Preview

Physician Assisted Suicide Essay Example

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1332 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Physician Assisted Suicide Essay Example
Physician Assisted Suicide outline

I. Introduction A. Should physicians be allowed to help terminally ill patients end their lives? II. Arguments for helping the terminally ill end their lives. A. They will no longer be suffering in pain B. They will have some quality of life in the end. C. They get to pass peacefully and will be able to say good bye to their families. III. Counter arguments for helping the terminally ill A. Religion and society see any form of suicide as a sin. B. Physicians would violate the Hippocratic Oath. C. Families would lose their loved one very early. IV. Conclusion In conclusion, physicians should be allowed to help the terminally ill. Patients that are terminally ill will suffer terribly at the end of their life. They deserve to die with some dignity

Physician Assisted Suicide

Should a person with a terminal illness be allowed to die with dignity and take their own life with the help of a medical doctor? The right to die is being able to take one’s life in a painless way with assistance from a medical doctor when that person has a terminal illness. When you are dying from an illness such as cancer, end stage kidney disease, end stage heart failure, and so on, ending your life in a painless manner with professional assistance is a very dignified way to die. In our society there are many debates being brought about by this subject. This decision is a very important and painful decision to make. Families can feel hurt and betrayed when their loved ones decide to end their life. When a person is dying of cancer and they are in the end stages of the disease they have no quality of life and they suffer terribly in pain. What family members need to understand is that this is no way to live the rest of the life they have. For someone who is dying they feel

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Powerful Essays

    The question is should incurable patients be able to commit physician assisted suicide, and depending on which group you talk to the pros or cons they both have well developed arguments as to which is right and which one is wrong. Even though physician assisted suicide may help patients with debilitating conditions that medicine cannot manage, I am against it because suicide even for the terminally ill is wrong and with the appropriate care like palliative treatment it is an unnecessary act. The theory that I believe to be the foundation of my beliefs is the deontological and the argument for the sanctity of life. It is the simplest moral outlook on suicide. The sanctity of life holds that it is wrong because human life is sacred. Though this position is mainly associated with the church or religious realm, Ronald Darrkin (1993) points out that atheists may also find appeal to this claim as well. According to the “sanctity of life” the human life is very precious and valuable and demanding respect from others and reverence for oneself. Suicide is so wrong because it violates our moral duty in honoring the value of life. The position of physician assisted suicide is a view of the deontological theory and the sanctity of life.…

    • 2380 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    The purpose of The Bill of Rights was to “address any concerns that the Constitution did not mention” (bill of rights). It was written to protect citizens from excessive government power. Supporters of the Constitution realized that adding a bill of rights to the document was a safer option rather than creating another Constitution. This document was written in December 15, 1791 by James Madison.…

    • 1446 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    I believe that the reason physician assisted suicide is such a controversial issue is because people don't make wills that tell hospitals what they want to be done with their body in case certain unfortunate things are to happen to them. This leaves their families arguing amongst each other and the hospitals on what is the right thing to do for the patient. Personally, I don't believe that somebody should be on life support if they can't even feel,think, or eat on their own. All it is, is torchering their body by making it stay in one position at all times. For example, the Terri Schiavo case in Florida, she was on a feeding tube for about 15 years because her family believed that she was still…

    • 301 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Instead of embracing this act of death, we should respond to suffering with compassion and solidarity. (Anderson, Screen 1) Many of the patients seeking to end their lives in this way usually suffer from depression or other mental illnesses, but also from loneliness. Instead of us giving them pills to kill them, the doctors should provide the suitable medical care they need. As for the patients in physical pain, pain management drugs can be administered to improve their quality of life. The terminally ill patients are provided with hospice care and fellowship to accompany them on their last days of life. Doctors should help their patients die a dignified death of natural causes, not assist in killing them. (Anderson, Screen 1) Physicians take the oath to always heal and care, never to kill intentionally. Palliative care focuses on the patient’s quality of life and improving it by alleviating pain and other distressing symptoms of a serious illness. At any age or stage in illness, palliative care is available to help improve the patient’s life as a whole. It does not matter if the illness is curable, chronic, or even life-threatening, medicine can improve your symptoms dramatically, helping you live with your…

    • 1073 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Not all terminally ill patients will choose this option, but it should be available for those who want it. Coping with the diagnosis of a terminal illness is difficult for both the patient and the patient’s loved ones and it only becomes more difficult as the disease progresses. Being given the ability to decide when to die allows the patient to feel a sense of dignity and control during a time when he or she may not have control over anything else in life. Not only does physician-assisted suicide provide a sense of relief to the patient, it provides relief to family and friends. Watching a loved one die is one of the most challenging things to endure in life. It only becomes more challenging when forced to watch a loved one die a slow and painful death. Physician-assisted suicide can provide closure to everyone involved in a situation dealing with a terminal illness; therefore, it must become legal in all fifty…

    • 575 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    When my grandmother had cancer spread all over her body, she was suffering so much that, it wasn’t living. But, it was even harder to find out that the day you left the hospital to go home, was the day she died. Unfortunately, Physician-Assisted suicide isn’t legal in Florida, which was were my grandmother die and even though my family and her want her to rest in peace its wasn’t an option that we had.…

    • 904 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Physician assisted dying is a very controversial issue and it is only becoming more controversial with more cases coming to light. Many people believe that assisting a patient in dying goes against the moral code that doctors should follow. Their job is to go to any measures to sustain the life under their care, but what about individuals suffering with no hope of getting better? Wouldn’t doctors then be obligated morally to relieve these individuals of their agony and put them to peace? Considering that, some argue in favor of the sick and believe they deserve a voice and a right to choose how much suffering is enough suffering. Should someone who is suffering from a terminal illness that…

    • 1035 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The Supreme Court cited the New York State Task Force on Life (a commission composed of doctors, ethicists, lawyers, religious leaders, and interested laymen), which commission warned that “[l]egalizing physician-assisted suicide would pose profound risks to many individuals who are ill and vulnerable”, especially those lacking money, and good medical care. The Court stated that if physician-assisted suicide were permitted, many persons might resort to it to spare their family the substantial financial burden of end-of-life healthcare costs.…

    • 1532 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    We have countless rights protected by the United States such as freedom of speech, due process of law, and freedom of religion to name a few. Most importantly, we have the right to life. In the opening of the Declaration of Independence, the very thing our country was founded upon, it is said, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” (The Declaration of Independence: A Transcription). We do not, however, have the right to die. We have no right to end our own life, particularly by way of physician-assisted suicide. Although…

    • 1468 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Imagine being terminally ill and being told by a doctor that there is only have six months left to live and that those next six months will wither the body down to nothing through pain and suffering. Physician-assisted suicide could save many Americans from this nightmarish reality that terminally ill patients face today. If physician-assisted suicide or euthanasia was legal in the United States, months of suffering and a loss of dignity and autonomy could be spared. Therefore, physician-assisted suicide, in the style Oregon employs, should be legalized and available to suffering patients across the United…

    • 924 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The topic of Physician Assisted Suicide has become a well-known issue. But the fact is, for terminally ill and for those that cannot recover, Physician assisted suicide is not completely misguided. It gives those who are in a lot of pain a chance to save their loved ones the torment of seeing them so feeble. It also strengthens the possibility of saving those who can still be saved.…

    • 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
  • Powerful Essays

    Life, liberty, and property. These are the three natural rights John Locke believed all human beings are born with. However, does the right to life also entail the right to death? In the past two decades, physician-assisted suicide has become an increasingly divisive topic both in America and around the world. Physician-assisted suicide consists of a patient receiving a prescription for a lethal medication from his or her doctor. Both proponents and detractors of physician-assisted suicide have convincing arguments, but one side stands out more than the other in their argument. While critics claim that physician-assisted suicide should not be legalized due to an inability to properly regulate and protect ill patients’ interests, properly enforced…

    • 2188 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Terminal illnesses cause great pain and suffering. For example here are some words from Andy Whelan, “...we as parents could offer no comfort - Jessica pushing us away as she rode out her searing pain in solitude...her body stiffened and her face contorted in pain.” (Zhang). Mrs. Whelan’s daughter Jessica Whelan was only four years old when she was diagnosed. Jessica had a form of cancer called neuroblastoma and had been fighting cancer for 13 months. In November she was given just a few weeks to live and later died due to cancer. 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…

    • 675 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Doctors always state that they want to do what is best for their patient and their wellbeing, but what if the best option is death? Facing an uncertain amount of time being terminally ill or in some other extremely upsetting state can be very horrific and distressing to the person who is hospitalized. All they can do is lay in bed and have the feeling of a burden overwhelm them. Family members and friends come to visit knowing that your time is limited but your pain and suffering both physically and mentally continues day in and day out. Who would truly enjoy that? Based on the medical actions that could be taken or the agony of the patient, they should have guaranteed rights to allow them to choose death over anguish. People should be allowed a choice to die with dignity instead of embarrassment.…

    • 641 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays