Physician Assisted Suicide, When Is It Acceptable?

Physician assisted suicide is the termination of a life by the administration of lethal substances with the help of a doctor or physician. The legality and morality of physician assisted suicide is in a constant debate. Some claim that it is merciful to the terminally ill. Others claim that it is no better than murder. Despite its advocates, physician assisted suicide is morally and ethically wrong and impractical therefore it should remain illegal in the United States.

My essay topic is whether or not physician assisted suicide is morally permissible. I intend to argue that it is permissible because a competent patient ultimately has the right to choose for themselves the course of their life, including how it will end. To lie in a hospital bed in a vegetative state, unable to see, think, speak, eat, being totally unaware of your surroundings or those of your loved ones nearby speaks loudly of the pain and suffering at all levels for a terminally ill patient. Physician assisted suicide (PAS) is ethically justifiable in certain cases, most often those cases involving unrelenting suffering. While PAS is not

1. (problem – PAS): In today’s society, Physician Assisted Suicide is one of the most questionable and debatable issues. Many people feel that it is wrong for people to ask their doctor to help them end their life; while others feel it is their right to choose between the right to life and the right to death. “Suffering has always been a part of human existence.” (PAS) “Physicians have no similar duty to provide actions, such as assistance in suicide, simply because they have been requested by patients. In deciding how to respond to patients ' requests, physicians should use their judgment about the medical appropriateness of the request.” (Bernat, JL) Physician Assisted Suicide differs from withholding or discontinuing medical treatment, it consists of doctors providing a competent patient with a prescription for medication to aid in the use to end their life.

Physician Assisted Suicide is when “a doctor helps a person to commit suicide by providing drugs

Physician-assisted suicide is “the voluntary termination of one's own life by administration of a lethal substance with the direct or indirect assistance of a physician. Physician-assisted suicide is the practice of providing a competent patient with a prescription for medication for the patient to use with the primary intention of ending his or her own life” (MedicineNet.com, 2004). Many times this ethical issue arises when a terminally-ill patient with and incurable illness, whom is given little time to live, usually less than six-months, has requested a physician’s assistance in terminating one’s life. This practice with the terminally ill is known as euthanasia. Physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia is a controversial topic

Physician-Assisted Suicide is defined as the “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 aware of the patient's intent” (Merriam-Webster, n.d.). In layman’s terms, a patient who wishes to die may do so with the aid of a physician. As long as the physician is aware of the

“Physician-assisted suicide differs from euthanasia, which is defined as the act of assisting people with their death in order to end their suffering, but without the backing of a controlling legal authority.” 2 Physician-assisted suicide gives the legal authority to a physician who can prvide a patient with a lif ending dose of pills. A terminally ill patient first makes the decision to end their life. After required documentation, a doctor will administer a lethal dose of pills, and the patient is able to take them and end their life at the time that they see fit. This practice is currently legal in 6 states; Washington, Oregon, California, Vermont, Montana, and

Some people believe that physician assisted suicides are necessary. They are for it because it puts people out of their misery. That group of people would most likely come from the ones who wish to commit suicide upon themselves. They see it as a sign of relief for them, especially if they are suffering from any serious disease. Others could also want to do it because they are in deep depression. They also need help from a physician, which they believe would be more “safe” because they won't be physically hurting themselves. Also, some physicians believe that's the right thing to do because they are basically helping them get rid of the pain with drugs to commit suicide.

Physician assisted suicide, the suicide of a patient suffering from an incurable disease, effected by the taking of lethal drugs provided by a doctor for this purpose. The question of whether or not this practice should be made legal in the United States has been one of controversy since 1997. Beginning with the case of Washington v. Glucksberg, where the United States Supreme Court ruled that the matter of the constitutionality of a right to a physician’s aid in dying, was best left up to the states. Then gaining even more controversy when Oregon passed the Death with Dignity Act, which allowed terminally-ill Oregonians to end their lives by the practice of physician assisted suicide. (CNN.com) Proponents of physician assisted suicide

Physician assisted suicide is a physician intentionally assisting a patient, at this patient’s request, to terminate his or her life.

Assisted suicide is a controversial topic that has been debated many times. Some people believe that assisted suicide should not take place at all. Other people believe that suicide should be assisted by a physician in a medical setting. There are also people who believe that suicide should be assisted outside of a medical setting completely and even offered commercially. There are many issues and concerns when deciding if helping someone die is wrong, and then if it is not wrong then, how should it occur? How should a person’s qualification for suicide assistance be determined? Is this assistance only for terminally ill patients? All arguments are worth debating, but there is one argument that should not be a topic of debate and that is the physician-assisted suicides. Many people support euthanasia, but the physician should not be involved. Physician-assisted suicide violates the physicians’ Hippocratic Oath, gives too much power to the physicians, and involves physicians in suicides for reasons other than terminal illness.

Euthanasia, otherwise known as physician-assisted suicide, is defined in the MedicineNet online medical dictionary as the voluntary termination of one's own life by administration of a lethal substance with the direct or indirect assistance of a physician (MedicineNet). The act of euthanasia is a prevalent, modern issue that has been a highly debated and controversial topic throughout societies worldwide. For generations, the conversation of assisted suicide remains a contemporary and modern dilemma becoming increasingly speculated due to constantly evolving medicinal practices and procedures further

Assisted suicide, also known as euthanasia has historically been a controversial subject for many years all around the world, challenging both legal and ethical concerns. Two types of euthanasia are passive and active euthanasia. In passive euthanasia, life-saving support is withdrawn from a patient. Conversely, active euthanasia is when measures are purposefully taken to end one’s life. Another form of assisted suicide is referred to as physician-assisted suicide. In physician-assisted suicide, a medical doctor typically administers a lethal dose of medication that brings an end to a patient’s life. Some of the most debated questions related to assisted suicide focus on the morality and legality of the process itself. Likewise, another relevant issue surrounding this is, should patients have the right to purposefully end their life or not, and with or without assistance? These are extremely complicated and contentious issues, and there is a multitude of various views from one spectrum to the other. While people, including some in the medical profession, consider assisted suicide to be immoral and unethical, the question becomes should it be legalized to allow patients the right to end their life, end their pain and suffering, and die with dignity.

Physician assisted suicide is when a doctor provides the means for someone to commit suicide, but leaves the final act to the person who wishes to die. An example of this would be if the patient swallows a lethal drug supplied by the doctor. However, it is not assisted suicide if the doctor injects a person directly with the lethal drug ( Gifford 14). The patient doesn't die of natural causes, but by human action. “Generally the doctor will prescribe a drug with the knowledge that it will be used by the patient to commit suicide” ( Brannen 1). Physician assisted suicide is a choice that anyone eligible should be able to make, however it is illegal in most states. Euthanasia and assisted suicide’s meanings often get mixed up. Euthanasia and assisted suicide are not the same. Euthanasia is “to deliberately perform an act or to deliberately not do something with the clear intention of causing someone's death.

First I will talk about physician assisted suicide. ? Physician assisted suicide is the provision by a doctor, consciously and legally, to a patient who has competently requested it, the means for that patient to end his or her own life? (McCuen 12). I also found a definition on the World Wide Web that stated, ?In assisted suicide, a non-suicidal person knowingly and intentionally provides the means or acts in some way to help a suicidal person kill him or her.? I personally find the second definition a little bit easier to understand. An example of an assisted suicide is if a doctor writes a prescription for a drug that he or she knows will kill the patient. Physician aid in dying (euthanasia) is a little different from assisted suicide. ?Physician aid in dying is assisted by a qualified medical practitioner in implementing a patients considered wish to end his or her own life usually by means of lethal injection? (McCuen 13).