You, Jack Kevorkian, Pennsylvania, your parents, the government, the church, doctors? Who has the right to make the decision to end one’s life? The controversial topic of euthanasia has been in existence since ca. 460 BC – ca. 370 BC with its origination in the Hippocratic Oath and continues to gain popularity with the advancement in media and technology (Nordqvist). In this paper, we will examine the benefits of voluntary euthanasia or physician-assisted suicide (PAS) and why, in the year 2017 it should be nationally legalized.
Euthanasia is a process in which someone takes a deliberate action with the intent of ending a life to relieve intractable (persistent, unstoppable) suffering. Physician-assisted suicide is a form of
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Refusal of treatment allows for an individual to refuse the recommendations set forth by their physician if they are found to be of sound mind to make that decision. This option does allow for a person to have a say in their medical care and dying process however may not take away their pain and suffering which in turn could affect their overall quality of life. The final legal option is a living will or advance directive. This is an officially binding document drawn up by an individual which allows them the capability to make medical decisions in the event they become incapacitated to do so (Nordqvist).
If these alternative means to euthanasia eventually result in death anyway, why then should we force an individual to suffer unnecessarily rather than provide them the choice? Autonomy, or the right to self-govern is one of the major foundations of human rights in the United States and is therefore fundamental in decision-making in health care. It is the leading contributing factor in the legalization of euthanasia in countries such as Belgium, and the Netherlands (Karlsson et al., Dying cancer patients’ own opinions on euthanasia 35).
Another important factor to consider in one’s decision to end their own life is how they view its quality. In a study found by Mak and Elwyn, suffering was the top reason for terminally ill patients to want to end their life though PAS (345). She describes suffering as
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
Out of the 196 countries in the world, only nine countries have legalized euthanasia or assisted suicide,” a quote brought up by Storypick. (). Euthanasia is one of the most controversial topics currently, but what can euthanasia offer patients and people all around the United States? People have different opinions and facts about euthanasia; so what are the pros and cons? In the end, euthanasia should be legalized because people will face pain mental and physical, people’s opinions should not be deterred as well with a death that will contain dignity, despite the moral thoughts it goes against. 10.2
Evidence of physician-assisted suicide can be traced back to ancient times, especially to ancient Greece or Rome . In fact, the term “euthanasia” comes from the Greek term “a good death” . This controversy has carried over into the modern era, and much of the world is still fragmented over this specific issue; particularly, the United States proves to be split nearly 50-50 on the topic. A poll taken in the United States in 2011 shows that Americans skew slightly toward thinking that physician-assisted suicide is morally wrong, with 48% of Americans thinking it is morally wrong and 45% of Americans thinking it is morally acceptable . However, by changing the phrasing of the question and asking if an individual has a right to end his or her own
Suffering is a constant companion of humans today; people experience it every day, whether it be emotional or physical, internal or external. Living with a terminal illness is also living with suffering, both because of the physical pain that is felt, and also the emotional blows the patient experiences every day. A terminally ill patient has a monumental part of their life taken from them. Few aspects of life still remain in their control, because of doctors, family members, and the illness itself. However, there is a practice that places a final decision, the right to choose the circumstances of death, with the patient. Physician-assisted suicide (PAS), or physician
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.
In the story of “Confronting Physician-Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia: My Father's Death” by Susan Wolf, she talks about the difficulties of her dad fighting cancer, and his final days. “Her father had always said that he would want everything, even in a persistent vegetative state (Wolf, 2008). However, his body reaches the point and the daily fight, pain and the struggle he was enduring just to stay alive was more painful and draining than it was really worth. He always told his daughter to fight until the very end and do what was necessary to do so. However, there is only so much pain your body can endure and even though he has always said to fight until the end. Effort They have reached the end of their road and should not have to suffer any longer if they so choose. After all the pain, they have been through and knowing that they are closer to death with each passing day, it should be their choice to end their suffering sooner and pass on peacefully without the suffering. In addition, let them quality of life the person to slip peacefully into the next life without pain and suffering.
Today, there is a large debate over the situation and consequences of euthanasia. Euthanasia is the act of ending a human’s life by lethal injection or the stoppage of medication, or medical treatment. It has been denied by most of today’s population and is illegal in the fifty states of the United States. Usually, those who undergo this treatment have a disease or an “unbearable” pain somewhere in the body or the mind. Since there are ways, other than ending life, to stop pain caused by illness or depression, euthanasia is immoral, a disgrace to humanity, according to the Hippocratic Oath, and should be illegal throughout the United States.
Forcing terminally ill patients to suffer straight up to their last days is unacceptable and provisions can be made in order to allow competent patients to have a choice at the end of their lives.
In today’s society it is taught that life is a precious gift and to cherish every second that is allowed, but what if it is full of endless pain and misery? Starting hundreds of years ago in Ancient Greece up until modern times with Doctor Kevorkian, physician-assisted suicide, and euthanasia are all highly debated topics that cause both legal and moral dilemmas, but provide patients with benefits such as financial and pain relief. Assisted suicide should be legalized in the United States to prevent pain and suffering for the patients and their families.
Today, voluntary euthanasia is getting closer to being legalized in more than just one state in the United States. “‘Voluntary’ euthanasia means that the act of putting the person to death is the end result of the person’s own free will” (Bender 19). “ Voluntary euthanasia is an area worthy of our serious consideration, since it would allow patients who have exhausted all other reasonable options to choose death rather than continue suffering” (Bender 19). The question of whether or not voluntary euthanasia should be legalized is a major debate that has been around for years. Because the issue of whether people should have the right to choose how they want to live or die is so complex. With the advances in technology today we have made
In the United States today, there is a considerable amount of debate of whether or not physician-assisted suicide should be legalized. Many oppose physician-assisted suicide because they view it to be morally and ethically wrong. Similarly, many support the legalization of physician-assisted suicide because they believe human beings have the right to determine when and how they die. Personally, I believe human beings have the right to determine when they die and that the government should not keep individuals who are in extreme pain and only have a few months to live from ending their life with dignity. Through this paper, I am going to explore the many sides of physician-assisted suicide.
Euthanasia is the practice of intentionally ending a life in order to relieve pain or suffering. In the Greek language, euthanatos means “easy death”. There are different types of euthanasia including the euthanasia of animals as well as humans, but the term is more commonly referred to as mercy killing or assisted suicide.
1) Patients have the right to make their own informed decisions about if and how they die. When a chronically ill patient decides life is no longer worth living because of the insurmountable pain they are in, who are we to tell them differently? There are cases where attempts to cure are doing more harm than good, not only mentally and physically to the patient, but emotionally to his family and loved ones as well.
Most adults diagnosed with cancer undergo years of treatment in attempts to cure that cancer. However, sometimes these treatments may not work, or the cancer is found too late in a patient to be stopped, and a patient’s cancer can be determined terminal, which means that the cancer can not be cured and will lead to death. If cancer is determined terminal, end-of-life care can be administered patients to control lasting pains, including shortness of breath, nausea, and constipation. However, this treatment does not cure the cancer, and will not prevent death in a terminally ill cancer patient. In some cases, patients decide that receiving end-of-life treatment is not worth it if the treatment does not prevent death. Terminally ill cancer patients may also continue to experience unbearable suffering, despite end-of-life treatments, as it is not always effective. These factors may push some terminally ill cancer patients to request to be actively euthanized. Active euthanasia is the merciful ending of a patient’s life through a single act, such as an injection. Terminally ill cancer patients should have the right to determine if they are actively euthanized. However, only patients who consider their suffering unbearable should have the right to be euthanized.
Voluntary euthanasia, or physician-assisted suicide, has been a controversial issue for many years. It usually involves ending a patient’s life early to relieve their illness. Most of the controversy stemmed from personal values like ethics or religion. The euthanasia debate puts a huge emphasis on what doctors should do for their patients and how much a person’s life is worth. Supporters of euthanasia primarily focus on cost and pain alleviation. Opponents of euthanasia tend to focus on morality. Whether euthanasia is legal or not could significantly affect future generations’ attitudes about death. Euthanasia should be legalized nationally because it helps patients that could be in unimaginable pain, offers more options for more people, and it is relatively inexpensive compared to the alternatives.