However, there are many pros and cons to each side of the argument. Physician-assisted suicide is unethical based on the Hippocratic Oath, but is ethical based on the patient’s views – which sometimes outweigh the morals of a physician. Physician-assisted suicide first became an issue when our society decided that it was neither moral nor ethical for a physician to help end a terminally ill patient’s life. According to Katie Pickert, Dr. Jack Kevorkian brought lots of attention to the topic during the “epic assisted suicide battle of the 1990s” (1). People who argue with Kevorkian for physician-assisted suicide feel that by helping a patient end his or her life peacefully is helpful to family and friends.
Should Physician-Assisted Suicide be Legal? Sharon Cook PHI 103: Informal Logic Instructor Jill Murray October 1, 2012 Should Physician –Assisted Suicide be Legal? Physician assisted suicide has been a controversial topic for over a decade. This is still ongoing right now today because in today's society it brings up many ethical questions such as who is the true owner of our lives. Should relieving suffering always be the highest priority or does suffering occur for a reason?
Eventually some people and their families might be forced to put financial concerns above the needs of a loved one. Doctors or insurance companies could try to convince some people to opt for assisted suicide rather than the more expensive treatment. This would be an injustice to all humankind. A history professor at San Francisco State University argued that assisted suicide would lead to inequities and would not be limited to those with a terminal illness. “Given the way the U.S. healthcare system is getting increasingly unjust and even savage, I don't think this system could be trusted to implement such a system equitably, or confine it to people who are immediately terminally ill"(Mohler).
This issue is looked through many perspectives and arguments. Assisted Suicide 3 A case for assisted suicide is a powerful one, people that oppose any measures Permitting assisted suicide argue that society has a moral duty to protect and to preserve All life, to allow anyone to assist others in destroying their lives violates a fundamental Duty we have to respect human life. One case of assisted suicide that I will talk more about later was
For others who are more incapacitated, PAS could involve setting up a mechanism whereby the patient merely has to 'press a button' to receive a lethal injection. Physician assisted suicide clearly has consequences for another person since it requires involvement of another. The issue of whether human beings and more pointedly, doctors have the right to help others die has been in the public disagreement for a very long time. The Hippocratic Oath, which was estimated to be written in the fourth century B.C., includes the statement “I will not give a lethal drug to anyone if I am asked, nor will I
End of Life Issues: The Right to Die By Michael Toliver PSY 357 Grand Canyon University April 23, 2011 End of Life Issues: The Right to Die In this paper, the student is asked to discuss what rights an individual has in regards to euthanasia, which includes both the active vs. passive types. The paper focuses around the different ethical issues, the writer’s opinion, and the laws of the state where he lives. Some of the main points come from theorists like Emanuel, Rachels, and the Bible. The researcher found that there is much controversy regarding euthanasia among the different states as well as individuals. To begin with, for several years there has been much controversy surrounding both the legal rights of a person, and the public attitude towards euthanasia.
It is expected that this new law takes effect by the end of this year. The question now is: Why the other provinces in Canada did not legalize euthanasia and assisted suicide? The purpose of this report is to examine the many different points of view in favour and against euthanasia and assisted suicide. Euthanasia happens when terminal patients with excessive soreness are not able to kill themselves and require another person to do it. Normally, a doctor will induce the death with a lethal injection.
James Hillman addresses these two perspectives in Suicide and the Soul where he speaks of the importance of distinguishing between literal suicide and metaphorical suicide, between inner and outer realities: The experience of death is necessary, but is actual suicide also necessary? How does the analyst proceed when the death experience is carried by suicide fantasies? How can he meet the needs of his analysand and keep separate inner and outer necessities?...The suicide threat...is a confusion of inner and outer. We suffer when we muddle psychic reality with concrete people and events...Keeping distinct inner and outer is a major task of an analyst. If he uses his tools well he frees life from entangling projections and frees the soul from
The Pros and Cons of Assisted Suicide Linda Daniels HCA322: Health Care Ethics & Medical Law (BGE1234A) Instructor: Kymberly Lum September 24, 2012 The Pros and Cons of Assisted Suicide Assisted Suicide is a widely devised topic among the medical field and on a personal level. In this paper we will discuss the options for assisted suicide, the United State states that do approve of it and some of the states that do not approve of assisted suicide. I personally approve of assisted suicide and I will go over the reasons I do approve of it. This is such a diverse subject and we all have our own opinion on assisted suicide and who is to say who is right and who is wrong but let’s get started on this diverse subject and see where you stand. There are three states in the United States that approve assisted suicide they are the following states Washington, Oregon, and Montana.
The Dangers of Assisted Suicide “Advocates of physician assisted suicide try to convey the impression that in terminally ill patients the wish to die is totally different from suicidal intent in those without terminal illness” (Herbert and Klerman 118.) Physician assisted suicide is when a physician assists their patient in dying upon their request. In some states there are laws giving limitations to who can request such a “procedure,“ but these laws are not enough to prevent the dangers of assisted suicide. Assisted suicide should be illegal in all fifty states because it is immoral, dangerous to society, and can lead to the deaths of millions of depressed people. “Critics of physician assisted suicide believe that doctors like Jack Kevorkian are doing nothing less than playing God“ (Gay 47.)