Physician Assisted Suicide Debate

Who gets to make the choice whether someone lives or dies? If a person has the right to live, they certainly should be able to make the choice to end their own life. The law protects each and everyone’s right to live, but when a person tries to kill themselves more than likely they will end up in a Psychiatric unit. Today we hear more and more about the debate of Physician assisted suicide and where this topic stands morally and ethically. Webster 's dictionary defines Physician assisted suicide as, suicide by a patient facilitated by means (as a drug prescription) or by information (as an indication of a lethal dosage) provided by a physician who is aware of the patient 's intent (Webster, 1977).

Euthanasia is a controversial topic regarding whether or not physician-assisted suicide should be further legalized. Euthanasia is the act of a medical doctor injecting a poison into a patient 's body in order to kill them. Some argue that euthanasia should be legalized to put people out of pain and misery. However, others argue that some people with terminal illnesses would do anything to live longer and believe that it is a selfish and cowardly act. Euthanasia is disputable because of the various ethical issues, including, but not limited to: murder and suicide illegality, the Hippocratic Oath, and medical alternatives. As someone who has had many traumatic experiences and who wants to become a doctor, I am very passionate about the well-being of my future patients and the responsibility to do no harm to them. For these lawful, logical, and personal reasons, euthanasia should not be legalized.

Physician-assisted suicide is controversial in healthcare and political realms alike. Currently, this end-of-life option is practiced in five states within the United States. Social concerns regarding assisted suicide revolve around ethical quandaries; providing the means to a patient’s death is contradictory to ethical principles of healthcare providers. Political concerns surrounding the legalization of assisted suicide include disparities in healthcare that may lead to certain populations choosing assisted suicide and the stagnation of current care options. While there is no succinct manner in which to declare assisted suicide right or wrong, each individual must address the social and political concerns surrounding the issue when voting for legislation to legalize assisted suicide or pursuing the option for themselves.

They are there day in and day out and develop special relationships. They might not agree with the decision to end one’s life, based on religious aspects, but they still have to go through with the decision (Gielen et al, 2009). This also brings into question about the ethical dilemma faced by physicians to preserve life. Likewise, this ideology is published in numerous medicine journals across the world. More specifically, this quandary is outlined in the QJM: An international Journal of Medicine. Within this journal, it poses these very questions. Should the patient’s decision to end their life override the doctor’s moral and ethical duty to preserve life? “I believe there are practical as well as legal and moral reasons to adhere to the ancient Hippocratic dictum: when efficacious treatment is possible, the physician's duty is to the patient, and to no one else—not to the family, nor the community—to prevent suffering and preserve life for as long as you can” (Epstien,

Public support for physician assisted suicide was confined to the limited situation where a terminally ill patient would ask a doctor for help to commit suicide. Fifty four percent thought that doctors should

According to the article “Physician Assisted Suicide Fast Facts,” published in the CNN Wire, physician assisted suicide is only legal in five states. Because it is only legal in five states, it proves that there must be a hefty amount of controversy over the topic. Although many oppose physician assisted suicide, there are many reasons that advocates have supporting why it should be legalized. People have the right to their life, and if they want to end their life, it should be their choice. Physician assisted suicide allows terminally ill patients to end their suffering. Because physician assisted suicide is not harmful, vital organs could be saved and used in transplants for those who are fighting for their life. Through the process of physician

Physician-assisted suicide is a topic that hits home to many people, both in the United States and across the world. Currently, five states have legalized physician-assisted suicide in the United States and it is crucial that every state reconsiders their stance on the issue. Each state needs to look at the pros and cons, as well as the implications of their decision on their stance on physician-assisted suicide. Citizens also have a critical role, as they must tell their legislators their stance on physician-assisted suicide so that the legislators can properly represent their states. This paper looks to show the major arguments for both the groups that support physician-assisted suicide as well as the groups that oppose physician-assisted suicide, while also taking other issues into consideration, such as different pressures legalization of physician-assisted suicide would have on different demographics.

According to research, 66% of adults here in the United States believe that a doctor should allow a patient to die under certain circumstances. Physician assisted death is currently legal in Oregon, Washington, and Montana. Other states such as Connecticut, Hawaii, Kansas, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania are considering legislation to allow physician assisted deaths for people with terminal illnesses. (Gordon, Serena). Physician assisted death needs to be legal because of how much it has evolved over time; it has many advantages, and the obligations that doctors are responsible

Physician-assisted suicide is a personal, divisive, and greatly debated issue in the United States of America. The contentious nature of physician-assisted suicide makes it ideal to be solved by a national referendum. The American Medical Association defines physician-assisted suicide as “when a physician facilitates a patient’s death by providing the necessary means and/ or information to enable the patient to perform the life ending act.” Only four states in the United States of America have legalized physician-assisted suicide; however, a recent Gallup poll showed that fifty-one percent of Americans supported legalizing physician-assisted suicide. The distinct divisions among the American public on whether or not physician-assisted suicide

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.

Support for physician-assisted suicide started to gain popularity growing from 37 percent in 1947 to 53 percent by the early '70s with the rise of the patients' rights movement (Drum). On October 27, 1997 Oregon enacted the Death with Dignity Act. This act allows terminally-ill Oregonians to end their lives through the voluntary self-administration of lethal medications, expressly prescribed by a physician for that purpose. Though support for assisted suicide was high very few people were actually taking part in it “By 2014, after 16 years in which Oregonians could get used to the idea, 155 people requested prescriptions, and 105 used them. That's 105 out of about 34,000 total deaths statewide, or roughly one-third of 1 percent” (Drum). Though assisted suicide has been made legal in

Physician assisted suicide, or euthanasia has been a very serious debate for at least a decade now. It was brought to the main stage in 1998 with the arrest of Dr. Kevorkian, whom helped at least 100 terminally ill patients commit suicide. If this

Janine Fiesta says, “A growing number of Americans have begun to call for the legalization of euthanasia and assisted suicide" (Fiesta, 1997). Fiesta is an author, speaker and Health-Care Director. Fiesta feels that more Americans are intimidated by medical technology and being able to choose the time and place of their death gives them some have power over this technology. The natural fear of death and pain may also have a bearing on the call to make assisted suicide legal. The New York Times also says, ¨Advances in medical therapies, in addition to their immense benefits, have changed death to dying from an instantaneous event to a long, drawn-out process. Death is preceded by years of disability, countless procedures, and powerful medications. Only one in five patients is able to die at home. These days many patients fear what it takes to live more than death itself.¨ Some people think that there is no valid reason to choose to have your doctor help you commit suicide, but there are plenty of people who would rather have their doctor help them die than try to save them from an illness that they feel they will die from anyway. On the other

* Researchers at Duke University recently surveyed hundreds of frail elderly patients receiving outpatient treatment and their families. The elderly patients themselves strongly opposed physician-assisted suicide: only 34% favored legalization, with support even lower among female and black patients. But 56% of their younger relatives favored it, and they were usually wrong in predicting the elderly patients' views.

Euthanasia is one of the most controversial topics in modern society, and every human being has a different view on it according to their culture, their nation's