The Need for the Legalization of Physician-Assisted Suicide

Legalized physician assisted suicide. California, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington have made it legal by legislation, and Maine has made it legal by a court ruling. The remaining 45 states

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.

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.

The recent case of a woman, Brittany Maynard, who chose to end her life before she experienced the severe side effects of Glioblastoma has sparked a debate on whether Physician Assisted Suicide should be made legal in all fifty states. Some people believe that Physician Assisted Suicide violates the Hippocratic Oath, gives a doctor too much power, or leaves vulnerable groups at risk. Others feel that Physician Assisted Suicide will benefit the terminally ill. Physician Assisted Suicide will benefit the terminally ill by offering the option to cease their pain and suffering with a painless medication prescribed by a physician when they feel their quality of life has diminished, and is no longer worth living. With this option available, people can exercise their rights over their body and life, die with a sense of dignity, make organs available to patients who need them if it were legal, and it removes the physician from the death directly leaving it to be a personal exit to one’s life.

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.

The U.S. Supreme Court upheld court decisions in Washington and New York states that criminalized physician-assisted suicide on July 26, 1997.12 They found that the Constitution did not provide any “right to die,” however, they allowed individual states to govern whether or not they would prohibit or permit physician-assisted suicide. Without much intervention from the states individuals have used their right to refuse medical treatment resulting in controversial passive forms of euthanasia being used by patients to die with dignity such as choosing not to be resuscitated, stopping medication, drinking, or eating, or turning off respirators.9

In the United States, physician assisted suicide is legal in six states. People from other countries will come, or bring dying family members, to these states to give them the relief that they ask for. Oregon was the first state to pass their Death with Dignity Act in 1994. Washington, Vermont, California, Colorado all followed suit, two just legalizing it in 2016. Montana’s supreme court, during Baxter v. Montana, ruled there were no laws making physician assisted suicide illegal. In addition to these six states, District of Columbia has passed their Death with Dignity Act in 2017. Every state has had bills in their congress debating whether to legalize physician assisted suicide. It has been estimated that a thousand people, in any state,

In this case, “Doctor-Aided Suicide and “Vulnerable Groups,”” general public raised concerns on legalizing physician-assisted suicide in believe of it will impact vulnerable patients. Lead author Margaret Battin and her team analyzed data collected from both Netherland (1989-2005) and Oregon (1998-2006) on assisted suicide and voluntary active euthanasia cases recorded in these two states. They found that there were no significant changes in amount of cases among vulnerable patients such as elderly, women, psychiatric patient and uninsured people except for AIDS patients. Furthermore, cases for physician-assisted suicide had an averaged seventy years of age and

Imagine sitting in the doctor’s office waiting to hear the results of a recent test that was done. The doctor comes into the room and breaks the news that you have a debilitating illness that will continue to progress quickly, eventually leaving you in a vegetative state. Knowing that there is no cure, and not many options for treatment, what would be the next step to consider? If you had the option to die, would you take it? Physician-assisted suicide remains a controversial topic in today’s society. With its political, social, and ethical issues, many questions arise on the topic of whether more states should legalize it or not. This paper will discuss the ethical, social, and political

Taking a pro approach for physician assisted suicide, Jones’s article delivers the facts to why physician assisted suicide becomes legal. Physician assisted suicide is indeed legal in five U.S states such as, California, Oregon, Washington, Vermont, and Colorado. Rather than the article being good or bad, this text is highly biased. Jones provides facts to why physician assisted suicide should be legalized. Applying this article helps provide factual evidence about the Death with Dignity laws.

They believe that the patient should be able to choose the direction they want to take their lives in and if the best solution for those suffering is lethal drugs, they should not be denied that option. According to Lisa Schencker, (2015) 69% of Americans favored allowing doctors to end a patient’s life by painless means. Many support because of autonomy, a financial standpoint or simply because they have compassion for the dying. Advocates believe that everyone deserves the right to live a quality life, and if a patient requests assisted suicide it should be honored. States who also agree with this decision, and actively participate in physician-assisted suicide are Oregon, who passed their law in 1994 with 51 percent in favor, then later enacted their law in 1997. Washington, who enacted their law in 2008 with 57.91 percent support. Vermont then enacted their Patient Choice act in 2013. Then in 2016, both California and Colorado enacted their laws. All of these law granted patients to participate in physician assisted suicide under strict conditions to follow. Physicians must follow through with these strict guidelines as well as making sure that their duties are carried out correctly, and legally. The physician must also explain to the patient that they have other options such as hospice, and other pain relieving medications. If the patient decides that they want to follow through

"My life My death My choice" this is so empowering because they are the only ones who can choose how they go. People can think it is murder and that it is wrong, but they also put war and self-defense in a separate category for murder. So why can't the government and everyone let physician assisted suicide fall under the war category. Physician assisted suicide would not be used in a way that the doctors are not healing others. This practice has different elements that people look at when deciding their opinion on physician assisted suicide. The elements are helping to relieve the pain, the morality, and whether it is corrupting medicine practice.

Suicide. A term many of us are uncomfortable with, it is a tender subject especially for those who have been affected by it personally. What about the term physician assisted suicide (PAS) or assisted suicide? Around the world and more recently in the United States we have seen these terms in the news more often. Various forms of medically assisted dying and/or assisted suicide for the terminally or hopelessly ill competent adult have been approved by 2010 in the following ten states and nation: Switzerland (1940), Oregon (1994), Colombia (1997), Albania (1999), The Netherlands (2002), Belgium (2003), Washington (2008), Montana (2009) and Luxembourg (2008) (Humphry). With the addition of England and Wales (2010), Vermont (2014), New Mexico (2015), Quebec (2015), California (2015) and Canada (details pending for 2016) (“Assisted Suicide Law Reform”). Physician assisted suicide and/or assisted suicide is a major ethical issue in medicine, as well as an issue that involves law and public policy (Weir 7). In this paper I will discuss the different types of physician assisted suicide including the different practices in different countries.

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

The passage of Oregon's law permitting assisted suicide followed two failed attempts to legalize assisted suicide and euthanasia by ballot initiative. In 1991 Washington voters rejected an "aid-in-dying" bill. The following year California voters turned down a similar proposal. (7) Each bill would