The Right to Die Essay examples

A controversial human rights issue in modern society is the right to die, an issue that has much to do with the way that human beings relate to society at large, the notion that a man has ownership of their own body, and the obligations set forth in the Hippocratic oath and medical ethics. Physician assisted suicide, or the right to die as those in the pro-assisted suicide movement call it, divides two very different kinds of people into two camps. One’s opinion on the subject is entirely related to one’s core values. Whether one values the individual or whether one places more emphasis on the will of the majority has a great impact on one’s beliefs concerning the issue of the right to die. In this essay, I will prove

A Life or Death Situation, by Robin Marantz Henig, New York Times, July, 2013, is a review of the debate surrounding the right to a dignified death. It examines the purely philosophical view of the issue; as well as the heart wrenching reality of being faced with that question in one 's personal life. Does a person have a right to choose how he or she dies? How does that choice impact the people who care about about him or her? Should a person who cares about someone be required to cause or aide in his or her death? These questions weigh heavy on the minds of many people, who live

Physician assisted suicide should be a choice of the patient in Florida. There has long been a debate on Physician assisted suicide in the state of Florida, and in many other US states. The government has the burden on whether to pass an initiative on allowing physician assisted suicide. The Right to die initiative is decided on a state by state basis.

The right-to-die movement is spreading across the United States. Right-to-die refers to issues that involve the decisions of an individual to be allowed to die, when they could survive on life support or in a diminished state. This also allows for terminally ill people to refuse life support and/or die with dignity (Right to Die, n.d.). With this movement has come many legal issues. In 1976, the US court system dealt with its first case of right-to-die decisions with in re Quinlan (How the ‘Right to Die’ Came to America, n.d.). There have since been a few stand out cases, like Terri Schiavo and Brittany Maynard, that have helped to pave the way for others who would like to exercise death with dignity. Some cases have also been argued as violations

According to Simon Jenkins, a writer for the British newspaper The Guardian, states that “there cannot be a human freedom so personal as ordering the circumstances of one's own death...[yet]... the near universal desire ‘to be allowed to die in my own home’ is willfully disregarded” (Jenkins 1). By allowing yourself to have life, one would assume that this gives you freedom over other aspects of your existence, including when it should end. By denying the rights to achieve liberty, achieve happiness, and define our lives, are we not denying the rights governments around the world were founded on? It is the denial of these rights that allows the mental stress felt by patients to turn into physical pain.

According to Ullmann-Margalit (51) while dealing with the subject the agony of doubt deliberates that it is among the most confusing issues to deal with. Most people do not want to die, at least not now, and the debate of holding on to the inevitable and that of letting go heats up. Questions arise concerning the social, religious and ethical factors that have to be taken into play while considering end-of-life or right-to-die and thus bringing complexity to an otherwise easy decision. But the most crucial question to ask is: are those in support of the right-to-die justified in their movement? This will be the question that will be addressed in this argumentative essay.

Right to die issues are important to American society because as the as population grows older more people are going to encounter the issue that cannot choose to end their life prematurely, unless the live in state that allows physician assisted suicide which all most all do not, but must instead suffer until they finally perish. The first landmark case involving the right to die was In Re Quinlan 70 N.J. 10 (1976), In Re means in the matter of. The importance of this case was to establish whether medical personnel that remove a life supporting ventilator, with the expectation that the patient would not be able to continue breathing on their own, would result in said medical personnel being charge with the crime of homicide. Karen Quinlan was a 21 year old women that had become

The Court points to the historical and political trends of the United States. This includes legislation against assisted suicide and rejection of legislation that supports it in the past. Considering the fact that they do not offer support for end of life procedures, The Court decides that there must not be a “fundamental right” associated with choosing a particular death.

The right of a competent, terminally ill person to avoid excruciating pain and embrace a timely and dignified death bears the sanction of history and is implicit in the concept of ordered liberty.

The “Right to Die” (Euthanasia) should be further looked into as an option for terminally ill patients and not considered unethical. There has been an issue concerning the topic of “Human Euthanasia” as an acceptable action in society. The research compiled in conjunction with an educated opinion will be the basis for the argument for voluntary Euthanasia in this paper. Patients suffering from an incurable illness, exhausting all medical treatments, should be given the freedom of choice to continue their path of suffering or end it at their own will. “The Right to die” is not suicide, as you are fully aware that death will be certain, as Euthanasia spares the individual of additional pain.

As human beings who prize and value their autonomy, one feels entitled to choose at the end of one's life though no such power is present or possible at the beginning. Moreover, one cannot possess a 'right to die', at least not in the same way one is said to have the right to life. In fact, the very notion of the right to die is an absurd claim, because we all will die: this is an inevitable, undisputed fact of human life. What one really means to say is that one should have the right to die 'on one's own terms.' Yet, let us look at the right to life. If someone has an absolute right to life, then within that right is embedded the obligation or duty of others to respect and preserve this right. The 'right to die', if it is also said to be a right in this sense, it must also imply an obligation to the person who has claim to this right. So, others, doctors or family members, would have the obligation to kill someone who makes a stable, competent request for death. This, of course, would have serious implications for health care providers - particularly with regard to what end of life care really

Since euthanasia is still stigmatized and illegal in most states, many patients feel the need to take matters

Do people have the right to die? Is there, in fact, a right to die? Assisted suicide is a controversial topic in the public eye today. Individuals choose their side of the controversy based on a number of variables ranging from their religious views and moral standings to political factors. Several aspects of this issue have been examined in books, TV shows, movies, magazine articles, and other means of bringing the subject to the attention of the public. However, perhaps the best way to look at this issue in the hopes of understanding the motives behind those involved is from the perspective of those concerned: the terminally ill and the disabled.

Euthanasia is often called “mercy killing”. It is intentionally making someone die, rather than allowing that person to die naturally. It is sometimes the act of ending someone’s life, who is terminally ill, or is suffering in severe pain. Euthanasia is mostly illegal in the world today. Euthanasia can be considered a form of suicide, if the person afflicted with the problem actively does it. The person volunteering to commit the act to that person can also consider it a form of murder.

As American citizens, we are protected by individual liberties and the Bill of Rights. The purpose of the Bill of Rights is simple; it is to ensure that the American citizens are guaranteed a substantial number of personal freedoms. What if a person’s dying wish was to die on his or her own terms? Dying on peoples own terms, seems like it would be a constitutional freedom, but sadly, it is not. Image a loved one, a friend, or a family member struck with immeasurable pain faced with a terminal and intolerable illness. This patient would have to go through agonizing pain to fight a battle they cannot win, for the disease has already won. When faced with pain and death, neither the government, nor doctors should have a say other than the patients themselves when choosing to end their life. The decision or ‘the Right To Die’ is solely for that person to make. The decision to end one’s life should be a personal freedom.