Preview

Essay On Assisted Suicide

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
2297 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Essay On Assisted Suicide
“Assisted suicide is a controversial medical and ethical issue based on the question of whether, in certain situations, medical practitioners should be allowed to help patients actively determine the time and circumstances of their death” (Lee). Assisted suicide is when someone decides give up on their life. People want to say that if someone is going through a lot of pain and suffering, they should be allowed to die. If someone has a disease, they should fight for their life until the very end. Letting someone take a lethal dose of medicine is saying that their life is worthless, and that they are not good enough to live anymore. Not a single life in this world is worthless. Everyone can have an impact on our world whether it be good or bad, and we shouldn’t give up on our bodies just because our mind has given up. Assisted suicide should not be legalized because everyone has the potential to make a difference in this world, and no matter how hard life can be, every day has the potential to be great and people shouldn’t give up before they know for sure that their …show more content…
The more passive, and currently legal in all 50 states, approach is when a patient decides to sign a DNR. This allows “competent adult patient makes an informed decision to refuse life sustaining treatment” (Starks). DNR’s are legal in almost every state because the patient has technically already died, and they just don’t want doctors to prolong their death any longer. The other legal option is palliative sedation. Palliative sedation is when doctors stop all treatment. This includes CPR, antibiotics, and the removal of life support. The method that is considered active is when a doctor gives a patient a lethal dose of pain medication that allows them to die without any pain. This method is illegal in most states in the U.S. The distribution of these medicines is where the conflicting opinions on this matter come

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    Cj 411 Unit 4

    • 147 Words
    • 1 Page

    The information in this assignment will consist of a comparison with depressants, hallucinogens and stimulants, accompanied by a theoretical reason or justification of why one would select any of these given drugs. Furthermore, to examine and evaluate the state or condition amongst the drugs, comprised of composition, manufacture/cultivation, how they are use, and their physical and psychological consequences on the human body. The identity of a specific theory, such as anomie, differential association, social control, cultural deviance, labeling, behaviorism, behavior medication, or cognitive learning, which best explains why one would…

    • 147 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Suicide. Some imagine the unsuccessful businessman slowly bringing a gun to his head. Some see Romeo and Juliet uniting themselves for eternity though death. Others remember Lifetime Television Movies about women in their twenties who overdose on over the counter pills. But there are as many different reasons for suicide as there are people. Take for example, Jeannine. At the age of 103 Jeannine decided that she had lived a full life. She stopped taking her medications and died a few days later in her sleep. Jeannine was healthy for her age and for the most part able to care of herself. Although she committed suicide, her particular case should not carry the false connotation of misery which often accompanies such deaths. Jeannine was not miserable; she merely chose to consciously and responsibly plan her death.…

    • 477 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Reed karaim, the author of the novel ,If Men were the Angels ,who has also written in many other publication like The Washington Post, U.S Weekends and so on asserts that the death is not the final solution for the disease or say problem. He talks about the Palliative Care that has helped much to the patients and give comforts in their last days. Palliative care helps to reduce the depression of the suffered patents and also contribute to expand the life more than the patients who do not receive the Palliative care.…

    • 593 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Every person knows what the circle of life consists of- to be born, to grow and to die. The lines between the right and wrongs of each are fuzzy and unclear. Assisted suicide brings up one of the biggest moral debates and there are so many questions with no clear answers: who should and shouldn’t be allowed to assist in suicides? Should assisted suicide be just for the terminally ill, or for all? What protection will there be for the people? and the biggest question of all- is it right or wrong? Those who are considered “pro-death”, believe that being able to choose how one dies is their own right. That there is a significant “difference between killing a patient and allowing a patient to die” (Breslow). Others however, believe The Suicide…

    • 161 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Euthanasia is the painless killing of a patient suffering from an incurable disease which is cutting a person’s life too short. The concept of physician assisted suicide always provokes a moral predicament for many people all over the world, mostly because it gives someone the freedom to choose whether to live or die. Euthanasia has been debated for many years, on one hand people believe euthanasia is a negative action because suicide is not a way out, but on the other hand people also believe assisted suicide is the only option for a patient who suffers from great pain that will only get worse. Euthanasia or physician assisted suicide should be legalized and people shouldn’t worry about whether or not if they feel it’s immoral or not.…

    • 2132 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Most people would agree that the right of a competent, terminally ill person to avoid any unnecessary excruciating pain seems as though it should be a basic human right. To have someone go through more suffering than absolutely necessary seems as though it would fall under the description of an inhumane act, and frankly an injustice against the basic human right of bodily autonomy and integrity. Due to these almost undeniable arguments, physician assisted suicide, in many cases, is seen as a basic human right that we need to be granted access to. Activists argue that it is simply an additional choice that we will be able to make, and that it will surely never be pushed onto anybody or used sinisterly (Maynard 2014). Although this claim is something that we cannot be entirely sure of, as I have continued to research the pros and cons behind physician assisted suicide, I have come to the conclusion that in many cases it truly does seem that the legalization of physician assisted suicide is the best option for everyone involved. It is a means to cease any unnecessary suffering that a person may be going though, and provides a sense of comfort for them during a time in their lives where they are not given many choices besides to deal with what they are going through and try to survive. Additionally, with many of the extreme medical advancements of the 20t century, our goals have been clouded by the quest to…

    • 1407 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Specifically, “The patient must understand his or her condition and prognosis, which must be verified by an independent second opinion, all reasonable palliative measures must have been presented to and considered by the patient, and the patient must clearly and repeatedly request assistance in dying” (Rogatz). Patients who meet these specific criteria and even in some cases, patients who don't meet these criteria should be able to pick the terms of their death. If a patient is mentally capable to choose physician assisted suicide then many concerns of abuse would not occur. A case in point, “If the option of death with dignity is unappealing to anyone for any reason, they can simply choose not to avail themselves of it, those very protections are already in place” (Bever). This is exactly most people's point, physician assisted suicide and death with dignity should be legalized. The people who choose this path have not entered into this decision lightly. The people that disagree with doctor-assisted suicide suffer longer than necessary until their life cures pain with and naturally. Individuals each have a choice but it should be legal for the people who meet the qualifications and have a sound mind to make the decision to end their life with a doctor's assistance. Based on assisted suicide, People want to know that they have the right to make a choice, not all will take advantage of this but the people with the right qualifications and state of mind should be free to make their own decisions about their end of…

    • 1190 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Have you ever known someone that was in so much pain or was so weak that they couldn’t even speak? Many people have. Stephan. "Agree: Physician Assisted Suicide says” Allowing physician assisted suicide would lessen the pain and enable some terminally ill patient’s fairer treatment. Horrible pain and suffering that some patients must endure prior to death could be done away with. Instead of a dragged out death that puts burdens on family members, families could say their goodbyes at a specified time.” It may seem like a horrible thing to say but if you think about it, it is not completely misguided. People around the world are crying because they’re in so much anguish and can’t do…

    • 523 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Physician-assisted suicide is currently a hotly debate issue within the United States government. Physician-assisted suicide is defined as when “a physician assists a patient in dying by writing a prescription for a legal dose of a drug that the patient self-administers.” (Behuniak & Svenson, 2003). Physician-assisted suicide is illegal on a federal level, however; the practice has been legalized within 6 states: California, Colorado, Oregon, Vermont, Washington, and Montana (Author, 2017). The practice of physician-assisted suicide is flawed in several aspects. Firstly, it places people of a lower socioeconomic class and people that suffer from mental illnesses at a greater risk. Secondly, physician-assisted suicide degrades the sanctity of life. Lastly, physician-assisted suicide is exploited by insurance companies as a way to cut costs, because medication for a lethal-dose prescription costs less money than the care of a patient over several months or years. Physician-assisted suicide is a…

    • 1132 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    In 1997 the Supreme Court ruled that the State should decide to legalize Physician-Assisted Suicide. At the beginning of time, Physician Assisted Suicide was typical despite the Hippocratic oath. PAS was based in500 BC-16th Century AD. The Greek and Roman doctors administered poison to patients who requested it. It wasn’t until 1828, when Physician Assisted Suicide was outlawed in New York, justified by the14th amendment. After New York outlawed Physician Assisted Suicide, many of the other states followed in pursuit. Granted that the 14th amendment states, “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law, which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United…

    • 1441 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Imagine laying in bed, unable to do anything for yourself; your quality of life is slowly diminishing to nothing. Now, imagine having the worst pain imaginable. This is what life is like when having a life threatening disease, like terminal cancer. Terminally ill patients have the most unbearable pain, yet have to die suffering. What if there was an option to end one's life with dignity, to be able to still make a choice while you could? This option is called physician-assisted suicide, and people should have the right to make this type of very difficult decision if ever needed to. It goes against the Hippocratic Oath a physician takes (www.pbs.org); but, this oath is not required for modern medicine schools. As long as a person is of sane…

    • 641 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Assisted Suicide Thesis

    • 1793 Words
    • 8 Pages

    End of life means the last hours of life or any period in the last year of life for a person with chronic illness. People in the last years of life require health and social care from health institutions and at home to ensure smooth transitions. End-of-life includes Palliative care. Palliative care focuses on pain management, other symptoms and providing psychological and emotional support to the affected patients and the people close to them. The main aim of end-of-life care is to provide support for the people who have advanced progressive and incurable illnesses to live well until the time of death. Care can be delivered by different people each with a role to play in the affected individuals. There is family, friends, and specialist in palliative care. End-of-life care is important and should be easy to…

    • 1793 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Should a patient be granted suicide assistance by his or her Physician, if the pain is intolerable and they are alone?…

    • 1012 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Patients should be allowed to have doctor-assisted suicides because they should have the right to die and end their suffering, but some people are against the legalization because they believe they will make the wrong decision. All people should have the right to die, have control of their life, and end their suffering if they want to. Some people are worried about the person making the wrong decision, but nothing would be set in stone until the day they take the…

    • 675 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The day after you got married, the doctors realize you have a terminal illness. Your hair starts to fall out, followed with unbearable pain almost everyday, and you’re looking weaker and weaker by the minute. You think, It would be much easier to just let go than go through this pain everyday. Well, a solution would be asking your local doctor/s about assisted suicide. Assisted suicide is the suicide of a patient suffering from an incurable disease, affected by the taking of lethal drugs provided by a doctor for this purpose. In some states, like California, Colorado, Montana, Oregon, Vermont and Washington. Although a patient has to have six or less months to live to be qualified for assisted suicide, it would be better to end the suffering…

    • 955 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays