...Dignity can be defined as “the state or quality of being worthy of honor or respect.” From the moment the human species developed reasonable thought and understanding, the concept of dignity has played an important role in our individuality and cultural perceptions. It is a powerful state of being that is often a source of utmost pride. In this essay, we will discuss the “Death with Dignity Act” (DWDA), a movement to provide options for the dying to control their own end-of-life care, and discuss why it is important that this legislative act and others characterizing euthanasia on humans should become legal nationwide. On October 27, 1997 Oregon passed the “Death with Dignity Act”. This act allows terminally-ill residents of the state of Oregon...
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...What people fear is not the end of their life, but the fragility of their mortality. The topic of euthanasia has been a long term controversy that evokes intense emotions and arguments when mentioned in a conversation. Euthanasia, at its fundamental core, is the consensual act of ending a patient’s life in a painless manner at their own request. Depending on the condition of a person’s illness, this method is a option to provide relief for those suffering due to incurable and unstoppable pain. In many countries, the prohibition of euthanasia can cause terminally ill patients to consider suicide as way to end their agonizing affliction. Taking into consideration the varying medical conditions of patients, the freedom of choice, and the case...
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...Euthanasia is the administration of a lethal agent by another person to a patient for the purpose of relieving the patient's intolerable and incurable suffering. Physician-assisted suicide occurs when a physician facilitates a patient's death by providing the necessary means and/or information to enable the patient to perform the life-ending act (AMA Policy on End-of-Life). Due to the fact that this is a controversial subject, it is not widely accepted by many. As of right now, euthanasia is only legal in the Netherlands, Belgium, Colombia and Luxembourg, and assisted suicide is only legal in Switzerland, Germany, Japan, Albania and in the American states of Oregon, Vermont, New Mexico Washington, and Montana. We control the course of our own...
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...Euthanasia Euthanasia is one of the most controversial topics debated in the world today. 85% of Australian’s are for voluntary euthanasia, I would like to say that I agree with them but the more research that I have done on the topic has made me reconsider my opinion. Here in Australia, there are many groups that support Euthanasia, such as Dying with Dignity, Voluntary Euthanasia Society and probably the most controversial of all “Exit International”. 1. If Euthanasia was as “simple” as allowing someone who is in chronic pain and terminally ill, to make the decision to end their life peacefully, then I would definitely agree and side with this argument. However, it isn’t that “simple”. 2. There are many different circumstances when it comes to human rights. In an interview with the Director and Founder of Exit International Philip Nitschke (Dr Death) in the Australian Newspaper, December 2013, the organization is now supporting the “tired of life” category as a reasonable excuse to end life. This gives people who are not plagued with illness and are not dying to end their life simply because they are not having a good time. Most of us will go through periods of time feeling this way but most of us come through the other side and can look back on it. I have to wonder how many people who have taken their own lives would now have second thoughts. 3. In the article the interviewer suggests that the relationship between poverty, despair and depression...
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...Would not euthanasia--or mercy killing as it is termed--be acceptable to the suffering patient as well as to those who are close to him? mercy killing causes no harm to anyone. in fact, it provides a relief to the realtives of the victims as they undergo immense agony, seeing a dear one suffering. Euthanasia is an act of professional support to the terminally ill patient and hence canot be held as a cruel act on the part of the person who commints it. On the other hand, there is a deep rooted belief that life is a god given gift and it is presumptious on the part of a human being to end it. As for taking it away from another human being, howsoever merciful the motive, it is regarded as playing god. If the patient is terminally ill or in a coma, without having expressed any idea on the subject, who is to decide on terminating the persons life? The possibily of greedy and unscrupuluos relatives colluding with an equally unscrupuluos doctor to kill a patient, is a real danger. Morever, though it is an individual decisiom, it cannot be ignored as a major social problem as it opens up a chapter of suffering for the realtives of the patient. Any law, therefore, on euthanasia should have safeguards to preclude any possiblity of exploiting the situation by unscrupulous elements. The Scam in Mercy Killing Imagine one of your family members is terminally ill and presumed she will die very shortly. This is a controversial topic where some people want to die with dignity. So many...
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...Euthanasia and Physician-Assisted Suicide “This is not about a matter of life versus death, but about the timing and manner of an inevitable death.” -Unknown. Active voluntary euthanasia is described as mercy killing at the patient’s request. Physician-assisted suicide is described as the killing of a person by the person’s own hand with the help of a physician (Lewis 264). Generally, the law forbids active euthanasia and the medical profession is officially opposed to it. In the United States, physician-assisted suicide is legal in only four states- Oregon, Washington, Montana, and Vermont (Lewis 265). Death has become more difficult to define and the conventional notion of death seems to be inadequate. To overcome the traditional drawbacks of the traditional definition of death, alternative definitions have been suggested. According to the whole-brain definition of death, an individual is dead when all brain function permanently stops. The higher brain definition of death says that an individual is dead when higher brain functions—those that give rise to consciousness—permanently stop (Lewis 266-267). I believe when faced with certain undignified death, one should get to choose how they wish to die. For example: Brittany Maynard, a 29-year-old with terminal brain cancer and less than six months left to live, who wanted to die on her own terms wrote the following: “When my suffering becomes too great, I can say to all those I love, ‘I love you; come by...
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...include ones right to choose death over terminal suffering? Although human euthanasia is a tender subject for many people, an assisted dying law would not result in more deaths but is an economically beneficial practice that would create a better quality of life and care for patients, and ultimately will result in fewer people suffering. The opinion about an assisted suicide law is divided into roughly two groups; those who find it unethical and those who argue it would give patients a chance to die with dignity. Although many think that assisted death will start down a slippery slope to a ‘Purge’ like situation. I strongly believe that strict guidelines could prevent such. Through clear strategies and procedures, as a country, we can create a method to allow doctors in assisting terminally ill patients with death. Modern medicine has made leaps and bounds in the recent years past ensuring patients better care and longer lives. Though, in certain situations those longer lives turn into torture. There are two types of human euthanasia, passive and non-aggressive, one of which is already used today. Passive euthanasia is when doctors terminate life-support when a patient is Rougeaux 2 considered brain dead. Although doctors can passively euthanize a patient to alleviate suffering while they are brain dead, the application of non-aggressive euthanasia is constantly debated. Non-aggressive euthanasia, commonly known as assisted suicide, is where terminally ill patients make...
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...overcoming the emotional pain of losing independence is an additional factor that only the patient comprehends fully. * Dignity - every individual should be given the ability to die with dignity. Prolongation of dying - if the dying process is unpleasant, the patient should have the right to reduce this unpleasantness. In medicine, the prolongation of living may sometimes turn into the prolongation of dying. Put simply - why should be patient be forced to experience a slow death? Most physicians have received one or more requests to help a patient end his or her life prematurely. This module focuses on the skills that the physician can use to respond both compassionately and with confidence to a request, not on the merits of arguments for or against legalizing physician-assisted suicide (PAS) or euthanasia, but using solid clinical skills. To respond effectively, physicians must know the reasons why patients ask for assistance. Depression, psychosocial factors, and anticipated distress are common reasons, but current physical suffering can also be a factor. Physicians need to be able to assess the root causes of the specific request, make a commitment to the patient’s care, address each of the patient’s sources of suffering, educate the patient about legal alternatives, and seek counsel from colleagues. The vast majority of requests for PAS or euthanasia should abate when approached in this way. Oregon The state of Oregon has had a physician-assisted suicide law since...
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...between assisted suicide and euthanasia (mercy killing) is that in assisted suicide the doctor may only provide the drugs, not administer them, while in euthanasia the doctor can provide and administer the drugs.” (Brochu B1). What is known as the “Right to Die Movement” is the fight for one’s complete autonomy. It is important not to look at assisted suicide as killing someone as if you are taking them for their life without their permission. This is about alleviating suffering for those who are not going to get relief any other way. Assisted suicide should be legalized because as human beings, we should have a freedom of choice, as well as an end to prolonged suffering, and this may cause a reduction of traditional suicide methods. Putting those who’s quality of life is dwindling out of their misery has been a dilemma for ages, but going as far back to the 1930’s in London it is recorded that the royal physician Lord Bertrand Dawson to King George V was in charge of making sure the king departed peacefully. On January 20, 1936, Dawson injected the dying King with the lethal dose of three-quarters of a gram of morphine and one gram of cocaine (Ekland-Olson, 63). It has also been recorded that on September 23, 1939, the great psychologist Sigmund Freud was put to rest by his former student, Dr. Max Schur, after Freud requested his assistance. Freud fought a horrible battle with cancer late in life, and wanted nothing more than to die peacefully (Ekland-Olson, 63). The majority...
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...Pamela Bone, an American author, once said, “I’m not afraid of being dead. I’m just afraid of what you have to go through to get there”. Pamela Bone is a pro-euthanasia activist in addition to being an author. She like many others who support euthanasia ended her life by using drugs to allow her to have a peaceful, euthanasia death. Pamela was experiencing pain and prolonged suffering as a result of a brain tumor. Pamela ‘s death is quite similar to Lennie’s in Of Mice and Men. Like Pamela, Lennie was suffering greatly and was relieved of this suffering by their death. There was a plethora of hurt that lied ahead of Lennie. In Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, George killing Lennie was a euthanasia act that was an attempt to protect him from...
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...HCE 430: Healthcare Ethics Regis University October 10, 2012 Introduction To die with dignity should be a given. Death will present itself to everyone eventually and presumably no one in their right mind would choose not to die with dignity. That being said why is it that so many people who would choose to die a good death are no allowed to. For some people no death is a good death, but that is silly because as everyone knows death is inevitable. No one can escape this fact. The controversy herein lies within the circumstances people who are suffering or lingering with a terminal illness that debilitates them such that they have no quality of life are not afforded the comfort of dying with dignity. It seems that this high merit is available to our beloved pets, but not our beloved family members. Aunt Bessie is forced to endure unrelenting pain from here incurable pancreatic cancer. No amount of pain medication is available to treat her pain and allow her to maintain consciousness. She knows her time is limited and she does not feel she should have to wait out the inevitable in such a terrible state. At the same time the family pet Bassett hound is found to have a mass in her intestines. She cannot eat and barely moves as she is in so much pain. The veterinarian has given the option of putting her to sleep or euthanizing her to put her out of her misery as she is suffering so. This sits well with most people. Aunt Bessie requesting euthanization though is out of the...
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...about death which is induced before time. The background setting for our live case is the very debatable issue of “Euthanasia”. Literally, euthanasia means “Good Death” (Greek: eu = good, thanatos = death). More formally, euthanasia means the intentional act or practice of painlessly putting to death persons suffering from an incurable and distressing disease as an act of mercy, which is not necessarily at the request of the patient. Forms of Euthanasia: • Voluntary euthanasia: When the patient has requested the death. • Non-voluntary: When the patient has not made any request and gave no consent. • Assisted suicide: Someone provides an individual with the information, guidance, and means to take his or her own life with the intention that they will be used for this purpose. When it is a doctor who helps another person to kill themselves it is called "physician assisted suicide." • Euthanasia by Action: Intentionally causing a person's death by performing an action such as by giving a lethal injection. • Euthanasia by Omission: Intentionally causing death by not providing necessary and ordinary (usual and customary) care or food and water. Euthanasia evokes a mixed reaction among people who come across it. For some, it is unimaginable to end a human life and yet some think it is justified to end a life which is not worth of dignity. There are several moral and ethical issues concerning this topic and we will examine it in detail in the later part...
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...Euthanasia Debate May 24, 2010 Professor Melissa Green, M.H.A. Euthanasia Debate Every day in the field of medicine professionals are faced with an ethical decision or problem. The advancements in medicine and technology are raising questions and concerns never once thought of. Controversy over euthanasia is on the forefront of today’s health care platform. With the present change occurring with the American Heath Care Reform health care providers and society need to be informed of the options available in end of life care. This paper will present a debate about human euthanasia. Euthanasia will first be defined. Support for each side of the debate will be presented. Each side will be provided with questions from the opposing side, with the opposing teams response presented. Each side will then present a closing statement, again to support their side from the result of the debate. Euthanasia defined Euthanasia is the practice of mercifully ending a person's life to free someone from a deadly disease. The word euthanasia comes from the Greek word "good death." The term euthanasia is being used synonymously with the term Physician Assisted Suicide (PAS), although they are not one and the same. PAS generally refers to a practice in which the physician provides a patient with a lethal dose of medication, upon the patient's request, which the patient intends to use to end his or her own life (University of Washington School of Medicine, 2010). Voluntary...
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...For over ten years, there has been much controversy about the ethics and legality of physician-assisted suicide (PAS) not only in the United States but also worldwide. In 1997, the Supreme Court had a unanimous ruling that there was not a constitutional right or a constitutional ban to PAS. Since then almost every other state have opposed legalization of PAS. There are many terminally ill people that feel assisted suicide should be their choice, not something left to the government for debate. Assisted suicide should be legal in all states because those who suffer with a terminal illness that want to die should be able to end their life peacefully instead of living in agony. Almost everyone that lives in the United States has rights; the right to free speech, the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, but those that are dying from a terminal disease do not have many rights. They do not have a right to seek help to end their pain and suffering. They lose the right to be in charge of their own life. The pursuit of happiness seems to not exist for those that wish to end their life. For some having their pain and suffering ended would make them “happy” because they no longer have to live with pain, live with a disease that cripples them so they cannot enjoy life the way they want to. Why should ailing people be forced to withstand unreasonable pain? If technology cannot offer anything to ease the pain then why can it not aid in freedom from suffering? First, the...
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...mind. There’s a 74 year old male suffering with the 4th stage of pancreatic cancer. He’s retired, his children are grown and his wife is deceased. After all of these years of many doctors’ visits and treatments he’s finally come to peace with the idea of dying. His mind, body and heart could easily be put to rest with just one lethal dose given by a doctor. The idea of assisted suicide sounds absurd to some but does a slow painful death really sound like an appealing alternative? For years, doctors have been prohibited from assisting patients in taking their own lives. Doctors are trained to know when a patient’s days are numbered. Why would it ever be necessary to force someone to endure years of suffering? Wouldn’t it be more ethical to give the patient the option to say when they’ve had enough? The right to die is a given right. Nowhere in the Constitution does it state that government has any power in deciding your way of death. This “free land” doesn’t allow you to decide when you’ve had enough but instead forces you to suffer until they decide you’ve reached your limit. It’s your body that you’ve controlled your entire life yet when you’re on your death bed you lose all of that control. Keeping an already dying patient alive is...
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