1 Vacco v. Quill 521 U.S. 793 Frank J. Head Jr. Ashford University POL 303 Instructor Kelli Callahan September 13, 2011 2 Dr. Timothy Quill, along with other doctors, argued that the New York state ban of physician-assisted suicide violated the Equal Protection Clause under the Fourteenth Amendment, which states that “no state would be allowed to abridge the privileges and immunities of citizens”. Although more than one physician had ties to this case the main parties involved were the attorney general of New York against Dr.Timothy E. Quill, Samuel C. Klagsbrun, and Howard A. Grossman. In 1997 New York law stated that it was a crime for physicians to euthanize patients; however the law allowed patients to refuse lifesaving treatment. After much deliberation ultimately the Supreme Court unanimously voted 9-0 that euthanasia in fact did not violate the Equal Protection Clause.
It is expected that this new law takes effect by the end of this year. The question now is: Why the other provinces in Canada did not legalize euthanasia and assisted suicide? The purpose of this report is to examine the many different points of view in favour and against euthanasia and assisted suicide. Euthanasia happens when terminal patients with excessive soreness are not able to kill themselves and require another person to do it. Normally, a doctor will induce the death with a lethal injection.
Assisting in suicide or any aid considering this question is prohibited in the United States. These actions are regarded as crime (Hosseini, 2012). The only state that legalized assisted suicide was Oregon (Hosseini, 2012). Kevorkian created the machine, which delivered euthanasia drugs intravenously to patients. Other people died due to machine which supplied carbon monoxide to face mask.
There are three main types of euthanasia. Voluntary, when the patient requests that action be taken to end his or her own life. Non-voluntary, when a person’s life is ended without the person’s knowledge, for example, a person in a coma. Involuntary, the person wants to live but their life is taken without their consent (BBC, 2013). At this time in Great Britain, along with virtually all countries, euthanasia as well as assisted suicide are both illegal.
To begin with, for several years there has been much controversy surrounding both the legal rights of a person, and the public attitude towards euthanasia. (Emanuel, 2002) However, the United States Supreme Court made a ruling in 1997, that there would not be either a constitutional right for or against euthanasia or “Physician-Assisted Suicide”. (Emanuel, 2002) Therefore, it is up to each of the states to pass the laws that would approve euthanasia, or disallow it, and each individual must look into their own heart and make a decision in regards to their ethical foundation and the beliefs of their life. Interestingly enough, the word euthanasia comes from the Greek word euthanatos, from eu- + thanatos, which means easy death or well death. (Merriam-Webster, 2011) Accordingly, there are two different types of euthanasia, the first is active, and the second is passive, however the outcomes of the two types are the same.
Assisted Suicide Assisted Suicide Ethics is defined as a “systematic study of and reflection on morality.” Analyzing ethical issues in a systematic way brings us to utilize the six-step process to illustrate the critical thinking process. I read the article ‘Judge Lifts Assisted-suicide Ban’ from the Portland Press Herald (Portland Press, 2012) that discusses an issue in British Columbia legalizing the right to assisted suicides. This is a curious matter in health care, especially as a future nurse who has been taught to advocate for my patients. Countries are continuously fighting the issue of assisted suicide as their population ages. In Canada it has been illegal to “counsel, aid or abet a suicide” (Portland Press, 2012) with a maximum sentencing of 14 years.
For others who are more incapacitated, PAS could involve setting up a mechanism whereby the patient merely has to 'press a button' to receive a lethal injection. Physician assisted suicide clearly has consequences for another person since it requires involvement of another. The issue of whether human beings and more pointedly, doctors have the right to help others die has been in the public disagreement for a very long time. The Hippocratic Oath, which was estimated to be written in the fourth century B.C., includes the statement “I will not give a lethal drug to anyone if I am asked, nor will I
Many of the arguments made by the pro-life team take a moral, ethical, or religious standpoint in their persuasion of others. In order for us to gain a more objective look at the debate with real-world pros and cons, the moral, ethical, and/or religious arguments will not be covered. Abortion has been a topic of controversy in America for almost two hundred years. The earliest known instance of conflict occurred in 1821 when Connecticut outlawed the selling of poisons used to induce abortion in women (Abortion ProCon.org). In 1845, New York began the trend of slapping legal consequences for women who have abortions.
Assisted Suicide: A Person's Right Assisted Suicide has been around for thousands of years dating back to Ancient Greece and Rome (Weikart). Assisted suicide refers to when a terminally ill patient is killed as a way out of the physical and mental pain of their disease. The only place in the United States where physician assisted suicide is legal is In Oregon, where the death with dignity act was passed in 1997 (Stokely). Euthanasia became popular during the 1990's when Dr. Kevorkian would illegally killed terminally ill patients from his home (Stokely). Because each person has basic human rights that cannot be taken away, he or she should be able to make a very private decision about the circumstances and time of his or her own death.
Assisted Suicide Assisted Suicide Kelly Dickinson PHI: 200 Robert Vaughan June 20, 2011 Assisted Suicide 1 The Philosophical issue I have chosen to write about from the topic of ethics Is Assisted Suicide. According to the Medical Dictionary, assisted suicide is a suicide by an individual Helps another