor can prescribe medication to patients so they can pass away on their own terms. In the rest of the essay one will find what physician assisted suicide or death is and how it came to be. One will be able to learn a real life example of how it works in America right now and why it should be implemented all over the rest of the country. One will also

Physician Assisted Suicide is not just an easy way out; but a dignified way to end their suffering. It is within the patient’s rights to decide if they want to live or die and how they follow through with this act. In 2006, Attorney General John Ashcroft went to court against the state of Oregon saying that the Death with Dignity Act violated the Controlled Substance Act because it is not a “legitimate reason” for medication (Yeh, 2006). Aschcroft wanted to revoke all licenses for doctors who participate in PAS and those who grant immunity to physicians participating. The court ruled against Ashcroft 6-3, reporting allowing physicians to prescribe a lethal dose (Wisconsin Right to Life, n.d.). Jack Kevorkian, also known as Dr. Death, is a

This process of assisted suicide has become a controversial issue through out the country, and is only legal in 5 states, which include Oregon, Washington, New Mexico, Montana, and Vermont. Maynard chose to move to Oregon to receive the barbiturates legally. She thought this issue seemed ridiculous since she wasn’t able to live out her last couple months in the comfort of her own home. Maynard contacted Compassion & Choices, an end-of-life rights advocacy group, which helped promote a video that got over 13 million hits. All because of this video, Maynard became a public face of the “Death with Dignity” movement in the United States. This law has now been apposed in five states, which include Oregon, Washington, Vermont, New Mexico and Montana, and this is only the beginning.

However this does not mean that all physicians are against PAS, just that some do not want to be the ones providing it. Luckily, under the Oregon Death with Dignity Act, physicians have the right to deny active euthanasia if it goes against their personal beliefs (Lachman, 2010, p. 124). One reasons why doctors might not want to help assist suicide for patients is because it goes against their Hippocratic Oath. This states that “doctors should not kill” and that they should help save a patient’s life, not end it (Dieterle, 2007, p. 138). Dieterle noted that the rebuttal for this statement is that in the cases where physician assisted suicide is allowed, there is nothing humanly possible more a doctor can do to save the life of the patient. In that case, it would be more ethical to help the patient end their life in a safe and painless way so they can be out of their misery. Another aspect of PAS that unsettles medical professionals is that it could make the public view doctors and the health care system in a negative light. Since active euthanasia is legal in Oregon, researchers can use them as an example as to how the rest of the population would react to health care professionals. Since the law passed, there has been no signs of fear in the general public (Dieterle, 2007,

Suicide is not considered a crime but assisted or encouraged suicide is a crime is under the suicide act of 1961. Assisted suicide would violate this act that was enacted in 1961. It is argued that the suicide act is decades old, this still doesn’t define the fact that it should be changed. It has provided a stable law that we are under and required to follow because it is the best for us. Take the civil rights of 1964 for an example where discrimination was outlawed. Should it be modified in any way restricting certain gender, race, or religion from employment? It was an act that was enacted for the best of our society. Additionally, like the civil rights act the suicide act should not be modified in any way if it is what's best. It's been

Is life worth living when death is upon a human being? Assisted suicide allows a patient to answer that question for themselves but only in five states. The legality of the assisted suicide is so rare because of the undermining of human dignity. The controversy has been going on for years and will continue to be on going.

Everyone will eventually die. Some people are living their lives sick, and hoping to die because they can’t stand the pain of living. But, choosing to die peacefully is an option with Assisted Suicide. For instance, most patients want to end their life peacefully, and with the choice of Assisted Suicide they can. Many patients who are ill want to die peacefully, so if they have the choice they could choose Assisted Suicide. Assisted Suicide is when people are severely sick and want to die in a calm matter, so physicians assist them with prescribing them a certain drug to end their life. People have diverse opinions on Assisted Suicide and if it should be legalized or not. Numerous people view this as “murder” and don’t want it, but others don’t.

Euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide are great evils in our society that sets a dangerous moral precedent that affects people of all ages and conditions. According to the 2017 USCCB article, “Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia: From Voluntary to Involuntary”, euthanasia is defined as, “[the] direct killing of patients by doctors” and physician-assisted suicide is defined as, “providing lethal drugs so patients can take their own lives.” There is a quintessential distinction that needs to be made in order to understand the gravity of the issue at hand. “Deeply embedded in our moral and medical traditions is the distinction between allowing to die, on the one hand, and killing, on the other” (Arkes, Berke, Bradley, et al.). This moral distinction lays the foundation for the argument against the immoral practices of euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide. Euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide are practices that should never be used, regardless of the condition of

It is the twenty-third visit to the hospital. White walls, white floors, and the smell of bleach follows you when you go to visit your dying relative. They do not have much time, you know it, and so do they. And so they plead for you to let them end their suffering, and with the help of assisted suicide, they can do that. One of the most controversial topics that is being debated today, both morally and legally, is assisted suicide, sometimes known as active euthanasia. Assisted suicide is the act of directly intervening in order to end the life of a terminally ill patient. Arguments against assisted suicide say that the patients are not in their best mental state, that it gives the doctor too much power, and that it goes against different

In the fourth century B.C. doctors followed the Hippocratic Oath, which was an oath that said the rules of the medical industry and the doctor’s policy. Those who took the oath were mostly incoming doctors or people who were in the medical industry. The Hippocratic Oath states “I will apply dietetic measures for the benefit of the sick according to my ability and judgment; I will keep them from harm and injustice. I will neither give a deadly drug to anybody who asked for it, nor will I make a suggestion to this effect.” (End of Life: Ethical Considerations paragraph 32) This directly states that the doctors back then were not allowed to perform assisted suicide at any cost. Although, in modern times the Hippocratic Oath now states “Most especially must I tread with care in matters of life and death. If it is given me to save a life, all thanks. But it may also be

To begin with, in my own opinion, yes I do believe suicide is justifiable if the person is dealing with a horrible debilitating illness that there is no hope of recovery and that they suffer horribly on a daily even hourly basis from. I believe assisted suicide for these same types of illness at the right time should be allowed as well. I’ve watched close relatives and am watching one now, die slowly from cancer with excruciating pain, nausea, weigh lose to nothing but skin and bones, lesions, sores, etc… I love & loved these people and never want to lose them but when there is no way back, and it is medically proven, why can they not have a peaceful ending to the agony? I honestly would want it assisted so it is painless yet if the law, here in Tennessee and most states, stops medical physicians and hospice from assisting, then yes if the victim can find a safe, for sure method, why not. We can put our animals down that are in pain and suffering but not our realities, even if they want this themselves, the law stops this and it should not. Keep in mind this is my opinion, from my observations only. With this said, I would want to point out that assisted suicide is legal, with the strictest of guidelines medically, in the states of Oregon and Washington (Humphrey & Schmalleger, 2012).

Physician assisted suicide is requested by the terminally ill, typically when the pain from the illness is too much to handle and is not manageable through treatments or other medications. Assisted suicide is more of a broad term for helping someone die a good death, physician assisted suicide is where a medical doctor provides information and medication and the patient then administers the medications themselves. Euthanasia is also another term that is commonly heard, this refers to a medical doctor that voluntarily administers the lethal dose of medication to the patient when the patient requests it, due to not physically being able to do it themselves (Humphry, 2006). There pros and cons with this topic throughout the world, but is one of the biggest debated things here in the United States of America and to this day there are only five states that have legalized physician-assisted suicide (ProCon.org, 2015). The government should allow patients that are terminally ill the right to choose physician assisted suicide, why should they have to suffer when there is a way out.