Making a final decision on ending a person’s life to keep them from suffering can be hard to imagine doing. Watching someone suffer so much hurt my heart. Some people would say ending a human life by means of mercy-killing is murder in the technical
Physician assisted-suicide (PAS) is an issue that is very controversial. Some people believe that patients who have no chance of recovery and are dying should have the choice to end their lives sooner instead of suffering. Others believe that physician assisted-suicide is unethical and should
In some religious traditions, confession of sins, preparation to "meet one's maker," or asking forgiveness from those who may have been wronged can be part of end-of-life concerns. In other cultural traditions, planning or even discussing death is considered inappropriate, uncaring, and even dangerous, as it is viewed as inviting death (Carrese & Rhodes, 1995). All end-of-life choices and medical decisions have complex psychosocial components, ramifications, and consequences that have a significant impact on suffering and the quality of living and dying. However, the medical end-of-life decisions are often the most challenging for terminally ill people and those who care about them. Each of these decisions should ideally be considered in terms of the relief of suffering and the values and beliefs of the dying individual and his or her family.
If I were terminally ill, I would not want to suffer just to suffer. What is the difference between having a patient, a human being, sedated until their death and a patient who commits suicide? It might sound a little cruel, but I personally don’t see what good a sedated patient does to society. I personally would not want to be in a vegetative state and have my family and friends witness me in that state. In addition, shouldn’t we choose how we would like to die just like we choose how we live?
As we all walk through our adult lives, we either strengthen or weaken our personal beliefs based on our experiences. Whether it is as trivial as changing your eating habits in an attempt to improve your health, or testing your moral beliefs regarding assisted suicide, we all grow older and wiser. In the end, Susan stands behind her views of assisted suicide. Wolf (2008) states, “My father’s death made me rethink my objections to legalizing assisted suicide and euthanasia, but in the end it left me at ease with what I’ve written. Staying, keeping vigil, fighting to secure a comfortable death, stroking his hair, standing guard, as death approached was my duty.
Second, The inescapability of death; no one can live forever so benefit the time you have and let every moment count. Last, some journeys/quest can have a significant effect; you might arise some character, and undergo some task but all might have a positive effect in the
However, for every unique situation, you have to determine whether or not it is the right choice for each case. It is not always an easy choice to make. Nor will it ever be something you will totally come to complete solitude with. But when the time comes, the choice will have to be made. Once I read Susan Wolf’s writing about her father’s last days and the choices they had to make with him, I do completely agree that physician assisted suicide was the correct choice for their situation.
Living too long on the other hand, leaves a negative impact as well because there are terminally ill individuals out there who need the good, compassionate death so they would no longer suffer being alive and having the illness drag them down. Therefore, living in that condition seems far worse than death. Emanuel also states, “I am not advocating 75 as the official statistic of a complete, good life in order to save resources, ration health care, or address public policy issues arising from the increases in life expectancy.” (81). He wants individuals to reach out for the health care opportunities as much as they can so they won’t suffer. Evolution also enables us to live even longer.
They can then at least decide to die and retain some dignity in doing so, rather than dying as a shell of what they used to be. Ethan Remmel Ph.D. stated “If someone wishes to deny me that choice, it sounds to me like they are saying: I am willing to risk that your death will be slow and painful. Well, thanks a lot, that's brave of you” (Ethan Remmel). This quote shows how drastically different the views on euthanasia can be between someone living with the situation, and someone who just feels strongly about it one way or another. Though it is depressing to think of willingly letting someone kill themselves, it is even more agonizing to let them suffer and wilt away into being someone they weren’t before.
One way you are letting someone die and the other you are giving someone the tools to die. Euthanasia the patient doesn't actually get an opinion because they are not able to but with PAS the patient is saying they want to die and they have to request it more than once so PAS is actually more ethical