Assisted Suicide Paper

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Assisted Suicide Final Paper How would you respond and react if a love one had a terminal illness and your love one did not want to go on? There are times when the reality sets in, I will not survive this disease, there is no recovering from the accident, and he/she is brain dead. But, I want to die with my dignity; I want to die my way. Assisted Suicide has been around for hundreds of years. Romans would kill soldiers that would not survive their wounds, Greeks, especially the Spartans, did not take prisoners; even the American Indian would leave the old, sick and seriously wounded to die with respect. Even “Mother Nature” has a philosophy of survival of the fitness. How do I feel about Euthanasia? I never want a loved one to suffer.…show more content…
“In 2001, The Netherlands became the first country to legalize euthanasia, setting forth a complex process. The law, which went into effect a year later, codified a practice that has been unofficially tolerated for many years.” (Kessler, 2012, p. 1) Understanding this, a person in The Netherlands can be at home with his/her family and die with peace, dignity with family. This is what I believe how we should be able to end our lives when we get to that point. When a country decides to legalize euthanasia you have to assume it has taken into account that morally, euthanasia does not cause harm to the patient. Harm to the individual could be described as pain, or suffering if life is allowed to continue. “Morally the terminating of an individual's life, either passively or actively could be considered a positive response to the terminally ill person by relieving his or her pain and suffering” (Filippo, 1992, p. 1). There comes a point in time when further treatment is just pointless for the patient. Usually, the loudest cries to “fight”, to keep the machines running are from family members, the living, not the one in pain or bed…show more content…
In a situation where my loved one was terminally ill and was destine to remain in pain I would understand his desire to enact a DNR, passive euthanasia. After looking at this throughout the country and in a few other countries, it is coming more and more common for a DNR to exist. I am not convinced that active euthanasia is in compliance with the present Ethical Standards of current healthcare professional organizations like Healthcare and Human Services. Whereas it was often used in ancient times by Romans and Greeks, more current times of American Indians it is no longer ethically correct to actively end one life by use of drugs, but, we have evolved in our culture that passive euthanasia is acceptable. Laws or statures are even in place in most states to allow one to control their destiny. Living Wills, Medical Power of Attorneys are becoming common place. As a healthcare professional, I will see that my Trusts’ desires are carried out within all legal limits. To have my client choose to die in peace with family around is truly upholding one of the basic rights of a patient, to be treated with

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