MORALLY RIGHT - ASSISTED SUICIDE DONE Does physician assisted suicide belong in this world? Is it ethical to voluntarily kill oneself and gain relief from the sufferings of society? Many philosophers have a broad range of opinions on this issue. Some argue that it is valid and the correct step to take, while others disagree and state that it has no place in the medical world. For instance, a philosopher named Albert Campus states , “There is but one truly serious philosophical problem, and that is suicide.” Furthermore, some commentator’s voice that physician assisted suicide is requested because of poor care, is simply wrong, only leads to a downhill path, and goes against the purpose of medical treatment.
The American Medical Association has generally argued against physician assisted suicide on the grounds that it undermines the integrity of the profession (Braddock & Tonelli 1998). Although patients can commit suicide without the aid of their physician it is still against the law and it can affect family members after they are gone. Opinions differ on the ethical consequences of trying to make physician assisted suicide the responsibility of doctors, but prior consideration of such ethically relevant consequences the question arises of whether the provision assisted suicide can logically be part of the doctor’s role (Fiona Randall & Robin Downie 2010). At the same time the state needs to monitor physician to see that they do not break the law and take it into their hands to participate in physician assisted suicide. A physician job description is to aim at the provision of treatments with health benefits in the patient’s best interest, and to avoid adverse outcomes (Fiona Randall & Robin Downie 2010).
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?
Proponents view expediting death as an action of merciful compassion in that it may be the only way to relieve intolerable suffering and to allow individuals to have control of their own lives (Pretzer, 2000). Although some argue it is unethical for doctors to actively assist in ending someone’s life, some also argue that not doing so in certain situations would actually be more unethical. I feel that doctors have the obligation to do no harm to patients, but to the best of their ability at all times. The supporters of physician- assisted interpret this to mean that physicians should do anything they can to keep patients out of prolonged pain and suffering (Battin, 1998). It is the duties and responsibility of a doctor to assist a dying patient in having a comfortable, easy death, which in some cases may call for physician-assisted suicide, assuming it is the patient’s wish.
Physician assisted suicide is something I disagree with because It would violate the trust between a patient and a doctor, It opens the floodgates for other such abuses and generally such requests are made out of fear for the dying process. Historically, the fundamental goal of the doctor-patient relationship has been to comfort and to
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
Assess this argument: ‘Killing is wrong if and only if it deprives a person of a valuable future life; some terminally ill people do not have a valuable future life; so it is not wrong to kill them’. Voluntary euthanasia is the ending of human life and intentionally relieving pain that a patient is suffering due to a terminal illness such as cancer. By definition, diseases such as cancer, cannot be cured or sufficiently treated and are expected to result in the death of the patient within the near future. As they no longer see the remaining months left of their life valuable, ending their life now seems a rational request. Killing is a form of active euthanasia whereby a person is deliberately causing death of a patient.
People who argue against physician suicide argue about the sanctity of life. There argument believes by legalizing physician assisted suicide there is likelihood for corruption, professional dishonesty, and efficient flaw. Those who oppose for holy reasons argue, our lives are given to us by a supreme being and others lives are not ours to take, but a donation from God and to destroy the gift God gave us is a sin and therefore immoral. However, a morally wrong act can be made morally right if the process used in deciding to perform it and the way it is performed are kindhearted and usefully
31).Conversely, no-one can be appropriately assigned the right to say life-saving means should be abandoned because someone else determines that a patient is an excessive burden or that it costs too much to treat a condition. Humans deserve the right to life, even if that life is not what others may judge as a good one. The government and doctors’ cannot decide who lives and dies by passing a law that relieves patients of their rights. Mankind’s right to die has been extensively discussed; however, passing laws in support of physician-assisted suicide takes that option from the patient and puts into the hands of those who may not have the patient’s best interest in mind. This topic is bigger than allowing a loved one to go softly from life, it involves too much room for the abuse of the nation’s elderly, mentally ill, and poor, which should not, and cannot be allowed to
When it comes to the decision to end one’s life due to a terminal illness with unmanageable pain a physician is not allowed to assist one in dying. How is one of these situations different from the other? Can one be morally and ethically right and the other wrong? “The two basic moral arguments in favor physician assisted death focus on suffering and autonomy.” (Menzel, 2012) Why would a terminally ill patient be denied the right to ask for assistance in death? When death is imminent and a person is in unmanageable pain they should have the right to decide to end their own life with assistance.