Essay about Legalizing Physician Assisted Suicide

For hundreds of years we have developed a system where human beings establish and revise rules and regulations that help protect individual lives in our society. However this protection ends when it is time to die. Legalizing physician assisted suicide is â€Å"It’s my life!† an expression that is commonly used at one point in most everyone’s life. Is it my life? Do I get to make all the choices that involve my life? More importantly, who is in charge of my body? Ultimately human beings believe that they have the right to live their lives the way they see fit. However, contrary to popular belief, legally we don’t have that right. One might think that as individual, they have the right to decide what happens to their bodies. We know†¦show more content†¦Paul Schotsman in his essay The Ethical Claim of a Dying Brother illustrates his brother’s final experiences on this earth. Futhermore, he expresses the reality that pain medication does not always work. Schotsman writes â€Å"The pain, the lack of air, experiences of suffocating with an intense degree of anxiety, screaming for help... regularly I had him in my arms during these days, as he was begging for air†¦ His wife could n o longer watch it and ran away, as she did not want to see her beloved one, who could also be so aggressive in his painful moments, go through all this†¦ The most shocking experience, almost a radical negation of my illusions, was that pain treatment was not always as successful as I thought it would be†(Schotsman). Society relies on the assumption that prescribed pain medication eliminates the suffering that certain terminally ill endure. There is a vast difference between killing people who ask for death under appropriate circumstances, and killing people without their permission. Taking one’s life before it is their time to die is completely wrong. That is the exact opposite of what PAS will accomplish. The requirements of the Oregon Death with Dignity Act (DWDA) substantiate that fact. The World Federation of Right to Die explains some of the DWDA’sShow MoreRelatedEssay on Legalizing Physician-Assisted Suicide1871 Words   |  8 PagesPhysician-assisted suicide should be a legal option, if requested, for terminally ill patients. For decades the question has been asked and a clear answer has yet to surface. It was formed out of a profound commitment to the idea that personal end-of-life decisions should be made solely between a patient and a physician. Can someones life be put into an answer? Shouldnt someones decision in life be just that; their decision? When someone has suffered from a car ac cident, or battled long enoughRead MoreLegalizing Physician Assisted Suicide1140 Words   |  5 PagesIn current society, legalizing physician assisted suicide is a prevalent argument. In 1997, the Supreme Court recognized no federal constitutional right to physician assisted suicide (Harned 1) , which defines suicide as one receiving help from a physician by means of a lethal dosage (Pearson 1), leaving it up to state legislatures to legalize such practice if desired. Only Oregon and Washington have since legalized physician assisted suicide. People seeking assisted suicide often experience slantedRead MoreThe Issue Of Legalizing Physician Assisted Suicide2123 Words   |  9 Pageslives. Legalizing physician-assisted suicide can give the dying individual comfort in knowing that they have options. Physicians presently are allowed to relieve the dying of their pain and suffering by administering lethal doses of pain medications. Terminally ill patients should be able to access leth al doses of medicine voluntarily through their physician to allow them the choice of death. Strong morals and ethics surrounding this issue have split society on whether or not physician-assisted suicideRead MoreThe Controversial Issue Of Legalizing Physician Assisted Suicide1962 Words   |  8 PagesIntroduction The topic of legalizing Physician-assisted suicide (PAS) has long been a controversial issue in Canada and has recently received increased attention. In 1993, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled the provisions of the Criminal Code prohibiting assisted suicide. Two decades later, the Supreme Court of Canada began to deliberate whether to uphold or strike down the law prohibiting doctor-assisted suicide. On October 15th (What is the year), the nine justices of the Supreme Court heard impassionedRead MoreEuthanasia Essay - Legalizing Physician Assisted Suicide2312 Words   |  10 PagesLegalizing Physician-Assisted Suicide in Australia First, it is essential to define euthanasia in order to resolve any misconceptions. Euthanasia is the painless killing of a patient suffering from an incurable and painful disease or in an irreversible coma (Oxford dictionaries, 2014). It can be either passive or active however this essay will focus specifically on active euthanasia. Euthanasia is currently illegal in Australia, although it was briefly legal in the northern territory. This essayRead MoreLegalizing Physician Assisted Suicide Across The United States Essay2115 Words   |  9 PagesLegalizing Physician-Assisted Suicide Across the United States Physician Assisted Suicide (PAS) has grown into quite a contentious topic over the years. According to Breitbart and Rosenfeld (1), physician-assisted suicide can be defined as â€Å"a physician providing medications or advice to enable the patient to end his or her own life.† One may find many articles that are written by physicians, pharmacists, patients, and family of patients who receive PAS; from there, it is possible to gain a betterRead MoreLegalizing Physician Assisted Suicide And Active Euthanasia843 Words   |  4 PagesFatal Differences The civil argument in the U.S. over whether or not to authorize physician-assisted suicide and active euthanasia has reached new levels of vehemence. Oregon, California, Vermont, and Washington (and Montana, via court ruling) have become the first states to legalize physician-assisted suicide. There has, too, been campaigning, ballot measures, bills, and litigation in other states in attempts to legalize one or both practices. Supporters increasingly urge either absolute legalizationRead MoreShould Physician Assisted Suicide Be Legal?810 Words   |  4 PagesThe Right to Die Having the right to life, also gives one the right to death. Outrageously, physician assisted suicide is illegal in all but five states in the U.S; including California, Montana, Oregon, Washington, and Vermont; this law, violating rules of ethics, also defies morals. Some actions in the past, including women not having voting rights, and experimentation on prisoners and the mentally ill, also infringed upon ethics and morale. Women not being permitted to vote before theRead MoreSince The Fifteen Century, Society Has Viewed Suicide Or1178 Words   |  5 PagesSince the fifteen century, society has viewed suicide or intentional death as immoral. It was not until the twentieth century that these â€Å"immoral† attitudes were challenged. As of 2016, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Colombia have unambiguously legalized direct assisted dying. Other areas, having to undergo a process of either a judicial or legislative decision, include Canada, Japan, and German y. Currently in the United States, following the same process of a judicial or legislative processesRead MoreDoctor Assisted Suicide By Using Peer Reviewed Articles1639 Words   |  7 PagesDoctor assisted suicide has been a controversial topic for decades. It is placing value on life and death. This paper examines doctor assisted suicide by using peer reviewed articles that address many of the social and political issues surrounding doctor assisted suicide, including key factors such as the roles that technology and family play in a patient s decision to use assisted suicide. Brody (1995) gives an in depth view of how doctor assisted suicide works. Emanuel (1997) takes a closer