Persuasive Essay On Right To Die

The right to die has been a topic of many debates. People are either strongly opposed to the act, saying things like “In no situation is suicide the right thing to do,” while others argue the exact opposite. No compromises are made as an unstoppable force meets an immovable object, but this is life or death. The answer cannot be as simple as yes or no. We all go through difficulties in our lives, some even struggle with depression at times, but unlike those who are depressed or going through a rough patch, there are those who are doomed to deal with physical pain the rest of their lives. How could we deprive them the choice of a painless death, when letting them die slowly on a hospital bed is the only other option? Physician assisted suicide for those who are terminally ill should be legalized in America, because physician assisted suicide saves those who are hurting from living the rest of their lives in agony.

The right to die debate has been an ongoing dispute between opposing sides of this controversial topic. The right to die is the decision made by an individual to die with dignity when they are still capable of continuing their life with the necessary support and equipment. It is a voluntary decision by an individual who is regarded as terminally ill to commit suicide with the refusal of any type of life support that sustains their life. Fatally ill patients who choose to end their own life can do so through physician prescribed medications.

Imagine being diagnosed with an incurable disease and told that you have less than six months to live. For the past few decades the united states has been debating whether physician assisted death should be legalized or remain illegal. Assisted deaths are legal in the states of Oregon, washington, vermont, california, and montana but remains illegal in 37 states. Would you want to be given the option or take on a natural death? Ultimately, assisted suicide is gaining importance in our society today.

One of the greatest miracles in life, is life itself, but where is life there’s death. So as unexpected as life is shall death be the same, or can we choose on how we leave this earth. Over the years, the laws and ethical consternation regarding the debatable subject of euthanasia and assisted suicide, have been questioned frequently by society. Though the question may never be answered between euthanasia and assisted suicide being right or wrong, the fact of the matter is that people are still choosing their fate.

Last year a young woman named Brittany Maynard made headlines when her choice of “assisted suicide” became publicized through a mutual friend. She became a public figure and advocate for the “Right to die”. Throughout the years and more recently in my personal work experience I have encountered numerous people; even relatives with life threatening illnesses, most of them who went on to die. I have often wondered how many of these people would take advantage of their right to die on their own terms if there were certain laws in place. If you woke up tomorrow with a debilitating, and life threatening illness how would you react. Would you go in time, or would you go on your own time. If your choice would be to go in your own time, there is a

In March of 1998, a woman named Brittany Maynard received the news of her diagnosis of stage 4 Glioblastoma, with a maximum of 6 months to live. She became the face of the ‘right to die movement’ when she decided to move to Oregon with her husband and mother to utilize the Death with Dignity act. Five months prior in November of 1977, the Oregon Death with Dignity act was passed. The law had allowed terminally ill patients who had been given 6 months or less to live the choice to decide whether to live life or not. The law does not include those who have been on life support nor does it include those who have not voluntarily asked the physician to help them commit suicide (CNN). Many people are stuck on the idea that physician assisted suicide violates the life-saving tradition of medicine, However, physician assisted suicide should be legalized for suffering patients to have one last request for a peaceful death.

Euthanasia and assisted suicide contend that terminally ill people should have the right to end their suffering with a quick, dignified, and compassionate death. Professor Mayur Lakhani, chair of the national council for palliative

The right to die has been a controversial topic for a while now; although, recently it has become widely publicized and it has gained more support due to a recent case. The “right to die” means that you can refuse phenomenal life-sustaining measures to prolong your life artificially when you are deemed by physician to be terminally or incurably ill. Even though people have not always been given the choice to die, you should be able to choose because it is not the governments say; it is yours. It is considered controversial because of ethics and religion. In the realm of ethics, it is unethical to kill someone, and having a doctor take you off of life support is technically killing the person. Considering religion, in the bible it speaks against suicide, which is in technical terms what happens if a person take lethal drugs given by a physician to die.

Preserving life is the main goal for Doctors as well as societies intent to preserve and save life. An intelligent self aware individual should have the right to make the choice of when and how they die. It is an individual’s liberty and a sign of compassion as well as it is a physician's duty to alleviate suffering.

As Americans we have the right to choose what we want because of our democracy. If someone commits a serious crime it is punishable by death. Living in the United States people have the right to choose where they would want to live, what to do for a living, who to vote for, where to attend school, to have children or terminate pregnancy. As a terminally ill patient you do not have the right to die. It is not necessary or people to have to sit and suffer while their body deteriorate. It should be the patient’s choice of how he or she dies. There are many patients suffering from what may seem a little time to us a long painful death from being terminally ill. We need to fix this problem by education and educating the patient’s family.

Sitting in the doctor’s office awaiting the results, the results no one wanting to hear. After thirty minutes of silence the doctor comes in sits down and breaks the hard news. The verdict is stage 4 lung cancer and suddenly the patient is told that they have six months left to live. That’s 6 months of pain and suffering and treatments, a life no one wants to live. On top of all that pain, suffering, appointments, and sick days how can someone possibly make time for the people and the moments in life that truly count. Mind starts boggling and there is no way that they want their family to see and remember them like that, in that condition. They want to be remembered for the fun loving, crazy person they were before this awful diagnosis but how does one avoid that! This is where the Death with Dignity act comes in. If a patient had 6 short months left on this earth, and they could choose a day to end the suffering and have a plan and be able to spend the last of their days with family and friends the way they wanted to, would they do it or would they sit and wait not knowing when their last day really may be? Brittany Maynard did and she says “Right now it’s a choice that’s only available to some Americans, which is really unethical.” (Maynard 2014).

“Certainly, suffering at the end of life is sometimes unavoidable and unbearable, and helping people end their misery may be necessary. Given the opportunity, I would support laws to provide these kinds of prescription to people.” (Atul Gawande) Euthanasia is a painless killing of a patient suffering from an incurable and painful disease or an irreversible coma. In other words taking a deliberate action with the express intention of ending a life to relieve intractable suffering. (Christian Nordavist) Euthanasia or “mercy killing “should be legal in all states.

It has been said that people should possess the right to have one hundred percent control over what they do with their body as long as it does not infringe another person's rights (Siebold 1). The right to die is a theory based on the idea that a person is allowed to terminate their own life, this includes people struggling with terminal illnesses and things that bring lots of pain and loss of autonomy and dignity (Mendelson 1). There are two basic types: assisted suicide is when the doctors prescribe a deadly prescription of medication and the patient takes them independently, and euthanasia is when doctors give a fatal dose of medications such as an injection that ends the patient’s life. The right to die is legal in many states in the U.S. including California, Colorado, District of Columbia, Oregon, Vermont, Washington, and D.C ("Death with Dignity Acts" 2) The topic on the right to die has so many different opinions most who disagree bring religion into it. This right should be legal in all states because there is no proof that it will lead down a slippery slope, it will drive to generate a stronger, more compassionate society, and people should be able to die with dignity.

The debate over the use of euthanasia is ever growing. This is due to the fact of constant increases in medical advances. Medical advances are growing the number of medicines one can be given before palliative care is an option. The main concern of the debate is whether trying new treatments and medicines are necessary before palliative care is given. Two articles will be analyzed using the Aristotelian method. Both articles are valid, but the New York Times article written by Haider Javed Warraich offers a complete perspective using all three persuasive appeals compared to the article written by Terry Pratchett for The Guardian, which the majority is written on emotion.

The thought of taking your own life instead of suffering has been something that's been controversial since before b.c. The correct term for it now is assisted suicide, what exactly is assisted suicide? Assisted suicide, which can also be called physician assisted suicide means a doctor knowing and intentionally providing a person with the knowledge to commit suicide, so exactly what qualifications are needed to participate in your own death. According to the law “Death with dignity.” They must be adults expected to die within six months who are able to self-administer the drug and retain the mental capacity to make a decision like this. (Jessica Zitter) Oregon was the pioneer of this law, which was achieved through votes. The bill was passed on February 20, 2008, with 30 out of 59 votes. Montana, Washington, Vermont, California, Colorado and Washington D.C. followed in their footsteps slightly after. This situation is important to society because it's someone’s control. It’s a physical pain that controls your mind and body and it should be your decision to continue on this journey or end it. A person can be going through pain that they know they won’t overcome and assisted suicide gives them the option of relieving that pain. This issue matters to me because I personally believe euthanasia is an option I would participate in if faced with a deadly illness. Euthanasia is the painless killing of a suffering patient. “The fundamental question, often ignored, is not how and