Euthanasia And Physician Assisted Suicide

Is physician assisted suicide ethical? Physician assisted suicide is an up and coming ethical question that examines a person’s right to their own death. Many people support physician assisted suicide, citing that it can save a lot of pain and suffering. Others claim that the concept of physician assisted suicide is a slippery slope. A slippery slope in the sense that if society accepts euthanasia as a rightful death for the terminally ill, they will potentially accept it for other ailments as well.

Physician-assisted suicide and voluntary euthanasia is still under scrutiny for a number of reasons. “In spring, 1996, the Ninth and Second Circuits were the first circuit courts in the country to find a constitutional prohibition against laws which make physician-assisted suicide a crime” (Martyn & Bourguignon, 1997). New York was one of the states that followed this prohibition. Eventually, The Ninth and Second Circuit, “allow physician-assisted suicide while attempting to protect individuals from unacceptable harms, such as involuntary euthanasia” (Martyn & Bourguignon, 1997). An assumption can be made, that euthanasia involves a licensed physician to play an active role in this partaking, and it’s where the patient prepares to die at.

Ezekiel Emanuel once said, “Physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia have been profound ethical issues confronting doctors since the birth of Western medicine, more than 2,000 years ago.” Physician assisted suicide (PAS) should be available as a dignified option for the terminally ill because it can be built in to the palliative care plan formulated by patient and Doctor, may alleviate some medical costs for the incurable, and it’s a moderated and humane way to end a person’s suffering.

Being able to decide the fate of your own life is not an easy decision to make, and is not something to be toyed with. However, when someone is in a desperate situation, and must choose before they lose their mind (quite literally), death may be more appealing, instead of living, and being forced to suffer. By legalizing euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide, we would provide “vulnerable” patients with better overall protection and health care, give patients (who are excruciatingly suffering and have no chance of recovery) the option to end their lives before they ever needed to go through such an ordeal and giving them peace of mind, and spare the families of the patients the emotional pain of watching their loved one slowly and painfully passing away. For these reasons, I believe that euthanasia and Physician-Assisted Suicide should be legalized in Canada.

Physician Assisted Suicide has become an enormous debate across the world. It was originally thought to be entirely cruel and immoral, but, as time has passed and medical ethics have been considered, it has slowly gained acceptance. Physician Assisted Suicide (PAS) is a legitimate option for those suffering from painful terminal illnesses. It allows the patient who is suffering to have a choice in the matter of their life, which is valuable when someone is in such a vulnerable place. Legally, the topic has not done extremely well in the past, but in recent years people have acknowledged that legally there is nothing wrong being done. There are laws and regulations that are followed while performing PAS, making it nearly impossible to take advantage of it. Slowly PAS has gained acceptance, from different states, and from general people worldwide. Physician Assisted Suicide is a valid option for terminal patients and should not be criminalized or considered cruel.

In today’s society, suicide, and more controversially, physician assisted suicide, is a hotly debated topic amongst both every day citizens and members of the medical community. The controversial nature of the subject opens up the conversation to scrutinizing the ethics involved. Who can draw the line between morality and immorality on such a delicate subject, between lessening the suffering of a loved one and murder? Is there a moral dissimilarity between letting someone die under your care and killing them? Assuming that PAS suicide is legal under certain circumstances, how stringent need be these circumstances? The patient must be terminally ill to qualify for voluntary physician-assisted suicide, but in the eyes of the non-terminal patients with no physical means to end their life, the ending of their pain through PAS may be worth their death; at what point is the medical staff disregarding a patient’s autonomy? Due to the variability of answers to these questions, the debate over physician-assisted suicide is far from over. However, real life occurrences happen every day outside the realm of debate and rhetoric, and decisions need to be made.

The civil argument in the U.S. over whether or not to authorize physician-assisted suicide and active euthanasia has reached new levels of vehemence. Oregon, California, Vermont, and Washington (and Montana, via court ruling) have become the first states to legalize physician-assisted suicide. There has, too, been campaigning, ballot measures, bills, and litigation in other states in attempts to legalize one or both practices. Supporters increasingly urge either absolute legalization or another form of legitimation, through claims of “mercy killing” when compared to homicide. As stated by representatives of the Ethics and Human Rights Committee, “Many people fear a painful and protracted death or desire more control over the dying process” (209).

Throughout ones lifetime there is a set of experiences that affects ones moral views, causing us to distinguish right from wrong in certain situations. One topic that has caused major controversy as to whether it is ethical or not is euthanasia and physician assisted suicide. There are some who view this issue as unethical and murder, and others who see it as a basic constitutional human right. Many people differ in where they place the line that separates allowing one to die and murder, and the biggest issue would be as to whether the patient can competently agree to their death, hence the word suicide. After researching both sides of the issue I have decided that I will be advocating for the view that physician assisted suicided and

Physician assisted suicide is the act of a patient voluntarily expressing his or her request to decease followed by requesting medication needed for ending his or her own life. It is currently legal in five states; California, Oregon, Vermont, Washington, and in Montana via court decision. In these states the patient requesting physician assisted suicide must “have a terminal illness as well as a prognosis of six months or less to live” (CNN).This act has been regulated by the Judicial and Legislative branches of government. The court cases, Vacco v. Quill and State of Washington v. Glucksberg, played a major role in the regulation of such acts along with voters in individual states.

painful? How will our death affect the ones we love? It would seem that most people would desire to die with dignity. Having the choice to die peacefully is a valuable option that every human should be able to make for themselves. For those with terminal illnesses or major health problems, assisted suicide creates options to reduce the amount of suffering the patient must enduring. Dying with dignity could be beneficial for not only the person who is dying, but also the person’s family and loved ones. This option, however, is often viewed as unethical and immoral throughout society. Physician-assisted suicide offers an option for those with health issues but poses various ethical and social issues.

Did you ever imagine a day and age where it is acceptable to kill someone? If not, then it’s time to wake up because it is the time we are currently living in. However, no one is calling it murder, now they are calling it physician assisted suicide. What’s the difference? Murder is when a person kills another person and PAS is when someone gives someone medicine that kills them. In both, there are two groups the person doing the action (the killer) and the person who is acted upon (the killed). Many people say that PAS, or euthanasia, is good because it helps relieve people from their pain. They try to get people to see it their way by trying to paint this picture that it’s better to force the person into death than, letting them reach that

Life and death is a controversial topic. To most, death is negative. Within life you laugh, smile, communicate and create new experiences both good and bad. It is a human right to be alive. Although, if people have a right to live they also have the right to die. Tragic things happen everyday because life has a very dark sense of humor. After certain experiences life becomes more like a continuous cycle of suffering than anything else. The laughs become riddled with pain and life becomes dull in the best moments. With strict restrictions, physician assisted suicide (also known as Physician Aid-in-Dying) will offer a more dignified and comfortable way for terminally-ill patients to end their suffering.

Before I start, I want you all to know that this speech is meant to challenge your beliefs and show there are always two sides of the story.

In the United States today, the issue of life and death always tends to be one of the most heated and debated topics. Abortion tends to be the main topic of concern, but there is another issue that has been around for far longer, which is Physician-Assisted Suicide (PAS). PAS is where the physician helps a person kill himself or herself by prescribing a lethal dose of one or more medications. During PAS, a physician hands over the medication to take, but does not administer it. PAS should not be confused with euthanization, which is where the doctor administers the medicine. Currently, three states, Oregon, Washington and Vermont have passed legislation that allows PAS. Every year 15-20 states attempt to introduce legalizing PAS

Every day, health care provider’s deals with different patients from different parts of the world, with different worldviews that differs from our own; and as nurses, we must understand that many individuals’ spiritual beliefs or religious beliefs play a significant role towards their health recovery. However, for nurses to better take care of our patients we must understand their religious worldviews, their essential needs in all places and times, and how to satisfy their spiritual needs, and provide comfort for the patients. The author of this paper will be analyzing two different religious worldviews: Christianity and Hinduism, their perspectives on Euthanasia or Physician assisted suicide in the case study scenario of George situation.