Nevertheless, the technologies also prolong the dying processes, leading some people to question whether modern medicine is forcing patients to live in unnecessary pain when there is no chance they will be cured. “Passive euthanasia—disconnecting a respirator or removing a feeding tube has become an accepted solution to this dilemma. Active euthanasia perhaps an overdose of pills or a deadly injection of morphine remains controversial “(McDougall,
Assisted suicide should be legal because it is less expensive, it takes the pain away, and everyone should get a choice in what they do. Is a life in pain, really a life? Assisted suicide needs to be done, if a person is suffering; why not help ease it away? It is also an obligation to relieve our fellow human beings suffering and by doing so it will respect the dignity of others. Suffering can not always be ended by giving a patient several medications it is just no the way of life.
The principle of utility states that the quality of life matters when it comes to pleasure, and if we were to make the quality of a person’s life better, we must be useful and relieve that person from pain and suffering. (Falikowski, 2005) We can also refer to Ayn Rand’s Ethical Egoism to conjure that physician’s assisting suicide is ethical, since there are few people in society who suffer from long-term illnesses for which there aren’t any permanent cures. Ending their life is the only cure to stopping their
The last for of euthanasia is “involuntary” which is done without the persons consent for example when they are in a coma and the doctors know that he/she will not come out of it. All in all euthanasia is an action that is taken only when a person a suffering from a terminal illness in order to alleviate their pain and suffering and has no intentions of causing harm to the person. Every person has the right to life but under extenuating circumstances death seems to be the better option and a person suffering has the right to make that decision. Many people wonder “How bad would the quality of someone’s life have to be before they can choose to end it?” and the answer is that it is a
When one withholds the treatment needed for one to survive this is passive euthanasia. This would be keeping respirators away, treatments that are not opposed by the legal system, and procedures. Active euthanasia is purposely bringing death to someone else by certain actions taken (Gorman). In the U.S. individuals have been given the right to make an Advance Directive that gives the person the right as one’s voice when they become unable to make medical decisions. This Directive is assigned to someone they can put trust into so they would be able to know be the persons voice in making decisions (Advance Directives and Medical Power of Attorney).Voluntary euthanasia takes place when a person makes the choice to end one’s life; non-voluntary euthanasia takes place when a person has not asked or consented to death.
To have the abortion would avoid harm towards the patient, relieve mental suffering and lead toward the improvement of the patient’s mental health status. For example, if she would go through with the abortion, it would relieve the psychological suffering of the woman because she would know that her child would be from the man who raped her. Every time see would see her child, it would remind her of her traumatic experience and this could harm her mentally. Keeping the baby would not necessarily harm her health in a physical way, but there is a possibility that her mental health would be dramatically altered to a point where she would need to seek professional help to heal after being raped. Even though the goals of medicine are altered to fit mental health, they should still apply the same way to the
during a lingering illness. However, if the patient does not desire to use these medications due to not wanting to become “addicted”, feeling “out of it” or for other reasons, the nurse needs to respect the patient’s decision. It is the nurse’s duty to make sure the patient has been accurately informed of treatment options including side effects, common misperceptions, etc. but to not sway the patient’s decisions for treatment based on his/her own beliefs. A nurse may personally feel that a patient who is dying of cancer should utilize any and all pain management options available to them, however, if the patient does not wish to use pain medications because he/she feels “out of it” or is afraid of becoming “addicted”, the nurse needs to respect that patient’s choice.
Active voluntary euthanasia is commonly referred to as a means of "killing" someone (as opposed to "letting someone die".) To define it more specifically, it is when at the request of the patient a physician administers a medication or treatment, with the intent of ending that patient's life. Philosopher James Rachels makes the case that it is, in some instances, morally acceptable. The following essay will explain Rachels' argument and provide some personal feedback as a conclusion. The first premise Rachels offers is this: "If an action promotes the best interests of everyone concerned and violates no one's rights, then that action is morally acceptable."
Before assigning value to life it should be considered what that person did in their lifetime not just their job, or their major achievements, but how they affected other people in either a positive or negative way. This is why suicide is such a selfish act. In Hamlet’s famous speech he states, “No traveler returns, puzzles the will, And makes us rather bear those ills we have Than to fly to others that we know not of” (Shakespeare 33)? In other words Hamlet believes that it might be better to live through the trials of life than journey into the unknown. Suicide is a permanent solution to temporary problems and when successful leaves behind a mass of grieving people.
First, people should be able to control their own lives. If the patient doesn’t want to be tortured any more or he refuses to be the burden of his family, he has the right to choose the assisted suicide. Second, death is a compassionate way to relieve the unbearable suffering. When suffering is immeasurable and a patient's condition is terminal, doctors should be permitted to end a patient's life by the assisted suicide. It is a merciful way to end all the pain of the patient’s and the whole family’s.