Physician Assisted Suicide - Essay

It is said that helping somebody who wants to die in a peaceful, painless way should be legal. Choosing how we die is a basic human freedom and if an individual's quality of life is deteriorating, due to a terminal disease such as cancer, they should have the right to stop their suffering via physician assisted suicide. It might be the case that the drugs for assisted suicide are far less expensive than the cost of their current medical care. This allows the government to save money as well as the lift the financial burden from the family of patients who are suffering from serious illness. Some people say that physician assisted suicide decreases the value of human life, but this isn't the case as it actually helps those who are terminal retain their dignity and choose their own death.

Every day in the United States 1,500 people are diagnosed with a terminal illness. These people are given few options when determining if the wish to try treatment and if treatment does not work, how to deal with the end of their lives. (author unknown, “Cancer”) With this horrible future ahead of them many may wish to make amends before it’s too late, however, an increasing number of people are seeking an alternate solution. In states such as Oregon, Washington, Vermont, Montana and soon California a relatively new, legal option is available for people with terminal illnesses. The states of Oregon, Washington, Vermont, and Montana created a law which allows people with a terminal illness and less than six months that are mentally healthy seek professional medical help that will end their lives (Humphrey, Derek) . This topic has created heated debates across the United States with each side have clear and defined reason as to why or why not this controversial law should be processed for the whole country. The people who defend the law believe that people who are losing their lives should be able to leave this world on their own terms, and with the help of physicians they can go in a painless and mess-free way. Supporters also believe that by not wanting to the end it can help save patients, doctors, and insurance time and money that could be better spent on patients who may have options and may not be able to reach them without

According to a poll in 2015, 68% of United States residents believe that physician assisted suicide should be legal (“In”). Physician assisted suicide (PAS) gives terminally ill patients a way to end their lives peacefully before they die from whatever terminal illness they have. If physician assisted suicide became legal, many people would be saved from pain and anguish. On top of that, ill people could retain some power and control over their life. And though bringing money into the discussion might be crude, assisted suicide can save millions. Physician assisted suicide should be legal in order to ensure a dignified death for terminally ill patients.

1. A request for assisted Suicide is typically a cry for help. It is in reality a call for counseling, assistance, and positive alternatives as solutions for very real problems.

A policeman witnesses a man trapped underneath a burning truck. Desperate and in pain, the man asks the policeman to shoot him and save him the pain of dying a slow and insufferable death. As a result, he shoots. The policeman’s dilemma is commonly referenced in support of physician-assisted-suicide, or PAS. Euthanasia and assisted suicide are interchangeable terms which both lead to the death of an individual. Voluntary PAS is a medical professional, usually a physician, who provides medication or other procedures with the intention of ending the patient’s life. Voluntary PAS is the administration of medicine with the explicit consent from the patient. In terms of this paper, we focus on voluntary physician-assisted suicide in the

While many define euthanasia as physician-assisted suicide with “informed and voluntary consent” or “a gentle and easy death,” (80) others view it in a more demeaning light, but with reasonable concerns. From its beginning rooted in the fifteenth century to the recent efforts for its legalization, the practice of euthanasia has become a very controversial issue. In J Donald Boudreau’s commentary, “Physician-Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia,” he argues against legalizing euthanasia because it would challenge the traditional medical values, ideals, and instruction of healing.

Euthanasia and physician assisted suicide are both types of medical assistance aiding in ending a suffering patient’s life. This pain may be due to a terminal illness and suffering as well as those in an irreversible coma. This practice of doctor assisted suicide is illegal in many countries, but is increasing in popularity as people start to recognize the positive aspects that euthanasia has to offer for those that fit the criteria. Euthanasia is essential for those, placed in such life diminishing situations, and whom no longer want to experience suffering. This is where the issue gets complicated, and many religious groups argue that individuals should not have the legal right to choose whether they get to die or not, but that it is simply in God’s hands. Suffering patients argue that they should be given the right to choose whether or not they have to experience this suffering, to end their life with the dignity they still have, and to alleviate the stress that their deteriorating life conditions have on their families, themselves and the entire healthcare system. Therefore, despite the many arguments, euthanasia can have a very positive impact on the lives and families of suffering individuals, as well as the Canadian healthcare system.

Many people have different opinions on the debate of legalizing Euthanasia or Physician- assisted suicide. “The term assisted suicide has several different interpretations. Perhaps the most widely used and accepted is "the intentional hastening of death by a terminally ill patient with assistance from a doctor, relative, or another person". Some people will insist that something along the lines of "in order relieve intractable (persistent, unstoppable) suffering" needs to be added to the meaning, “(2) The major debate on euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide are: the slippery slope to legalized murder, the right to die, and the Hippocratic oath and prohibition of killing. “Proponents of euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide (PAS) contend that terminally ill people should have the right to end their suffering with a quick, dignified, and compassionate death. They argue that the right to die is protected by the same constitutional safeguards that guarantee such rights as marriage, procreation, and the refusal or termination of life-saving medical treatment.” (1) I

Beginning in the 1970s, terminally ill patients were given the right to refuse life-sustaining treatment to end their own life, a process commonly referred to as euthanasia. They would be taken off life support, and death would be allowed to take its natural course. This idea was controversial at first, but now a bigger issue has taken its place. Many patients claim that they reserve the right to physician assisted suicide—killing oneself with means provided by the physician. Assisted suicide has been deemed a criminal offense by most of the United States; however, four states have now accepted the policy. The Death with Dignity Act, as it was called, originated in Oregon in 1994, and it has since been spread to Vermont, Washington, and California (

An individual’s ideology has a large impact on their attitude (Bulmer, et al. 2017, Choi 2013, Gielen, van den Branden, and Broeckaert 2009, and Jacoby 2010). Individuals who are liberal tend to have a different attitude towards physician-assisted suicide compared to individual who are conservative (Bulmer, et al. 2017, Choi 2013, Gielen, van den Branden, and Broeckaert 2009, and Jacoby 2010). This is due their attitude that government should take action in order for all citizens to achieve national uniformity (MacLean, 2006). This belief can be applied to legislation surrounding physician-assisted suicide. Liberals may have a more positive attitude regarding physician-assisted suicide due their belief in government intervention. If the

There has long been a debate over the topic of physician assisted suicide as an option for end of life. Several countries and states have passed legislation over the last few years that allows physician assisted suicide to have a form of legality therefore giving these terminal patients more autonomy in deciding what end of life care options they can choose. While it is not up to us as healthcare providers to decide for patients what they should or should not do pertaining to end of life care, it is up to us to take care of them in the best way possible. The decision to die gracefully and without pain should be a personal decision.

“Suicide is the act or an instance of taking one's own life voluntarily and intentionally especially by a person of years of discretion and of sound mind” (merriam-webster). Suicide has been around for centuries in many different cultures all around the world. Whether it was out of sorrow, frustration, shame, or for relief, it seems that suicide has been frowned upon by most societies. However this was not always the case. In some societies, suicide was an honorable and acceptable alternative to other dishonorable situations. Suicide is a controversial topic and can sometimes be seen as acceptable under certain circumstances.

Physician assisted suicide is also known as assisted suicide. It is a very controversial procedure. It is not favored by many. However, in present day society is little bit inclined towards assisted suicide. There is ongoing debate on the legalization of assisted suicide. The main reason to oppose of assisted suicide is the fear of mistreatment of the patient, abuse of power and so on. In contrary, many see assisted suicide as a way to decrease pain in the end of life.

If everyone has the right to live, then everyone should also have the right to die. Physicians assisted suicide, also known as Euthanasia, is not only a currently expanding concept around the world, but it is also a concept that is changing the options for terminally ill people and their families immensely. Not only should physician assisted suicide be legal in all states, but it should be promoted and encouraged around the world. People have the right to know their options and be informed of what they can and can't do with their own body.

Physician assisted suicide is requested by the terminally ill, typically when the pain from the illness is too much to handle and is not manageable through treatments or other medications. Assisted suicide is more of a broad term for helping someone die a good death, physician assisted suicide is where a medical doctor provides information and medication and the patient then administers the medications themselves. Euthanasia is also another term that is commonly heard, this refers to a medical doctor that voluntarily administers the lethal dose of medication to the patient when the patient requests it, due to not physically being able to do it themselves (Humphry, 2006). There pros and cons with this topic throughout the world, but is one of the biggest debated things here in the United States of America and to this day there are only five states that have legalized physician-assisted suicide (ProCon.org, 2015). The government should allow patients that are terminally ill the right to choose physician assisted suicide, why should they have to suffer when there is a way out.