Physician Assisted Suicide Argumentative Essay

Drum affirms, “I will ask my doctor for a prescription sedative that will kill me on my own terms¬—when I want and where I want” (60). Therefore, the passing of the “physician-assisted suicide” (Drum 28) bill will provide countless others the choice of ending their suffering surrounded by those who love them while enjoying as much as possible all the time they have

It provides a competent patient with a prescription medication to use with the primary intention of ending his or her own life. Physician-assisted suicide has its proponents and its opponents. This procedure is not to be taken lightly. All patients pursuing PAS should be evaluated. It is required that “...a patient's request for assistance with a hastened death should generate a thorough evaluation of the patient's motives and attempts at ameliorating the patient's suffering”(NCBI).

In modern times, the topic of physician-assisted death has gained prominence in the United States in part to the publicized deaths assisted by Dr. Jack Kevorkian. He was a doctor in the 1980’s who allowed over 130 of his patients commit suicide when they found it to be appropriate. Additionally, physician-assisted suicide has come to the forefront of discussion as a result of general concerns about suffering painful, slow and undignified deaths under a medical care system that is able to extend dying, but not necessarily living. What exactly is physician-assisted suicide? Often referred to as a person’s right to die, assisted suicide is simply death assisted by another person, particularly a medical professional.

The legalization of physician assisted suicide is a very polarizing topic with many advocates for each opposing position. Despite the position that physician assisted suicide should be illegal there are still many valid arguments for its legalization. One of the more popular arguments in favor physician assisted suicide is that it ends the suffering of patients who are experiencing intolerable pain. Most jurisdictions in which, have legalized physician assisted suicide to terminally ill patients, have done so on the belief that it presents a more “merciful death”. As physician assisted suicide does bring a more painless alternative most patients do not request the practice for the purposes of pain.

Physician Assisted suicide is the act of a doctor helping the patient die because the patient is suffering from an incurable disease and are terminally ill. Unless you are terminally ill this is something you might never understand. Until I started researching more about assisted suicide I never understood really what it was. If a patient is terminally ill I believe that they should have the right to decide whether to end their life or continue. If the patient decides ending their life will help them, it should be the job of the doctor to provide and help the patient die safely and free of as much pain as possible.

Physician assisted suicide is when a physician provides the means required to commit suicide, including prescribing lethal amounts of harmful drugs to a patient. In the United States alone, there is great controversy about physician assisted suicide. The issue is whether physician assisted suicide is murder or an act of sympathy for the patient. The main point is that terminally ill patients should have a right to physician assisted suicide if it meets their needs and is done properly. Physician assisted suicide is an appropriate action for the terminally ill that want to end their life in peace before it ends at the hands of the terminal disease.

The Right to Die 1) Introduction a) Thesis statement: Physician assisted suicide offers patients a choice of getting out of their pain and misery, presents a way to help those who are already dead mentally because of how much a disease has taken over them, proves to be a great option in many states its legal in, and puts the family at ease knowing their love one is out of pain. i) The use of physician assisted death is used in many different countries and some states. ii) Many people who chose this option are fighting a terminal illness.

Physician assisted suicide has been an intensely debated problem for years but if used properly, could be an effective way to help those who are suffering at the end of their life. Countless people have been advocating for physician assisted suicide for years and the most famous advocate for assisted suicide was Dr. Jack Kevorkian. He was a pathologist but received the nickname Dr. Death after it was estimated that between 1990 and 1999 he assisted 130 terminally ill individuals in their assisted suicides (“Jack Kevorkian”). Dr. Kevorkian is considered a crusader for physician

Controversy The controversy addressed in this paper is the debate surrounding the legality Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide, predominantly in Canada. A sensitive and conflictual topic for many, the debate on euthanasia has been ever growing since it is conflictual with the preservation of human life and its effect on many individuals surrounding the procedure. Description Euthanasia, sometimes referred to as active euthanasia, is the ending of another person’s life in order to relieve suffering and at the request of the patient, is carried out by a physician through the use of lethal injection (Boudreau & Somerville, 2014).

Assisted dying is becoming more and more of a common talk around everyone in the world. Whether a person is for it or against it, it is still something to controverse about. In this article I am going to talk about the pros and the cons of assisted dying, as well as my views of this delicate topic. “Assisted suicide is providing another person with the knowledge or means to intentionally end his or her own life; an example would be a doctor prescribing barbiturates to someone with a terminal illness who then takes the medication and dies.” (Thompson 2014).

Euthanasia, is common to families who have loved ones in an incurable condition facing the inevitable. It is one of the most difficult decision for anyone to face of whether to pull the plug or keep the patient under vegetative or suffering state. Letting someone go is never easy, but euthanasia allows the family to decide the patient’s fate, to avoid any other agonizing pain, and to brace themselves for the imminent loss. A family’s grievous decision to euthanize is very crucial.

Assisted suicide is a rather controversial issue in contemporary society. When a terminally ill patient formally requests to be euthanized by a board certified physician, an ethical dilemma arises. Can someone ethically end the life of another human being, even if the patient will die in less than six months? Unlike traditional suicide, euthanasia included multiple individuals including the patient, doctor, and witnesses, where each party involved has a set of legal responsibilities. In order to understand this quandary and eventually reach a conclusion, each party involved must have their responsibilities analyzed and the underlying guidelines of moral ethics must be investigated.

One is unable to end his / her life even if one strongly wishes to die, giving rise to the need to assist one to die; Opponents of euthanasia on the other hand have advanced the following arguments against the practice: i. People should not be restricted to the choice of voluntary euthanasia when modern medicine provides improved care and treatment which is capable of alleviating pain and suffering; ii. It is difficult to ascertain the competence and ‘voluntary’ nature of a dying person’s wish to die due to several factors. Temporary despair and the inability to think rationally due to severe pain and suffering have been cited as some of the factors; iii. The doctrine of double effect holds that acting in ways which can have life-shortening and fatal consequences may be permissible on condition that there is no active intent to cause death. iv.

Euthanasia The debate has been raging on when human life loses meaning and who defines such. Euthanasia is also known as mercy killing or assisted suicide in some cases depending on the approach that is taken to carry out the activity (James, 2009). The right to death is a very controversial subject given that death itself is sacred to many communities of the world. Questions have been raised as to whether a person who has given up the will to live should continue living despite the fact that such people experience untold pain or is it sensible for a family to continue paying bills for a person on a life support machine even when it is obvious that such person is declared clinically dead?

If suicide is a complicated issue, euthanasia reaches a new height of complexity considering the numerous stakeholders involved in the decision to, not to and how to undergo euthanasia. Also known as mercy killing, Euthanasia refers to the situation in which "doctors assist in bringing about the patient's requested painless death"(Chun, 2017). In cases where euthanasia is permissible, patients are usually "chronically ill, terminally ill...or in a persistent comatose state"(Chun, 2017). The question states whether the patient has the right to 'determine' the time to die. This assumes that the patient is conscious and well enough to make an informed, well-considered decision.