Physician-Assisted Suicide: Morally Just?

1361 Words6 Pages
Physician-Assisted Suicide: Morally Just? Physician-Assisted Suicide Why has assisted suicide, and euthanasia, been such a fiercely debated ethics issue? As a society, we value are individuality and are strongly opposed to the government interfering in are everyday lives, but when it comes to our deaths we allow the government to dictate how we end it. Of all the states only three currently allow physician-assisted, with the others either having a law that makes physician –assisted suicide illegal or not having any law that specifically bans physician-assisted suicide. There are many arguments in favor of legalizing this practice, but there are also many that support not legalizing. These arguments range form an individual having a “right…show more content…
Those against legalizing physician-assisted suicide argue that “If courts allow PAS to be framed as a basic personal right akin to the right to refuse treatment, and if they rely on right-to-die case precedents, then they will likely extend PAS to voluntary euthanasia and nonvoluntary euthanasia” (Walker.2001) If this occurs they argue that those on the fringes of society will be the ones to suffer, that there will be pressure for these patients to chose physician –assisted suicide, regardless of the availability of other options, or severity of the illness. The pressure could come from family members who might no longer take care of the family member, or from the hospital/insurance company as a way to reduce cost. (The New York State Task Force on Life and the Law.…show more content…
(2010). Introduction to ethics and social responsibility. San Diego, Bridgepoint Education, Inc. Retrieved from https://content.ashford.edu New York State Task Force on Life and the Law. (1997). “When Death is Sought Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia in the Medical Context Supplement” Retrieved from http://wings.buffalo.edu/faculty/research/bioethics/suppl.html Rogatz, P. (2001). “THE VIRTUES OF PHYSICIAN-ASSISTED SUICIDE” the Humanist. Retrived from http://www.thehumanist.org/humanist/articles/rogatz.htm ProCon.org. (2007, August 22). Patrick Hopkins, PhD. Euthanasia.ProCon.org. Retrieved from http://euthanasia.procon.org/view.source.php?sourceID=552 Walker RM. (2001 Jan-Feb;8(1):25-31) Physician-assisted suicide: the legal slippery slope. Cancer Control Review. PubMed PMID: 11176033. Battin MP, van der Heide A, Ganzini L, van der Wal G, Onwuteaka-Philipsen BD. (2007 Oct) Legal physician-assisted dying in Oregon and the Netherlands: evidence concerning t hmpact on patients in "vulnerable" groups. J Med Ethics. PubMed PMID: 17906058; PubMed Central MCID:
Open Document