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The Right Of Physician Assisted Suicide

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The Right to Physicians Assisted Suicide

Brittany Micceri
Dominican College
Dr. Bonk
November 15, 2015

The Right To Physician Assisted Suicide

Physician assisted suicide, or PAS, has always been a very controversial topic. This touches upon the healthcare side of the large spectrum of social problems today in America. An individuals view on this issue might vary depending on their political ideology. Modern conservatives might not necessarily agree with physician assisted suicide because of their traditional beliefs and values. Conservatives might say it is wrong because it goes against the teachings of the bible which states a life is created at the moment of conception and is always precious.…show more content…
These states include Vermont, Washington, New Mexico, Montana, and Oregon. Euthanasia is similar to the practice of physician assisted suicide, except instead of the physician ending the patients life, as preformed in euthanasia, the patient does it on his or her own. At the patients request, a certified physician may help a patient end their life pain free and peacefully. This process however can only be requested by a patient if they are in extreme pain and suffering, and especially if they have a terminal illness. While gathering and reviewing research I discovered an interesting statistic. According to the website Edlink an informational site about issues related to PAS which is hosted by Northwestern University, “57% of physicians practicing today have received a request for physician assisted suicide in some form or another” (Physician-Assisted Suicide - Introduction). Thats over half of all physicians. I as a liberal, believe everyone should have the right to physician assisted suicide. Some people in society claim that PAS is only socially acceptable if a patient is terminally ill or is in painful suffering. In addition, it is a physicians moral imperative to ease a patients suffering which if the patient requests, could mean ending their life. The argument of
PAS relies a lot on the patient’s respect for themselves, which identifies the rights of capable patient’s to decide how and when their death should occur when they are suffering
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