...Assisted Death for the Terminally Ill – Yes or No? (2012, October 20). Over my dead body; Assisted suicide. The Economist, 405(8807), 55(US). This article recognizes the increasing acceptance of assisted suicide amongst the public and across the world. Despite so, there are still groups of people who are apprehensive about legalizing euthanasia as they are worried that it may have negative implications. The article gives a detailed description of the requirements that must be met before a person is allowed to go through with assisted suicide. It also uses data to prove that safety measures put in place are being followed and there is barely any abuse of the law in places that legalize assisted suicide. Although voluntary euthanasia is still considered as murder, many doctors in Europe give patients or their family the choice of proceeding with treatment or undergoing passive euthanasia. The article also talks about the possible reasons why people opt for assisted suicide, including loss of independence, dignity, and more. The use of statistics shows that substantial research has been done by the author to prove his point, confirming it is a good source to support the legalization of assisted suicide. As “The Economist” is a reputable magazine, this source is credible and is unlikely to publish articles without prior research. Cassity, S. A. (2009). To Die or Not To Die: The History and Future of Assisted Suicide Laws in the U.S. Utah Law Review, 2009 (2), 515-523...
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...THE CHURCH, EUTHANASIA and ASSISTED SUICIDE Euthanasia also known as “mercy killing” and assisted suicide are worldwide controversial issues. According to the Merriam-Webster online dictionary, the word euthanasia comes from Greek, meaning easy death (eu: easy, thanatos: death). Euthanasia means to end the life of a person who is terminally ill or suffering from severe pain, in a deliberate way. At the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) webpage, in the section Ethics guides, under the title of Forms of Euthanasia, Religions and Death? (2009), different types of euthanasia are described, such as indirect, active, passive, voluntary, involuntary and non voluntary. On the other hand, assisted suicide is usually performed with the help of a health professional; that is why; it is usually called Physician Assisted Suicide (or PAS). The main controversy is over the different opinions on whether it is the sick patient’s decision or if it is a legal, ethical or religious issue to be considered by a third party. In order to practice assisted suicide in a country where it is legal, many factors should be present, such as the moral and religious beliefs of the patient and the physician or the patient’s family and the physician, as well as the legislation of the country where it is going to be carried out. At present, in countries where euthanasia is not legalized yet, it is very difficult to obtain legal permission to practice it. As regards the ethical...
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...In an age of increased longevity and medical advances, a discussion over euthanasia is kindled in the last years. The term euthanasia (Greek, “beautiful death” ) originally means that humans, who did not feel their life worth living due to outside influences as a right to a self-chosen death possessed. In Europe, there are different ways of handling euthanasia determined by laws. To discuss this complex topic in the range of this paper, it is necessary to circumscribe the content. In general, there are four different ways of euthanasia. Active euthanasia means killing someone on his explicit demand, normally practised by physiscians with pharmaceutical additives. Indirect euthanasia describes the medical therapy to avoid unendurable pain under accepting a shorter life expactancy. The third way is passive euthanasia, which implies the abdication of life prolonging measures. The fourth and last method of euthanasia is medically assisted suicide. In fact, this stands for giving someone the possibility to commit suicide, whereas the patient has to do the last step on his own. To discuss and describe the different ways of euthanasia in a good way, we want to take a closer look to Europe, especially to the Netherlands, Switzerland and Germany. This selection is based on the fact, that there are the three major types of handling euthanasia with the corresponding judical solution in each country. In the Netherlands it is legal to practise active euthanasia by a physician with...
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...no such thing as a life not worth living.” Assisted suicide is na escape for the terminally ill but it is not justifiable. There are many issues with suicide and a lot more issues with suicide by physician. In this paper I am going to venture into a few of these issues and show you why we should not stand behind legalized assisted suicide. As a society we operate under the Social Contract which guarantees us the rights to life, liberty and property. Not only is assisted suicide not a fundamental liberty because it harms the Due Process Clause it also is forbidden under the social contract’s “life clause.” In order for a government to be just and fair it must protect the lives of its citizens and assisted suicide in all forms harms this. In the Supreme Court case Washington v. Glucksberg the majority opinion stated “The history of the law's treatment of assisted suicide in this country has been and continues to be one of the rejection of nearly all efforts to permit it. That being the case, our decisions lead us...
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...Right To DieWeek 11Ken WinklerGE217February 25, 2012Steve Ryan | This paper will discuss the topic of the right to die for people who are terminally ill. The issue is physician assisted suicide and should individuals have the right to decide for themselves that they want to have their life terminated. There are no laws against a person taking their own life but a terminally ill person would need the help of a physician to take their life, and that is legal in only 3 states (wrtl.org, 2011). The right to assisted suicide is legal in several countries including the Netherlands Belgium, and Luxemburg. Current state laws are varied but in 34 states there are laws that explicitly make it illegal. A terminally ill patient may override objections from their clergyman because of the indescribable pain and seek out help from a physician. The Hippocratic Oath forbids Doctors from performing physician-assisted suicide but that does not always prevent them from doing so, as in the case of Doctor Kevorkian in Michigan who was known for assisting some terminally ill patients with ending their lives. In 1990 a Detroit newspaper contained this ad:"Applications are being accepted. Oppressed by a fatal disease, a severe handicap, or a crippling deformity? Write BOX 264, Royal Oak, Mich. 48068-0261. Show him proper compelling medical evidence that you should die, and Dr. Jack Kevorkian will help you kill yourself free of charge." (Kearl, 2002, p. 1) There are other doctors that feel euthanasia...
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...thousands of years, most Christians and Jews have always opposed suicide. With this being said, one may think that most of my biases could be a result of my religious background. However, in reality, I have actually become very open-minded about the overall concept of euthanasia. While doing my topic proposal, my religious beliefs were overriding my conscious. In order to continue my research, I overcame my biases but trying to imagine myself in the place of a terminally ill person facing death, or envisioning a family member trying to come to terms with there on death. This was not easy for me as it was difficult to not say “No, you shouldn’t attempt any form of suicide, which is a one-way ticket to hell.” But, I have come to the realization that some don’t have the strength to suffer any longer than they already have or continue to feel as if they are a burden to their loved ones. I feel that in physician assisted suicide, to completely understand why someone would want to commit such an act, you have to put yourself in that person’s shoes. This can be difficult when dealing with such a controversial subject. In almost any situation it is true that if you have never personally been in the same type of situation, it may be easy to disagree with them. However, I feel like suicide is a heavier topic because it is literally life or death. I am choosing to write about the legalization of physician assisted suicide because this topic intrigues me in a way that I almost cannot understand...
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...PHYSICIAN-ASSISTED SUICIDE: LEGALITY AND MORALITY Wednesday - May 8th, 2002 By Martin Levin, 107 Irving Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 (617)-497-6828 mlevin@levinlaw.com On Sunday, June 21, 1992, Jennifer Cowart, age thirty-two, and her brother George Kowalski, age twenty-eight, traveled to Pensacola Beach, Florida, for a day of relaxation. At the end of the day, Jennifer and George were heading back to their vehicle when Jennifer noticed a go-kart track. The two entered the track, bought tickets, and began riding. Within one minute, Jennifer’s go-kart bumped into one of the side guardrails, flipped on its side, and burst into flames. Jennifer was seat-belted in the go-kart and could not get out. George tried to run into the fire to save his sister, but the flames were too intense. Bystanders attempted to use a fire extinguisher, but it did little to lessen the inferno. Jennifer was trapped in the burning go-kart for two minutes when her seat-belt finally burned through and she fell to the ground. George grabbed his sister and pulled her away from the fire. Jennifer was alive. She was lying on the asphalt alert, oriented, and coherent. She had suffered 3rd and 4th degree burns covering ninety-five percent of her body. She was suffering the worst pain imaginable. At the scene, Jennifer begged the rescue personnel to “let me die.” Instead, Jennifer was flown to a burn center in Mobile, Alabama, where she remained for one year until she was overcome by an infection...
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...Physician assisted suicide has been a major debate worldwide for many years. Some individuals don’t realize how hard it is to accept assisted suicide on a grand level. The hardest questions around assisted suicide is not whether it is accepted or not, but if accepted, how and who it will be implement for. This paper will not discuss why assisted suicide should or should not be implemented, but will explain political and societal questions that may arise if assisted suicide is accepted. There will also be given real examples of individuals who completed assisted suicide and possible questions that can arise from them. This paper will also explain how assisted suicide has only a minor effect on nursing care. Once the answers to these questions...
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...Isaac Allen Williams Jr. Dr. Anja Matwijkiw Biomedical Ethics P393 26 June 2013 Put Out to Pasture: The Problem with Euthanasia I have decided to write my paper on Euthanasia as the topic elicits all types of opinions and conversion on the matter. It is definitely a hot button topic when it comes to Ethical dilemmas, theories, principles, and how society should precede with this in application of law and legislation. I believe that allowing for Euthanasia globally and nationally will begin to further erode the very moral and ethical fiber that separates man from animal. I further support my stand with the example of abortion, and even though opinion hasn’t changed much in the 40 years since Roe vs. Wade allowed for abortion to take place, still millions of babies have been killed despite to negative opinions about it. My hypothesis on this issue is that if nationally legalized it would lead to an untold amount of elderly, handicapped, ill, poor, and lonely people vulnerable to being put to death against their wishes and before their time. The aim of this paper it too show that indeed legalizing “Euthanasia” or “Patient Assisted Suicide” would indeed lead us down the “slippery slope. This first step for me in this paper would be to talk about the theories and principles behind not being pro-euthanasia. There are a number of ethical principles that are deontological in nature, are part of the natural moral law, and relevant to the kinds of dilemmas that occur...
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...Running Head: AIMS OF LAW Controversial Laws in US [Name] [School] Author Note This paper was prepared for , Section , taught by Professor Abstract What do we mean by the “Aims of Law”? At one end, the aims of law are oriented by the common good while at the other end they may be restricted by the fact that exercise of authority is involved in the use of law. To the extent that the law can be used to promote common good, we should not use it since there may be certain limits as to how the authority should be exercised even for valuable goals. Sometimes, attempting to achieve valuable goals through the law results in failure due to the way law used which may be self defeating. Authoritative character of law places a burden in human life of choosing for oneself and binds them. This should be avoided to the far extent possible. There may be some aspects of the common good that cannot be realized effectively using authoritative legal rules which implies that law is not a good tool for all purposes. Thus, the aspects of common good supported by authoritative rules are the appropriate aims of law. This object of this paper is to examine five controversial laws in US that restrict or regulate behavior and present a philosophical argument for or against why such laws advance a proper aim of law. Controversial Laws in US Due to their sensitive nature, there are several topics which are highly disputed. Since prudence and emotions never go hand-in-hand, it becomes...
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...Physician Assisted Suicide: An Analysis: People v Kevorkian Angelia Prince Shorter University The Legal and Ethical Dilemma of Physician Assisted Suicide: An Analysis: People v Kevorkian This research was aimed at providing an analysis of the ethical and legal dilemma surrounding physician assisted suicides. The subject of physician-assisted suicide has raised many thought provoking and controversial questions. This paper will evaluate, the ethical dilemma surrounding physician assisted suicides, the case of People v. Kevorkian, the differing laws pertaining to physician assisted suicide in Michigan, Georgia, and Oregon. The purpose of this paper is to provide the reader with information on the state’s most current laws regarding assisted suicide and how the case of People v. Kevorkian was a unique case involving physician-assisted suicide. The Ethical Debate of PAS In his article, Hosseini (2012), argued that physician-assisted suicide (PAS), is a moral and ethical dilemma faced by physicians, ethicists, legal experts, and others. Hosseini went on to explain that PAS is opposed by the American Medical Association (AMA) and all the US states except for Oregon. In his research, Hosseini (2012) used the case, People v. Kevorkian, as a basis to argue that although there is an ethical dilemma surrounding PAS, it was not the act alone that resulted in Dr. Kevorkian’s arrest and sentence. Hosseini posed the question in his research “Is Physician-Assisted Suicide Ethical...
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...Proposal Essay Assisted Suicide: A Catholic’s Right To Die The right to choose whether to live or die should reside with the person who is terminally ill and no one else. According to the Catholic Church there are three moral principles on conserving health and life: sanctity of life, God’s dominion and human stewardship, and the prohibition against killing. Promoting the morality of the right to life, compassionate care and the power of divine love, the Catholic Church tries to offer a hopeful perspective. Radically different views than those of the Catholic Church are expressed by both healthy and terminally ill patients when surveyed. Several national organizations have been founded supporting a persons’ choice, to include the Hemlock Society and the Final Exit Network both with Arizona chapters. One of the main reasons terminally ill patients want the right to choose assisted suicide is to be able to die with dignity. The thought of being unable to care for yourself or recognize your family is particularly frightening and unwanted by most people. Mentally competent adults have a basic human right to end their lives when they suffer from a fatal or irreversible illness or excessive pain, when their quality of life is personally unacceptable, and the future holds only hopelessness and misery. Arizona is one of 34 states that have explicitly criminalized assisted suicide; only the states of Oregon and Washington permit physician assisted suicide with the remaining...
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...Physician Assisted Suicide Donald Pecher SOC-120 Sharon Gerczyk 11/29/2010 Imagine being in a hospital room with an old, terminally ill man. Day in and day out his pain gets worse and worse. The nurses and doctors walk past as if they cannot hear his cries of pain and agony. This man calls upon a doctor for help. He asks the doctor to end his pain. The doctor feels sorry for him and decides to help him out. The very next day, the doctor is on trial for killing a man who begged out of pain to end it. It does not seem fair, does it? Well, believe it or not, the doctor has just committed a crime known as assisted suicide. Physician assisted suicide does not kill, it relieves. The patients no longer wish to suffer and they may really believe it is their time to go. If a doctor pulls the plug on someone or takes them off of their machines in order to die, it’s the same thing. Many people believe it is a money issue. Whatever the case, physician assisted suicide would give the patient the chance to choose and be in control of his or her life. What is Physician-Assisted Suicide? (In Physician-assisted suicide, the physician provides the necessary means or information on death. The patient performs the act. In Euthanasia, the physician performs the intervention. Euthanasia is defined as "the act of bringing about the death of a hopelessly ill and suffering person in a relatively quick and painless way for reasons of mercy". Suffering has always been a part...
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...Project Proposal Jamie Erwin PHI/105 February 1, 2015 Professor Randall Knighton Final Project Proposal The topic I have chosen to write about for my final project is, the Pros and Cons of Legalizing Physician Assisted Suicide. Many societies have associated the taking of an individual’s own life with the magnitude of their morality. In the United States, the courts have ruled that no one actually has the right to die, and due to this, physician assisted suicide is outlawed throughout most of the world. There are only a few countries or states that have legalized this process. A lot of people will always associate Dr. Jack Kevorkian as the example of the way that a physician assisted suicide happens, however that is not always the case. When an individual has a terminal illness and they make the choice (being in their right state of mind, and have gotten a second opinion) choose to die, then their doctor may write a fatal prescription for that individual. There are definitely pros and cons to physician assisted suicide, in this paper I plan on showing both sides of the argument. Beginning with a few of the cons…as with any death, there is going to be grief over the loss. At times due to their spiritual beliefs, people feel like a physician assisted suicide is a selfish or even sinful act. This perspective has a lifelong effect on a person and they may harbor resentment, no one can say for sure if there is an afterlife, which is more about a negative personal perspective...
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...Should Physician-Assisted suicide be legal? LisAnn Marcum PHI 103 Instructor: Bruce-Alan Barnard September 16, 2013 Should Physician-Assisted suicide be legal? This paper is an argumentative paper on whether it should or should not be legal for a Physician to aid in a patient’s suicide. Physician-assisted suicide transpires when a patient who has a terminal illness wishes to end their suffering and seeks help from their physician in aiding them to do so. This will be a challenging paper that will take a look at whether or not it is legal for a physician to help in assisting a patient’s suicide, if this practice is ethical, moral, and/or unconstitutional. A great deal of the general public feel as though this form of practice is alright because if the patient is suffering then something should be done to help them. On the other hand many feel it should be left up to God to decide when our time is up. In the end it is between the patient and their physician. Physician assisted suicide is a scandalous issue that has remained disputed for centuries. The arguments are still going on in the present day about if it should be ethically accepted. Many feel this kind of action ought to remain being left up to God, others see this argument as though if the patient is in pain and distress shouldn’t something be allowed to be done in order to help them. “Deductive arguments offer reasons to accept a conclusion, and those reasons should provide all information we need to determine...
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