...Euthanasia can become a means of health care cost containment Physicians and other medical care people should not be involved in directly causing death There is a “slippery slope” effect that has occurred where euthanasia has been first been legalized for only the terminally and later laws are changed to allow it for other people or to be done non-voluntarily. Opposition overcomes 48 point deficit to defeat assisted suicide - Ballot Question 2 in Massachusetts 1 1 0 Google BOSTON, Nov. 7, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- In a stunning upset, the voters of Massachusetts soundly defeated Ballot Question 2 on Election Day. Dealing a significant setback to the expansion of the assisted suicide movement throughout the United States by Compassion & Choices (the organization formerly known as the Hemlock Society), a diverse coalition of disability rights organizations, medical associations, nurses' groups, community leaders and faith-based organizations united in this effort. "Tonight was a huge victory for those of us in the disability rights community that have worked for so long against assisted suicide," noted John Kelly , Director of Second Thoughts – People with Disabilities Opposing Question 2. "This vote confirms that Massachusetts voters saw through the rhetoric and outright misinformation put out by those supporting assisted suicide. Opposition to assisted suicide cuts across all partisan and...
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...choice using assisted suicide to stop the suffering. Physician assisted suicide is when a physician helps a person end their own life by giving them a lethal substance or prescription medication (Physician-assisted Suicide 1). Assisted suicide should be legal for many reasons one being that person should not have to suffer. Getting treatment for a loved one in many families can be almost impossible in today's world because of the cost. The main problem with physician...
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...Society Should Not Play God One of the most controversial topics in the world today is assisted suicide. There are many aspects of this subject that could be discussed. However, the most argued aspect of assisted suicide is whether it should be legal or not. Some people think assisted suicide should be legal to help put terminally ill individuals out of their misery, while others believe assisted suicide should be outlawed because it contradicts morals and religion. Assisted suicide should be legal because it is morally right to help others die the way they want to. Assisted suicide occurs when a doctor decides to help, or assist, a patient in suicide, usually by prescribing patients medication. One of the most common drugs used by doctors is sleeping pills. The doctor will give the patient sleeping pills and direct the patient to take an excessive amount of them. This ensures that the patient passes away as peacefully as possible (Welsh-Huggins). Many doctors that assist in suicide use pentobarbital, which is a very strong sleeping aid. This pill is always available for prescription use, but very few doctors prescribe it due to the numerous amounts of deaths associated with it. This is part of the reason why many doctors use pentobarbital for assisted suicide. When this medication is taken in excess it ensures a peaceful death while sleeping. Passing away peacefully while sleeping is another reason why assisted suicide should be legal. Some believe that assisted suicide is ideal...
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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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...Assisted suicide has become a very controversial issue all over the world. Although it is still illegal in most of the world, there are places where it is legal, at least under certain conditions. Switzerland is one of the countries where assisted suicide has been legal for many years. Many countries, like Canada, are considering making changes to their laws regarding this issue. Before doing so, it is essential to closely examine places like Switzerland to identify the issues that have arisen. The fact that people travel from countries where assisted suicide is illegal to places like Switzerland where it is legal is problematic. Additionally, the “slippery slope” argument against assisted suicide has become clearly evident in Switzerland. It is evident that the legalization of assisted suicide does not come without some serious concerns. In Switzerland, assisted suicide has been permitted since 1942. Assisted suicide is acceptable as long as medical protocols are strictly followed (Todd). Euthanasia is not legal in Switzerland. Euthanasia is defined as “intentionally causing the death of a person, the motive being...
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...Should physician-assisted suicide be legal? While I believe if one chooses to end his or own life through physician assistance for reasons that they chose, the choice should be up to the individual. Physician-assisted suicide should be at one's discretion. “Assisted Suicide, also called Voluntary Euthanasia, is currently a contentious issue in many countries. Because Euthanasia is legal in a few modern democracies: the Netherlands, Belgium, and Switzerland. In the Netherlands, voluntary euthanasia has been legal since 1983, with some 3,000 people requesting it each year. In Australia, assisted suicide was legalized in the Northern Territory with the backing of a substantial majority of the local population, but was then overthrown by the Federal Senate before anyone could actually use the new law. However, in Oregon and California, state legislation has been passed to allow for euthanasia in special circumstances and within a heavy regulatory framework in which third party ethicists attempt to ensure the appropriateness of euthanasia cases. Euthanasia or assisted suicide is illegal in most countries around the world. In the United States, Dr Jack Kervorkian – nicknamed ‘Doctor Death’ for his actions beliefs – has campaigned for a change in the law for many years, and assisted in the suicide of at least 45 people.” (Brooks) Physician assisted suicide has always been an ongoing argument. It can be both inductive and deductive depending on the premise. I will be looking at the...
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...Physician assisted suicide has been a controversial topic in this country for many years. Some believe that people who are sick and dying should have the legal right to end their life with the help of a physician. There are many terminal cancer patients who are so sick they will not have a chance to live the rest of their life so they choose the route of physician assisted suicide. They choose it because it is an easy pain free way to end their life. Although people may say physician assisted suicide is unethical, physician assisted suicide is ethical because it is a person's individual choice whether they want to live or die and it reduces suffering. There have been many cases and statewide issues that have dealt with physician assisted suicide. The state of California and Washington denied the idea of physician assisted suicide. In the early 1990’s California and Washington rejected the votes that would have allowed Physician assisted suicide to be legal. Physician assisted suicide is a state issue. Physician assisted suicide was a problem in states...
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...Legalizing the Right to Your Own Life The term assisted suicide refers to the practice of a physician giving a patient, per their request, a prescription for a lethal drug which the patient would consume as a means of ending their own life. Assisted suicide should be legalized for any and all people who seek this out in order to put an end to their life. People deserve to have a right to their own bodies and lives, so if they choose to put an end to it, they should not be restricted in their access to a way of doing so. Much of the debate over whether assisted suicides should be legalized has to do with whether people have the right to die along with the right to live, whether or not people should have to suffer, the Hippocratic Oath that physicians have to abide by, and religious standpoints. Many of these arguments have an ethical grounding, and deal with the morality of the action of a suicide. Originally, assisted suicide was known as, or synonymous with euthanasia, which is the killing of a person out of and by a doctor’s mercy for that person. Many people tend to equate euthanasia with physician assisted suicide because both involve having the help of a physician. However, physician assisted suicide differs from euthanasia because it requires the patient’s consent and an evaluation of the patient before the patient is given a prescription for lethal drugs. The practice of an assisted suicide where it is currently legal, involves a patient who is terminally ill, and has...
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... Is this right? No. Physician assisted suicide should be legal. There are many people suffering right now wanting to have the option to end their lives safely with the help of their doctor. This option will give patients more control over their death and end patient suffering and here are a few reasons why. Firstly, this option is less costly than medication that will only prolong the patient’s life for a few days. It costs $55,000 for terminally ill cancer patients to receive chemotherapy in the last 2 months of their lives and researchers found that 20 to 30 percent of these treatments have had no impact on the patients’ health. (Meyer, 2010). These...
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...Believe it or not, this scenario existed in real life. This scenario describes Physician-Assisted Suicide. Physician-Assisted Suicide is currently legal in a few states. There is currently an on going debate to extend its legality to more states and eventually the entire United States. Many people each year are diagnosed with a terminal illness. They are forced to suffer and live in pain until they eventually die naturally. For some people, this could be years, even decades of suffering. This is a long time of suffering that could be avoided. Physician-Assisted Suicide helps these people. People can be put out of their pain and misery. This is highly controversial. Some believe these doctors are murderers. Others call these doctors a saving grace. This is a practice with many ethical questions. Hopefully, after research, I will be able to answer these ethical questions. There are a few other questions that I hope to answer. On being, the states allow Physician-Assisted Suicide. Also, what is New Jersey’s stand on this practice? Lastly, what are the guidelines and requirements to be eligible? As defined by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, Physician Assisted Suicide is...
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...What is voluntary euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide? Voluntary euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide are similar. Forms of assisted suicide involve the guidance and supervision of a licensed physician. There is a difference between euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide. Physician-assisted suicides’ preparation is when, “A doctor’s helping their distressed patient to commit suicide at the patient’s autonomous appeal” (Varelius, 2013). Euthanasia, on the other hand, “consists of administering lethal medication to the patient,” by the licensed physician (Varelius, 2013). There are countless numbers of questions and concerns about an individual’s quality of life. Under no circumstances, suicide is never the ideal way for an individual to die. However, if physician-assisted suicide or euthanasia were legal and regulated in all states, then the United States Constitution may salvage lives by giving people the right to elect how they wish to die. This is a matter of legal issues, moral issues, and...
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...Larson right to die Using assisted suicide is a personal decision that a person makes to end suffering. As this can change and take an affect a family mentally. The medical procedure that uses euthanasia they use in assisted suicide are carried out by patients with terminal illnesses like irreversible brain tumor (glioblastoma), has no control over how long the pain will last. This is issue is as controversial as well as it has good and bad to it. Many do believe that a person is physically suffering in pain they have the right to die by their own decision. Assisted suicide is not legal in most state and it should be legal for those who are suffering from terminal illness. With anything that is good will always have a down side. Because there is only a few states that it is legal and with that a doctor could lose their license to assist those in places where it is illegal. We know that the issue is with a Senate bill that any type that involves any assisted suicide to include euthanasia or lethal injection. This bill protects assisted suicide. There are advantages with assisted suicide. Physicians that conducts assisted suicide is they give you the decision on how you should end your life. Others argue because on people’s beliefs and opinions on this controversial topic. Some do believe that it is a human right. And in the couple of states that is legal, Doctors give prescriptions of lethal dose to end their own life. Because it is not legal but two states it is not just...
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...Physician Assisted Suicide “I watched my father die a couple years ago,” says Caleb Heppner, “He died a really terrible death. It was forty eight hours of excruciating pain” (Caleb Heppner Discusses). Today, Caleb is fifty-seven years old and is diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer, which has already metastasized into his bones. He wishes to do whatever possible to avoid a painful death similar to that of his father. To Caleb, just knowing that there is a possibility to have control over his death is comforting. His death is the only event left to have control over. “I really see this as a medical option,” Heppner explains (Caleb Heppner Discusses). Physician assisted suicide should be legalized because everyone should have the right to choose how to live as well as how to die. In addition, assisted suicide provides an alternative to a painful death. By granting patients the legal right to physician-assisted suicide, terminally ill patients would be able to die peacefully. Physician assisted suicide refers to the procedure in which a physician prescribes a lethal dose of a medication to a terminally ill patient. Today, Oregon, Montana, and Washington are the only state in the United States in which physician assisted suicide is legal. California is currently considering whether or not it should legalize physician-assisted suicide as well. The law requires that both the patient and the medical personnel take the procedure slowly and seriously. In order to ensure...
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...Seminar 5 First Draft – Physician Assisted Suicide INTRODUCTION In my term paper I am going to be answering the question is Physician-Assisted Suicide (PAS) ethically justified? The debate on Physician-Assisted Suicide has been a topic of debate for many years. Born and raised in Michigan I remember all of the news on Dr. Jack Kevorkian assisting terminally ill patients in their death and the controversy on it. The dilemma is whether or not a physician should be allowed to assist a person in ending their life even if they are terminally ill. According to a recent article on The New York Times website, New Mexico just legalized Physician-Assisted Suicide for terminally ill patients. This ruling would make New Mexico the fifth state to allow physicians to prescribe to their terminally ill patients a fatal dose of medications to end their life (Eckholm, 2014). Proponents of Physician-Assisted Suicide believe that terminally ill people should have the right to choose go to the doctors and ask for their help to end their lives and stop their suffering. Of course there would have to be certain steps taken to make sure they were making the right choice. Many supporters of Physician-Assisted Suicide believe that there should be some psychiatric evaluation to make sure that the patient is of a sound mind in their decision to end their life. Opponents of Physician-Assisted Suicide believe that a person does not have a right to end their own life and that it goes against...
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...“Definitions of Euthanasia,” physician-assisted suicide is when a, “Medical doctor helping patient to die by prescribing a lethal overdose.” Although there are many guidelines that have to be followed for a patient to be considered for physician-assisted suicide, it still should not be legal. Kayla Asbury argues in her article “The Right to Die: Benefits of Physician-Assisted Suicide” that, “dying with dignity is a right everyone should be afforded.” However, many people argue that physician-assisted suicide is not moral and should not be preformed under any circumstance. In Asbury’s article she time and time again explains why she believes physician-assisted suicide should be legal. Asbury’s main argument...
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