Physician Assisted Suicide Ethical Or Not

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Assisted-Suicide Physician assisted-suicide is when “the patient is provided the means for terminating his or her life, but the patient, not the doctor, ends the life in question” (Mosser, 2010). Suffering has always been a part of life and the discussion of the ending of suffering has existed since the beginning of medicine. It is an ethical issue that is highly debated. People argue whether physician assisted-suicide should be made legal or not. 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…show more content…
They believe that people should die naturally and should not be assisted in their death by medical means. People believe that PAS is unethical and should not even be considered. “Many people fear that physician-assisted suicide will create a climate in which some people are pressured into committing suicide. The very old, the very poor, or minorities and other vulnerable populations might be encouraged to hasten death, rather than to "burden" their families or the health care system. Again, this is not a genuine choice, but a social issue, one that stems from how our society cares for its elders and for the poor, and whether minority groups can get good health care” (Lynn, 2006). People think that some people will be pressured into committing suicide instead of having other choices while they are dying. They think that people with no or poor health care will choose this just because they will cause less of a burden on their families. “A 1997 study conducted by the American Medical Association (AMA) found that more than half of Americans believe physician-assisted suicide should be legal. However, when people are told about alternatives to the technological treatments so many of us fear, and about the availability of pain control and hospice care, their support for physician-assisted suicide goes down to under one-fifth. This study seems to show that when people are informed about all of…show more content…
“Many faith groups believe that human suffering can have a positive value for the terminally ill person and for caregivers. For them, suffering can be "a divinely appointed opportunity for learning or purification". A Roman Catholic document mentions that "some Christians prefer to moderate their use of painkillers, in order to accept voluntarily at least a part of their sufferings and thus associate themselves in a conscious way with the sufferings of Christ crucified" (Robinson, 2010). Also, traditions surrounding religion uphold the sanctity of human life. Therefore suicide or assistance in dying has been historically prohibited. PAS is deemed morally wrong because it seems to diminish the sanctity of
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