Persuasive Essay On Assisted Suicide

Physician Assisted Suicide, the practice of allowing a physician to aid their patient in committing suicide, is ethically wrong. It is stated clearly in the Hippocratic Oath that doctors take: “I will neither give a deadly drug to anybody who asked for it, nor will I make a suggestion to this effect.” This part of the Hippocratic Oath proves that doctors should not aid their patients in suicide because that would have a negative effect on the patient’s health. Rather, they should do whatever is in their power to find another solution to their patient’s problem. In this oath, the doctor swears to attempt to cure their patients of their medical problems, this does not include ending their patient’s life to solve the problem. Breaking an oath

Suicide is one person’s personal decision; physician-assisted suicide is a patient who is not capable of carrying the task out themselves asking a physician for access to lethal medication. What people may fail to see however is that the physician is not the only healthcare personnel involved; it may include, but is not limited to, a physician, nurse, and pharmacist. This may conflict with the healthcare worker’s own morals and there are cases in which the patient suffers from depression, or the patient is not receiving proper palliative care. Allowing physician-assisted suicide causes the physician to become entangled in an ethical and moral discrepancy and has too many other issues surrounding it for it to be legal.

Because physician assisted suicide is unethical, it should be prevented. Physician assisted suicide is essentially putting someone to their death. This in and of itself is unethical. Ideas of physician assisted suicide lead to ideas of eugenics, the science of improving a human population by controlled breeding to increase the occurrence of desirable heritable characteristics

Assisting suicide is only legal “in the u.s, Oregon, washington, and montana have legalized the practice of physician assisted suicide, and in 2013, vermont declared that suicide with prescribed medications was a legal “medical treatment”(Health Research funding 2). Only four states in the united states legalized assisted suicide. The legalization of assisted suicide is still ongoing. There are so many opinions and arguments to legalize, a doctor to give a patient pills that can kill them. “In 1997, Oregon passed the Death and Dignity Act, Which made doctor assisted suicide legal in that state”(Forman 8). Federal authorities tried to change this state law. But failed and it still today is

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.

Physician assisted suicide, a method legal is some states and countries, is a way for people under certain conditions to be prescribed a death inducing drug. Campaigners of assisted suicide claim that physician assisted suicide should be legal and available to those that meet certain requirements because it is an easy way to end someone’s struggles and pains with terminal illness. However, I think it should not be legal. Between the fact that a person is a person and deserves a life and opportunity, the business of killing will always have loopholes and problems, it is a doctor’s responsibility to make sure the patient lives, and the fact that this could desensitize the public of death.

There are several reasons why physician-assisted suicide is such an ongoing argument between people in this day and age. Whether they want it legalized or don’t want anything to do with it, it’s safe to assume that this topic is rather controversial in our society. In the debate titled “Doctor-Assisted Suicide Is Unethical and Dangerous” written by Ira Byock at the New York Times, he states, “Legalizing assisted suicide fixes nothing. The principle that doctors must not kill patients stands. Two moral wrongs don’t make a right” (Byock, 2015). Some may agree with Byock, but others truly believe that the patient should be able to make a choice about their end-of-life treatment and no one else should be able to tell them otherwise.

In places where assisted suicide is legal there is no evidence that the law is being abused, impotent populations are being targeted, or that the patients are being constrained by physicians and or their family members to choose this action. The right to die and to decide when life is no longer worth living for is essential for human freedom, autarchy, and personal sovereignty. Neither the government nor religious establishment should foist their own notions of ethics upon individuals who are not harming others. A ban on physician assistance to suicide as applied to suit terminally ill patients who wish to avoid the unendurable pain, substantially interferes with one’s protected liberty interest and cannot be sustained.

In the United States, it is an unacceptable act. States are allowed to enact laws permitting assisted suicide. A solution to this problem is to create a law to make it legal. If anyone had a problem with this law, they can go to court to talk about it. Court will only try to convince them of the benefits of Assisted Suicide. Another solution is to talk live on TV and explain the benefits of this. The government can convince the country of everything good to it. They will help this issue by explaining to the country how it really works. Only a few places Assisted Suicide is legal. Oregon was the first state to permit Assisted Suicide. In 1991, the citizens of Oregon voted to legalize a highly controversial practice called physician-assisted suicide in their state. In 1994, Oregon signed the Death with Dignity Act, allowing a terminally ill person meeting certain point to end their own life with the help of a doctor. The death with dignity act was written with several safeguards that are intended to protect the vulnerable, weak, sick, elderly, and others from being taken advantage of. In this case, physicians may not be forced to participate in the Death with Dignity Act. In 1997, President William Jefferson Clinton signed the Assisted Suicide Funding Restriction act. Montana, Oregon, and Washington legalized physician assisted suicide. California was the

People that think physician assisted suicide should be legalized, believe that the patient have the freedom to choose how they want to die. Andrew Solomon, a professor of clinical psychology at Columbia University, is an advocate of assisted suicide; and he has given his point of view in various debates. “Because much of modern medicine prolongs not living but dying, we need to rethink death itself” (Andrew Solomon). One of the things that advocates of physician assisted suicide consider most important, is the patient’s will to die. Many individuals think that it is wrong to go against that will. Terminal patients have the right to decide whether they want to try a life saving treatment, or refuse it. “While no one should be pressed into assisted dying, no one should be categorically denied that right. It 's about dignity” (Andrew Solomon). Another factor why people believe patients should be given the right to assisted suicide, is money. Certainly, everyone would pay what is necessary in order to save the life of the ones they love. Although money might not be the priority at that

(http://www.save.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=home.viewPage&page_id=705D5DF4-055B-F1EC-3F66462866FCB4E6),suicide is rated as the 10th leading cause of death in the US, including victims of all ages. Assisted suicide is said to endanger the weak and vulnerable, Corrupt the practice of medicine and the doctor-patient relationship, Compromise family and intergenerational commitments, and betray the human dignity and equality before the law, by Dr.Ryan T Anderson, PhD, in his article found in the www.heritage.org site. Many people come up with the thought

While a doctor’s main goal is to save lives, physician assisted suicide should be legal I all fifty states because people should be able to determine when they are ready to end their life, but only in certain limited circumstances. Physician assisted suicide, also known as PAS, is suicide committed with the help of a physician. Another name for assisted suicide is euthanasia, which is the painless killing of a patient suffering from an incurable and painful disease or in an irreversible coma. Euthanasia is different from assisted suicide because the patient does not really have a say in what happens to them, therefore it is illegal in most countries. There are many different ways that the physician could assist the patient in committing suicide. In some cases the physician would provide lethal drugs so that the patient would pass away. In most cases a doctor or physician would take the patient off of life support. Although it is said that in some cases the patient can voluntarily stop eating and drinking is considered assisted suicide that seems to be more of a choice they make on their own and not so much with the help of a physician. Physician assisted suicide is currently legal in only five states; Montana, New Mexico, Oregon, Vermont and Washington. This law should be legal in all fifty states because it is unjust to the individuals who find their quality of live intolerable.

The oppositions to legalizing physician assisted suicide include several viewpoints of concern. The main and most prominent point is that legalizing physician-assisted suicide is morally unjust. According to the article “Physician Assisted Suicide is Always Wrong" author Ryan Anderson states, “Doctors may help their patients to die a dignified death from natural causes, but they should not kill their patients or help them to kill themselves “(2). This quote exemplifies the opposing side and central point of physician assisted suicide – Anderson displaying a moral opinion. Sworn by every physician is the oath “I will not give a lethal drug to anyone if I am asked, nor will I advise such a plan.” Therefore, another argument of the opposing party is the physician’s oath of “Do No Harm” would be hypocritical if physician-assisted suicide were to be made legal. Other arguments include lack of control over who is receiving the lethal medication, potential physician abuse of power, endangerment of the weak and vulnerable, and relationship compromising. In the article, “Pain

An estimated 44,193 suicides occur a year in the United States (“Physician-Assisted Suicide”). This large number of suicides are from people killing themselves due to depression, suffering, and much more. Assisted suicide can help people die peacefully without having to cause pain to themselves. It is an easy and painless way to end suffering to a person of any age. Assisted suicide should be legal in the United States, and any other places in the world. Assisted suicide will help many people all over the world who are unhappy with their lives.

At any time, patients have the right to refuse medical attention which could lead to the right to die, however, the argument involving doctors is that in no cases do doctors have the right to kill. Doctors are often not thought of much in the euthanasia process, the thought immediately goes to patient and the family. The weight carried by the doctors asked to administer euthanasia and assisted suicide is described in an article by Samantha Gobba, a journalist for World Magazine, when she states, “when you legalize assisted suicide, you’re actually asking physicians to be directly and intentionally involved with giving lethal drugs to their patients” (Gobba, 2017). In other words, Gobba is explaining that the pressure not only lies with the