Persuasive Essay: Assisted Dying In Britain

There has been an increase in the interest of euthanasia and assisted suicide for the terminally ill in recent years (Williams 1997). The most obvious reason for someone wanting to end their life is to end the suffering they are going through once the illness goes beyond being bearable.

The patient’s life is no longer ordinary: he does not go to work, he does not go out to see friends or family, and he needs help with the tasks that he deemed easy before his illness, such as going to the bathroom or even eating (Lawton 88). Life revolves around his illness. The focus on his illness brings about a loss of identity for the patient. Someone who is terminally ill may feel that the disease is the first or only thing people notice about him. He cannot be seen for his interests or his hobbies because he can no longer do them. Family members and nurses of those in hospice care have noted that when a patient’s suffering becomes too much for them to bear, they retreat into themselves. Multiple patients in the field studies completed by Lawton stopped eating or drinking, and did not communicate with others; one patient was said to “close her eyes and totally ignore [the nursing staff]” when they came into the room, and another chose to stop talking entirely (Lawton 130-131). They have simply given up, and they wish in those moments to no longer feel the pain of the illness. Thus, many make the request to be sedated in their last days (Lawton 127). The pain that they feel and the loss of their dignity because they are bed-ridden leads them to choose unconsciousness at the end of their life. Physician-assisted suicide would

The treatments, the side effects are to the point that are not worth fighting for any longer and are just exhausted. They would much rather be healthy again. The patient should be able to proceed with physician-assisted suicide.

When a patient finally comes to the conclusion that they would like to bring their lives to an end, they are to end or opt out of enduring physical and emotional torture. I believe that if he or she first has been diagnosed by multiple separate sources with no room for error regarding the severity and mortality of their disease, other individuals should not have the authority to deny this option of relief. This practice, over the past ten years, has consistently accounted for “approximately one out of every thousand deaths per year” which may appear insignificant, but “one in fifty patients talk to their doctor about it, and one in six talk with family members” (“Existing ‘Last Resorts’”, 1). Most of these candidates will find great solace

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.

Forcing terminally ill patients to suffer straight up to their last days is unacceptable and provisions can be made in order to allow competent patients to have a choice at the end of their lives.

Physician assisted suicide is a crime almost everywhere, by one statute or another. In countries where assisted suicide is legal, there are guidelines, such as mandatory written request, administration by physicians only, and mandatory reporting of suicide, to prevent any abuse, however, they are often not enforced, or violated. Currently Washington, Oregon, Vermont, New Mexico, and Montana are the only states in the U.S that have legalized assisted suicide. Those who oppose assisted suicide argue that the legalization of it may have unintended consequences, that are not confined to only those states citizens. A person who is terminally ill, disabled, or elderly, may look to assisted suicide as an only resort, rather than a last resort, which it was initially intended to be. Assisted suicide should be abolished throughout the United States.

By having a doctor writing a prescription to a terminally patient, a doctor can allow the patient to end their life in a safe, effective and painless way. A lot of patients, who are suffering from chronic, painful, fatal conditions that would eventually bring death, have a strong belief that the only way to stop the suffering for them and their family watching them is suicide. Before the thoughts of a physician assisted suicide the patients would attempt suicide on their own, an act which was not as painless or successful as the doctors option to helping out. The option of the doctor’s choice would be much more painless and faster than the patient attempting it on their own. As one study shows, “Medical illness was a factor in half the suicides in people ages 50 and older and 70 percent of those ages seven years and older. Increased life expectancy, chronic illness, technology advances, and expanded treatment options have all complicated the process of dying” (Mackelprang 315). There is always a good chance that a suicide attempt could go very wrong and have a worse effect on the patient than before the attempt. Although an unsuccessful suicide attempt is a worse case scenario, it should be noted that many suicide attempts are not painless. For patients removing life support, the process is very slow and painful. The suffocation process is not the humane way for any one to have to die. If the patients who were thinking about attempting suicide on their own

As patients come closer to the end of their lives, certain organs stop performing as well as they use to. People are unable to do simple tasks like putting on clothes, going to the restroom without assistance, eat on our own, and sometimes even breathe without the help of a machine. Needing to depend on someone for everything suddenly brings feelings of helplessness much like an infant feels. It is easy to see why some patients with terminal illnesses would seek any type of relief from this hardship, even if that relief is suicide. Euthanasia or assisted suicide is where a physician would give a patient an aid in dying. “Assisted suicide is a controversial medical and ethical issue based on the question of whether, in certain situations,

In the ever changing role and dynamic atmosphere that healthcare provides, unique challenges and opportunities constantly arise which are a multi-faceted labyrinth of ethical and moral dilemma. One of the most contested and widely debated topics to be found in the healthcare workplace today is the subject of Assisted Suicide. Altering a person’s course of death into a process driven role, rather than the client’s final life event, creates a myriad of ethical and moral dilemmas.

In many cases, people with illnesses and disabilities would be poorly informed about their conditions and their future prospects. Doctors can easily misinform a patient thinking that the only option for them is death. Therefore, the decision to engage in assisted suicide could not be made rationally.

The word suicide gives many people negative feelings and is a socially taboo subject. However, suicide might be beneficial to terminally ill patients. Physician- assisted suicide has been one of the most controversial modern topics. Many wonder if it is morally correct to put a terminally ill patient out of their misery. Physicians should be able to meet the requests of their terminally ill patients. Unfortunately, a physician can be doing more harm by keeping someone alive instead of letting them die peacefully. For example, an assisted suicide can bring comfort to patients. These patients are in excruciating pain and will eventually perish. The government should not be involved in such a personal decision. A physician- assisted suicide comes with many benefits for the patient. If a person is terminally ill and wants a physician assisted suicide, then they should receive one.

Pain and anguish of the patient's family and friends can be lessened, and they can say their final goodbyes. Friends and family of the patient often suffer as much or more pain as the patient himself. It's difficult to see a loved one in such anguish for so long. It's emotional and physically draining to have the stress drawn out for so long. And when the patient does eventually die, it's often sudden or it follows a period when the patient has lost consciousness. Doctor-assisted suicide would give the patient a chance to

Most of the times, due to extensive suffering, most patients simply give up; with no hope left, they start to believe that the only way out of interminable pain and discomfort is to give up on their lives. Utter hopelessness makes them highly vulnerable and at the same time impulsive too. So, they easily fall victim to the temptation of ending up their own lives with just little assistance from people like Dr.

If patients don’t get the right to choose, they might refer to illegal methods to die or even commit suicide.