Essay On Legalizing Death With Dignity

You've sat in your hospital bed for at least three months now, and the pain and boredom is starting to become even more torturous than you could have imagined. The pain that you are experiencing on a day-to-day basis is excruciating; a normal, everyday procedure like using the restroom or getting something to eat is a long, drawn out, and painful ordeal. All of the doctors that you've talked to agree that you are going to die soon from the disease that has infested your body, but even six months sounds like an excruciatingly long amount of time, especially when all you have to occupy your time is lie in a bed painfully, waiting it out. Your family and friends are already distraught by the news; they already know that you are on the brink

People are suffering from incurable debases or illness that can be very brutal to the patients end of life. When a patient is incurable and has the news that their end of life is extremely near, less than 6 months or in between. The patient might suffer longlines or sadness due to them having to leave behind everything they love, it’s very sad that they have to die but the pain makes and drives the patient to go with the death with dignity law that makes it easier for them to plan their death in a much better way without suffering any longer. While patients get a period of 15 days before they can proceed with the law the patient might suffering from emotional problems in between those last 15 days if they do not change their mind about the law. To provide less suffering and to give more freedom to that individual is all they are asking for. If only people could have more freedom and liberty as to decide when you get to

Who dictates how you live your life? How does one define life and when that life should end? If you become terminally ill, would you like the choice to choose how your life ends? In the United States, assisted suicide, is a highly-debated issue. On one side, there are many in support of allowing a person the right to end their life with dignity at the time of their choosing. While others believe, it is a moral right to sustain life and leave a person’s exit from this world to a higher power. The two opposing viewpoints have both compassionate reasons and disadvantages; nevertheless, a person’s human rights as an individual are the most important aspect to uphold.

There are currently three states that have adopted legislation supporting “Death with Dignity”, also known as physician-assisted suicide. Oregon, Washington, and Vermont have each enacted laws that enable a terminally ill, mentally competent, adult to decide and dictate end of life decisions up to and including the time of their death. Oregon was the first United States (U.S.) to enact legislation and other states in the union have followed suit.

Many people throughout the world are diagnosed with a terminally ill disease, meaning their disease is not curable and they are given a short period to live. Take Brittany Maynard for example. She was diagnosed with brain cancer at the age of 29 and had two surgeries to prevent the tumor from growing. Months later she found out her tumor came back, was more aggressive, and she was given six months to live. Doctors suggested another surgery, but after reading the side effects, Brittany decided not to do it. She considered staying at her home in San Francisco under hospice care. With not wanting her family to watch her suffer, she looked into the Death with Dignity Act. This act is adopted in only five states and gives patients who are terminally ill the right to die with the use of a prescribed drug from a doctor. Here in Wisconsin, there is no Death with Dignity Law. According to John Stuart Mill, author of “On Liberty”, this assisted suicide act should be legal in all states. In his work, he talks about his own principles. Certain principles that tie into assisted suicide are direct and indirect harm followed by informed consent. In “On Liberty” Mill’s principles say assisted suicide should be legal in all states since it only causes direct harm to the person taking the pill and indirect harm to loved ones.

The Death with Dignity Act allows terminally ill patients to seek to end their lives by requesting lethal doses of medication. The patients are required to be a resident of the three states, which have made thing legal. Do patients favor having the right to live or die when suffering from incurable cancer or painful illness? Is Death with Dignity considered suicide? There are many opinions on the act; some people consider Death with Dignity to be murder or suicide while some consider it the end of suffering, and death with dignity. I consider it the end of suffering. With the scope of the Death with Dignity Act, I believe that patients who are terminally ill should be able to take a pill to end their suffering. Patients can end their

The Death with Dignity Act was first put into use in Oregon in 1997, and was used to insure terminally ill patients had the right to decide how much suffering they endure; not the government. Since then there have been similar acts passed in California, Vermont, and Washington. Death with Dignity laws allow terminally-ill patients, who are mentally competent, choose to take medication that quickens their death. Euthanasia, or physician assisted suicide, is a very uncomfortable and very controversial topic, but it is one that needs to be discussed. The rights of the American people should include the discussion of dignity and what is considered torture or the infringement of basic human rights.

Furthermore, there is one specific state that has approved this assistance with a few regulations in mind. The State of Oregon, which also happens to have been the first state in the United States to legalize a death with dignity act. The very first act that they made was on November 8th, 1994, but as all other cases do, it contained specific requirements from The State of Oregon for patients who wished to participate. They state only permitted patients who had a terminal illness. Specifically an illness that results with their death in a matter of a few months left of being alive. Other individuals who simply wanted to end their life are not permitted to proceed in this act. Without a reasonable explanation, there was simply no need for

Brittany Maynard brought up a good argument when she said, “I would not tell anyone else that he or she should choose death with dignity. My question is: Who has the right to tell me that I don’t deserve this choice?” (Slotnik). Brittany Maynard was a young woman who found out she had a terminal brain cancer and ended up becoming the public face for the right to die act. Many people believe that this act should not be in place, but in taking this act away people lose their right to choose when they want to die. People may argue the fact that doctors have access the drug with assisted suicide is very unsettling; however, the doctors are professionals who are trusted with this drug. This act is important because it gives the terminally ill one last independent decision before they lose themselves. Taking away the act means taking their free will away from them.

People of the United States of America have basic human rights. Among them are the rights to education and democracy, freedoms of speech, thought, and expression, and the right to life. However, currently, there is no right to die present in the U.S. The right to die is defined as the right of persons to choose natural death and refuse any medical measures to prolong their lives under the circumstances of terminal illnesses and the unlikeliness of them getting well (“Right-to-die”). “Death with Dignity” laws are present in a few states such as Oregon, Washington, Vermont, California, and Montana via court decision, but these laws are still not recognized on the federal level. For a terminally ill person, it is often not an option to move to one of these states to execute the right to die since the law has strict residency requirements, including state Driver License, filed state tax returns, lease or property ownership documentation (“Public Health’s Role”). Thus, the persons, being weak physically and mentally are forced medical care to prolong their lives by reducing the quality of them without any hope for recovery. Unmanageable health care costs become a burden on the family members and loved ones of the patients. Terminally ill patients should have a choice to die on their own terms to avoid further unbearable pain, to prevent the demolition of the quality of their lives, and to stop the sufferings of their loved ones.

If you don’t want something to happen to your body (e.g. for your body to become pregnant or for it to be kept working at all costs (both in terms of money and dignity), then you should have that right as well (Munkittrick, 2011, para. 11 & 12)”.

The “Right to Die” (Euthanasia) should be further looked into as an option for terminally ill patients and not considered unethical. There has been an issue concerning the topic of “Human Euthanasia” as an acceptable action in society. The research compiled in conjunction with an educated opinion will be the basis for the argument for voluntary Euthanasia in this paper. Patients suffering from an incurable illness, exhausting all medical treatments, should be given the freedom of choice to continue their path of suffering or end it at their own will. “The Right to die” is not suicide, as you are fully aware that death will be certain, as Euthanasia spares the individual of additional pain.

Every single day, people all over the United States are diagnosed with terminal illnesses. They are forced to wait until they die naturally; all the while their bodies are deteriorated by the illness that will eventually take their lives. Sometimes this means living with insufferable pain and nothing they can legally do about it. People are able to put their pets to sleep when they are suffering; it is even considered the humane thing to do. Why must we live with life ending illnesses and insufferable pain? Physician-assisted suicide should be legalized because people should have the right to end their lives when they choose to and contrary to popular belief, physician-assisted suicide will not leave the presumably vulnerable

Death with dignity can be seen as a very sensitive subject for a lot of people and for people with certain religions. Death with dignity can be seen is a horrible thing it can be perceived is the doctors trying to do the work of God but in reality they are just trying to alleviate the pain of people who are suffering from terminal illnesses. The state of Oregon won their case against the people who started to go against them in 2005. These allow doctors to prescribe legal drugs that will slowly begin to kill people this issue was controversial because they feel like it is wrong for doctors to want to help to kill another patient but at the same time the patient could be tired of suffering and you never know what type of pain the patient may

Thesis: Is the fear of living an incomplete and possibly painful life a reason to bring your life to an end? Does this fear give us the authority to be masters of our own fate and end our own life before we and the ones we love suffer?