Physician Assisted Suicide Is Considered A Taboo Subject Essay

Euthanasia refers to the intentional bringing about of the death of a patient, either by killing him/her, or by letting him/her die, for the patient's sake to prevent further pain or suffering from a terminal illness. Euthanasia is a complex issue in many underlying theological, sociological, moral, and legal aspects. Its legalization is heavily debated around the world, with strong arguments made for both sides of the issue. The supporters of euthanasia often repeated that "We have to respect the freedom of the patient" or "people should be able to exercise control over their own lives and death." However, Euthanasia, by nature, is "wrongfully killing" or "mercy killing", and if we allow any type of euthanasia, all sorts of negative

Thirty six states have statutes that explicitly criminalize assisted suicide: Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, Wisconsin. Eight states criminalize it through common law: Alabama, Idaho, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, Vermont, West Virginia. Three have abolished common law crimes and do not have statutes criminalizing assisted suicide: North Carolina, Utah, Wyoming. In Ohio, the state’s supreme court ruled in Oct 1996 that assisted suicide is not a crime. In Virginia, there is no real clear case law on assisted suicide, nor is there a statute criminalizing the act. However, there is a statute that imposes civil sanctions on person assisting in suicide. Oregon permits physician assisted suicide.

To fully understand the issue at hand, one must understand the various forms of euthanasia. The Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary: Tenth Edition defines euthanasia as “the act or practice of killing or permitting the death of hopelessly sick or injured individuals…in a relatively painless way for reasons of mercy.” Euthanasia can be either passive or active. Passive euthanasia occurs when a patient is relieved of medical treatment and is allowed to die naturally. Active euthanasia occurs when either a physician or a family member actively takes the life of the patient, perhaps through lethal injection, and eliminates a natural death process. Many people commonly use the word “euthanasia” to refer to assisted suicide. Essentially, assisted suicide is a form of active euthanasia in that a person, usually a physician, aids in the suicide of a patient.

Euthanasia, as defined by Merriam-Webster Dictionary, is considered to be, “the act or practice of killing someone who is very sick or injured in order to prevent any more suffering” (2015).Within this can be found different methods of euthanasia including passive or indirect euthanasia which requires withholding of basic life-saving measures such as oxygen, nutrition, hydration, or resuscitation. Another form is direct euthanasia which can be caused by administered drugs, injections, or suffocation. In its entirety, euthanasia has been debated as an ethical issue through its many forms and reasoning (Methods of euthanasia, 2011).

Physicians Assisted Death, is a death made possible when a physician, provides a terminally ill patient with the appropriate means to terminate their life. In other words, the patient commits the death causing act (Class notes, 10/19). Though Physicians Assisted Death and euthanasia ultimately result in the same ending they are different. euthanasia is a death made possible when a patient who is unable to commit the death causing act by themselves, grants a physician the right to terminate a their life. Thus, the physician administers the lethal drugs. That difference plays a critical role in the legalization of physician assisted death and euthanasia. Currently there are several arguments for and against the legalization of physician assisted death and euthanasia.

Before beginning, it is necessary that we clarify the difference between euthanasia and physician assisted suicide. Most use these terms inter-changeably when debating, although closely related, they are very different. Physician assisted suicide is when a medical professional prescribes a lethal dose of medication to a patient, usually one with a terminal illness, and then the patient has the ability to go home and proceed with taking the medication to

“Physician-assisted suicide is legal in five U.S. states,” (Physician-Assisted Suicide Fast Facts 1). These states include: Oregon, Vermont, Washington, and California. Although, the people wanting a physician-assisting in their death have to present terminal illness, and in most cases like in Montana, a court decides if you are taking an appropriate action. Assisted suicide is a controversial issue that is surprisingly a common use.

Physician-assisted suicide is currently legal in five states in the United States. These include California, Montana, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington. The laws included that for a patient to be eligible for this procedure, they had to be diagnosed with a terminal illness that will lead to death within six months

Is physician assisted suicide morally right? This has been a controversial subject for some time now. People are wondering whether or not it is the most humane thing to do. If dogs can be putdown, why not people? The reason is in that question. They are people. Every life is important, no matter how long it may be. Instead of finding a way to get rid of people faster, the government could put those efforts in something more positive. If other people are considering whether or not the patients’ life is valuable, the patient could question it as well. Physician assisted suicide will put pressure on terminally ill people to die more quickly because it’s cheaper and because the patients may have low self-esteem.

Physician assisted suicide and euthanasia are often confused because of how similar they are; they both end the life of a patient by lethal medication. Although, the paramount difference between them are that in Physician assisted suicide the lethal medication is self administered, while in euthanasia the medication is administered by someone other than the patient. Euthanasia is also illegal in all states while Physician assisted suicide is legal in three states (Starks et

Medical News today classifies Euthanasia as "assisted suicide, physician-assisted suicide (dying) , doctor-assisted dying (suicide) , and more loosely termedmercy killing". Regardless of what anyone says the idea behind Euthanasia is to end someone's suffering, and this is specifically done by a physician or those in a caregivers role. Ending of the suffering is only done when the person's life is ended and typically it would be done in a manner that is not adding more to the individuals current state of suffering.

Euthanasia, defined as, “the act or practice of killing or permitting the death of hopelessly sick or injured individuals (as persons or domestic animals) in a relatively painless way for reasons of mercy” by the Merriam Webster Dictionary, is a very controversial issue that many of us must face at one time or another in our lives. More often than not, the conversation about euthanasia is brought up in the cases of severely injured or sick animals. Other cases are seen in terminally ill medical patients that have the want or desire to die with dignity. The difference between what is right with physician assisted suicide, versus animal euthanasia, varies between persons. However, most will agree that it may be

Transition: Let me show states where euthanasia is legal. According to Talha Khan Burki article, “Attitudes and practices towards legal euthanasia” in August 2016, shows states where euthanasia is legal: Belgium, Canada, Luxembourg, Netherlands, India, Japan. Five US states also legalized euthanasia: California,

Euthanasia is defined as “the act or practice of painlessly putting to death persons suffering from incurable and distressing disease as an act of mercy” (Paola). The goal of this action is therefore not maleficent, such is murder, but instead compassionate. However, euthanasia in the terms of physician assisted suicide (PAS) is still illegal in United States as it is deemed a form of wrongful homicide. One of the most likely reasons PAS is illegal in the United States, with the exception of in Oregon and Washington, is because it is both morally and ethically controversial.

First of all, what is euthanasia? It is something that not many people think about until they or a friend or family member is put in a position where they might actually have to consider it. Euthanasia, in the dictionary, simply is: the action of ending someone’s life in a painless way. It seems pretty simple but in reality it is a lot more complicated, not only for the people involved but for the society in general as well.