Persuasive Essay On Euthanasia

Others have argued that physician assisted suicide is not ethically permissible, because it contradicts the traditional duty of physician’s to preserve life and to do no harm. Furthermore, many argue that if physician assisted suicide is legalized, abuses would take place, because as social forces condone the practice, it will lead to “slippery slope” that forces (PAS) on the disabled, elderly, and the poor, instead of providing more complex and expensive palliative care. While these arguments continue with no end in sight, more and more of the terminally ill cry out in agony, for the right to end their own suffering.

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.

Additionally, the term “euthanasia” does not mean the same thing as assisted suicide. Often people confuse these processes when they differ immensely. Despite this, they remain similar in their resulting death of a human life through the help of a physician. Euthanasia is the direct killing of a patient by a physician by means of lethal injection and it is completely controlled by the doctor. On the other hand, patients in assisted suicide have full control over the process that leads to their death. For this reason, procedures of these sorts must be eliminated as medical treatments and should not be authorized. Consequently, physician assisted suicide has been proven to lead to euthanasia in some cases. Assisted suicide should become illegal in all fifty states of the United States of America because it raises religious concern, endorses legalized murder, puts vulnerable people at risk of abuse, and

For multiple years, the debate on physician assisted suicide has prevailed. Physician assisted suicide is the death of a terminally ill patient, who wants to die on their own terms with the administration of a doctor. This is different than euthanasia because physician assisted suicide is backed by a controlling legal authority (“Physician…”). Some debaters are uncomfortable with the morality issues that arise with doctors killing patients or physician assisted suicide being abused. Others focus on the pain people who are terminally ill suffer from and the control physician assisted suicide gives them. Overall, the right to live or die should not be up to the government. Physician assisted suicide is legal in six states within the United States. Specific regulations are already practiced in five of those six states. Legalizing physician assisted suicide nationally would solve any regulation issue. Physician-assisted suicide should be legal nationwide with strict regulations in order to offer the freedom that the United States stands for.

It was in 1990’s when the topic of assisted suicide reached an all-time high. It was the work of Doctor Jack Kevorkian that began in 1960 that sparked the topic of “right to die” legislative action. Doctor Kevorkian was a Michigan doctor responsible for the deaths some 44 suicides for terminally ill patients. Doctor Kevorkian along with many accredited doctors such as Marcia Angell, agree on one main point; terminally-ill patients should have the right to determine how they should end their life. Marcia Angell, states in her article The Supreme Court and Physician-Assisted Suicide-The Ultimate Right that “Although others may consider

Assisted-suicide is a over dramatic expression for patient autonomy. Patient autonomy is defined as an “individual’s right to decide what to do with his or her own body, and the duty of the physician to relieve the patient’s suffering” (Rogatz 1). A patient should certainly have the right to choose what happens to his or her own body. The life of a patient should not be put solely into the hands of a doctor. If the he or she so chooses, physician-assisted suicide should be made available to the terminally ill. A physician, although it should be their obligation to help a patient, should not feel obligated to be the assistant in a person’s suicide. Assisted suicide is a source of “empowerment” for the patients, using “self-determination”, to make them feel as if they have a place in their treatment and to retain their dignity by maintaining their mental faculties by the end of their time (Salem 2).

Physician assisted suicide does not lead to abuses or down the hypothetical slope. Peter Rogatz, a physician, states that requesting someone to be taken off a ventilator is socially acceptable. What is the difference between assisted suicide and ending a ventilator? Does one have to be in coma or brain dead to allow him to die with dignity? These are the questions that patients and society are asking today. Rogatz asks these questions from a physician’s point of view and explains the pain that he has seen through suffering patient’s eyes. These questions alone are one factor that Rogatz is sickened by because he does not understand what in the world the difference should be between these two tragic events. The next point Rogatz explains is that people should see assisted suicide as a merciful end rather than killing. The word killing has such a strong meaning and that does not have any place in the right to die debate because killing is intentional without consent (134). Rogatz believes that the physicians who understand the plea for assisted suicide are doing good not harm. More often than not, the physicians responding to assisted suicide will handle the situation correctly. Rogatz does accept that there will be someone who will abuse this power, but that will not happen with everything physicians have as guidelines. According to Rogatz, physicians also have a strict criterion to even think about mentioning assisted suicide. The patients must qualify for assisted suicide. This factor alone also helps to eliminate abuses because physicians only can administer to a select number of terminally ill patients (134). Assisted suicide is not an act of murder and does not lead down a hypothetical slope.

The process of assisted suicide, or physician-assisted death, is a hotly debated topic that still remains at the forefront of many national discussions today. Assisted suicide can be described as the suicide of patient by a physician-prescribed dose of legal drugs. The reason that this topic is so widely debated is that it infringes on several moral and religious values that many people in the United States have. But, regardless of the way that people feel, a person’s right to live is guaranteed to them in the United States Constitution, and this should extend to the right to end their own life as well. The reasons that assisted suicide should be legalized in all states is because it can ease not only the suffering of the individual, but the financial burden on the family that is supporting him/her. Regardless of opposing claims, assisted suicide should be an option for all terminally ill patients.

Assisted suicide, by definition, is suicide facilitated by another person, especially a physician, in order to end the life of a patient suffering from an incurable or life-threatening illness. Ever since its first use in the 1970s, physician assisted suicide has been a topic of much controversy in the modern world. Issues surrounding the life or death of a person come with many sensitive areas of concern, including financial, legal, ethical, spiritual, and medical matters. Today, physician assisted suicide has only been legalized in two states while many other states have been fighting to pass or amend the Death with Dignity Act. But while some may say that physician assisted suicide is immoral and impractical because it deserts the hope

Radical assumptions have been made on whether or not physician-assisted death should be legalized in the United States because of its citizens’ uncertainty about this delicate subject. Physician-assisted suicide is the method by which an individual is provided with the drugs or equipment needed to commit suicide. The terms “aid in dying” or “death with dignity” are preferred over “suicide” due to their distinction from "suicide," where assisted or not, it remains illegal while “aid in dying” is permitted. This allows for the patient to have control over their life and have the right to be able to choose whether to live a life filled with tedious pain and/or suffering, or end their misery and be able to rest in peace.

Physician Assisted Suicide has been a very controversial topic in the recent years. P.A.S can also be known as physician assisted death or euthanasia. Many states wonder wither this practice is morally right or wrong. Physician Assisted Suicide is when a doctor administers patient lethal drugs, upon the request of the patient, with the end result being death. A popular question that surfaces when this topic is brought up is: Who should decide if a terminally ill patient had the right to commit physician assisted suicide? In support of the previous statements, this

Some physicians support Assisted Suicide one-hundred percent with certain circumstances while others support but with a wide variety of circumstances. People who support Physician-Assisted Suicide think it is right, of the patient of a incurable disease, to choose the time and manner of his or her own death. Some letters have been sent in that say “The physician-assisted suicide poses a disproportionate risk of harm to elderly, poor, and disabled people.” Many people who do not support this topic refer to the potential abuse or misapplication of the practice, usually talking about vulnerable and aging patient's.

Assistive suicide, also known as euthanasia, “is suicide committed by someone with assistance from others, typically to end suffering from a severe physical illness” (American Heritage Dictionary, 615). This action is most commonly committed between doctor and patient interactions. This controversial issue depicts suicides as a helpful solution to personally benefit terminally ill patients, as opposed to a forbidden social issue. Assistive suicide has become a major debate of legalization. “This is an act of a physician prescribing a drug to a patient which drug the patient is able to take on his or her own without the assistance of a medical provider or another person. This drug generally results in unconsciousness within five minutes and death within thirty” (Levin, May 08, 2002). My concern with this matter has reached high limits. Due to the fact that is still illegal in certain states many patients aren’t able to relieve their pain or suffering. Assistive suicide is meant as a solution to end personal suffering, its not to involve the public’s opinion or decisions. This should be a personal choice. Assistive suicide should be an elective choice for anyone and everyone facing terminal illness. Not enabling assisted suicide violates human rights and infringes inalienable rights.

Assisted Suicide should be made legal because many people suffer from diseases that aren’t always curable, it doesn 't make sense to let them go through all that pain and some families have financial struggles paying for their medical bill. This controversial debate is whether or not assisted suicide or mercy killing should be legal, whether or not doctors should be allowed to help patients kill themselves or give guidance on how to. People argue that assisted suicide should be considered legal, “In a spirit of compassion for all, this manifesto proclaims that every competent adult has the incontestable right to humankind’s ultimate civil and personal liberty -- the right to die in a manner and at a time of their own choosing. Whereas

Haider Javed Warraich wrote “On Assisted Suicide, Going Beyond ‘Do Not Harm.’” The article starts out by mentioning that the majority of doctors believe assisted suicide is bad. Warraich, a doctor, believes that is not the case. He believes that with all the medical advances, it is becoming harder for doctors to let patients die. So in theory, they do not believe in assisted suicide. Warriach believes that euthanasia is good for patients with terminal illness. Patients want to have control over their lives, which includes deciding when to die. Along with this, five states have already implemented an assisted suicide law.