Assisted Suicide Ethical Essay

Though one is not a supporter of euthanasia and/or assisted suicide, circumstances can easily influence the choice to undertake. However, one should not advocate or condone assisted suicide just because a patient feels they should die. The option of assisted suicide (Physician Assisted Suicide) should be left for terminally ill patients, whose death is expected to be slow and painful both to the patient and family around them.

Assisted suicide has been an argument over time; if people should be allowed to have the option. This was the question that was discussed by the supreme court in the cases of Washington v. Glucksberg on January 8, 1997. This case consisted of Dr. Harold Glucksberg, who is a physician. With four other physicians and three terminally-ill patients. Also helping them was a non-profit organization Compassion in Dying. They all challenged Washington State’s ban on assisted suicide. They argued that assisted suicide and the right to die was a liberty interest protected by the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment. I believe that any person who is in extreme pain and has a terminal illness should have the option of assisted suicide.

People with incurable diseases are living in excruciating pain up until the day they die. Assisted suicide, though it sounds dreadful, can put an end to the suffering. Terminally ill patients should get the option to “die with dignity.” It is their individual right! For the common good, I think assisted suicide should be legal in all fifty states. Otherwise individuals will be suffering for years on end, knowing that there is

Those who are for euthanasia or physician-assisted suicide states that this subject is a prevention of cruelty and protection of human rights. Allowing someone who is terminally ill to end their live is considered as a humane, compassionate, and a rational decision (Chand)Click and drag to move‌. An example would be a woman who is suffering from stage four cancer and only has two months to live. The woman’s pain is unbearable and she wants to end her pain and suffering by the help of assistant suicide/euthanasia. Would it truly be right to

First off, physician assisted death should be legalized because it should only be the doctors and patient’s decision. However, I do believe assisted death should be legal but only if a doctor agrees that the extent of illness is not curable and that the person is in a strong

I believe that assisted suicide should be legal because it allows freedom of choice, it gives dignity to the sick, and it ends the suffering of patient. Terminally ill people should be able to make their choices, not their government around them. Freedom of choice is in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedom, and is in many other countries. Not allowing terminally ill patients to end their life is also cruel and takes away their dignity. Forcing someone to live when they don’t want makes them feel unimportant and not respected. Also, many terminally ill patients suffer from a lot of pain, and forcing them to live just prolongs that pain, especially if the sickness or disease will kill them anyways. A study conducted by the University of

As you look at the cases surrounding assisted suicide the people who are terminally ill are the ones fighting for this issue and are taking their case to court. Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is an incurable disease that causes incredible pain, loss of movement, speaking, swallowing, and eventually breathing. When diagnosed with this disease you are aware of the precious time you have left. Sue Rodriguez had this disease, and didn’t want to continue living her life in this kind of pain as the illness took over her body. “She did not wish to die as long as she still had the capacity to enjoy life in some way.” (Davidson, 2) Sue was one of the numerous people that wanted help in ending her life. If you have a terminal illness and there is no possible way that you are going to survive, it should be your choice whether or not you want to end your life. In reality, judges and officials that protect your rights are the ones that decide this choice for you. “No one would want to live in that condition.” (Latimer) Not only does the person with the terminal illness affects them, but it also puts stress on the entire family which makes it hard on everyone. This is why I believe that if you are terminally ill, assisted suicide should be an option for

Assisted suicide, whose life is it? In reality it is the person’s life, and if they are suffering from a terminal illness they should get to choose whether or not they want to suffer. One very aggressive form of a terminal illness is the Glioblastoma Multiforme. This type of brain tumor is more common than a person may think it is also very deadly (Markert). Who is to say a person can’t end their terminal illness, pain, and suffering? They are just like every other human being who wants to die with dignity.

In Oregon, the practice of "assisted suicide" is legal, unlike anywhere else in the United

Assisted Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem. There are many ethical dilemmas surrounding assisted suicide. Although there is no way to truly say whether assisted suicide is a good or bad thing. I can say that it would be ethically wrong to legalize it. How, it can open the floodgates for anyone to medically end their life, we are not meant to “pay God”, and it can jeopardize the ethical and moral duties of healthcare professionals. When someone thinks of the word “suicide” most think of a person killing him or herself to escape their problems, except assisted suicide isn’t quite the same. According to Batten “Assisted suicide is the means by which an individual choose to end his or her life via the help of another person, who may offer medical assistance” (Batten 398). Death isn’t something a health care professional should be allowed to assist with but rather guide the patient back to a healthier state.

Assisted suicide is a topic that has ignited a severe debate due to the controversy that surrounds its implementation. Assisted suicide occurs when a patients expresses their intention to die and request a physician to assist them in the process. Some countries like Oregon, Canada, and Belgium have legalized the process terming it as an alternative to prolonged suffering for patients who are bound to die. Unlike euthanasia where a physician administers the process, assisted suicide requires that the patient voluntarily initiates and executes the process. Although there exists concession such a process is important to assist patients die without much suffering, there has emerged criticism on its risk of abuse and as an expression of medical

The word suicide gives many people negative feelings and is a socially taboo subject. However, suicide might be beneficial to terminally ill patients. Physician- assisted suicide has been one of the most controversial modern topics. Many wonder if it is morally correct to put a terminally ill patient out of their misery. Physicians should be able to meet the requests of their terminally ill patients. Unfortunately, a physician can be doing more harm by keeping someone alive instead of letting them die peacefully. For example, an assisted suicide can bring comfort to patients. These patients are in excruciating pain and will eventually perish. The government should not be involved in such a personal decision. A physician- assisted suicide comes with many benefits for the patient. If a person is terminally ill and wants a physician assisted suicide, then they should receive one.

     Assisted Suicide/ Euthanasia may also be seen as being unethical. The individual?s who lobby against assisted suicide always use the doctor?s oath that they have to preserve life as their first argument. While this may be true, they often leave out the part where they have a duty to act in the best interest of their patient. The activists also use individuals on Medicare, such as the elderly or poor as an argument. They feel that they may be pushed into assisted suicide because caring for them in a hospital would be too expensive and would just eat up government funds.

In conclusion, assisted suicide is supported by the right of people to make decision about their life provided the patient is in the right mental state to do it.

The term euthanasia is used differently by most people. Personally, I use it to include all forms of assisted suicide. The question for most people is whether euthanasia can be morally justified. Many people consider this practice to be against all ethics. This is despite whether compassion was the motive or otherwise. There are many dynamics that are involved when a person requires it to alleviate extreme pain or a condition that is considered to be torture towards the person experiencing it. There is need for the act of assisted suicide to be morally justifiable to make it ethical. However, the major question is to whom the act is meant to justify morality to. Every case that requires euthanasia should be considered differently with its own tenets. The use of euthanasia is morally justifiable and is therefore ethically acceptable since the use requires the opinion of medical practitioners.