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¶ … Suicide, assisted or otherwise, is a contentious issue in modern society. While most people would be upset if a loved one killed himself or herself, there is nonetheless widespread recognition that people's right to autonomy might supersede such concerns, especially when the choice is between a dignified death by suicide and a prolonged and painful terminal illness. However, there are still those who disagree and who believe that suicide is always or usually wrong. This ongoing debate is reflected in laws, societal values, and the philosophy of ethics.
Euthanasia, from the Greek words for "good death," is an old concept: in Sir Thomas More's Utopia, written in the time of Henry the Eighth, citizens of Utopia may end their lives with permission from religious and governmental officials (Minois 2001, 67). The concept of medically-assisted suicide is a largely late twentieth century invention (Minois 2001, 328). Proponents argue that -- despite continuing legal and religious prohibitions -- it should be lawful for someone with a terminal or progressive illness to end his or her life, with proper medical assistance to ensure a painless exit. Opponents generally point to the Hippocratic Oath -- the basis for modern medical codes of ethics -- which begins...
The question then becomes, what is more harmful, helping a patient to die, or forcing that patient to live in agony or incapacity? In the United States, the issue crystallized around the controversial figure of Dr. Jack Kevorkian. A medical doctor whose specialty was forensic pathology, Kevorkian became interested in the issue of terminally ill patients who wished to end their lives before the onset of unbearable pain or loss of faculties (Weir 1997, 219). Kevorkian took part in a number of well-publicized assisted suicides, in an attempt to force courts or legislatures to revise the laws against suicide. He was eventually convicted and forced to serve time in prison. The end result of Kevorkian's campaign was that individual states made contradictory decisions. In some states, like Alabama, there is no legislation or mention of suicide (assisted or otherwise) in the legal code, leaving suicide subject to common law, which considers it illegal. As a positive response to Kevorkian's efforts, Oregon passed the Death With Dignity Act in 1997 (Weir 1997, 130). This Act allows terminally ill people within the state to seek out physician-assisted suicide in order to end their suffering. This differs wildly from the situation in…
References
Braw, E. (2013). Should a sick child be allowed to choose death? Belgians think so. Newsweek, December 5, 2013. http://www.newsweek.com/should-sick-child-be-allowed-choose-death-belgians-think-so-223851
Buchanan, RT. (2015). Right to die: Belgian doctors rule depressed 24-year-old woman has right to end her life. The Independent, July 2, 2015. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/right-to-die-belgian-doctors-rule-depressed-24-year-old-woman-has-right-to-end-her-life-10361492.html
Gayle, D. (2013). Transsexual, 44, elects to die by euthanasia after botched sex-change operation turned him into a 'monster'. The Daily Mail, October 1, 2013. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2440086/Belgian-transsexual-Nathan-Verhelst-44-elects-die-euthanasia-botched-sex-change-operation.html
Minois, G. (2001). History of suicide: Voluntary death in western culture. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins.
Assisted suicide is a suicide committed by someone with assistance from someone other than themselves, many times a Physician. Assisted suicide is typically delivered by lethal injection. The drugs are setup and provided to the patient and the patient has the choice as to when they deliver them by pressing a button themselves. This is a controversial topic that has both proponents and opponents for various the reasons. The most
Ethics: Assisted Suicide What is Assisted Suicide? Recent Issues Theories: Is it Ethical? The Death with Dignity Act (DWDA) The Deontology Argument Virtue Ethics The Velma Howard Case (Assisted Suicide) Peter Williams Case Ethics: Assisted Suicide Physician-assisted suicide, is this really an ethical technique? A lot of people feel strongly on both sides of this concern. However, on April 13, 1999, the most known doctor executed an assisted suicide, Dr. Jack Kevorkian, was given a sentenced of ten to twenty-five
Assisted Suicide When we think of assisted suicide, most of us immediately think of Dr. Jack Kevorkian, the retired pathologist who was sentenced to two terms of imprisonment in 1999 for helping a man suffering from a terminal disease to die (Humphrey 2002). Assisted suicide is a very passionate issue of debate in this country. There are numerous ethical and moral considerations aside from the legal aspects of the practice. The
Assisted suicide should be a legal right. The grounds for this claim include the fact that modern medicine has made it possible to extend life artificially, allowing for people to survive beyond their body's capacity for wellness. Other grounds for ensuring the rights of citizens to death with dignity include the essentially libertarian underpinnings of American society. Currently, only the states of Washington and Oregon allow physicians to assist patients
Assisted Suicide, or called Euthanasia, is an issue that has long been debated whether it should be acceptable and made legal, or not. The concern that many delivers as to whether or not Assisted Suicide should be made legal is this question that many poses -- Is it ethical and moral to help someone who suffers from a terminal disease to die earlier? In medical practice, Assisted Suicide is the process
Physician Assisted Suicide in Patients With Unbearable Suffering or the Terminally Ill One of the most hotly debated issues today is physician-assisted suicide. Recently, California became the fifth state to legalize physician-assisted suicide, and there is an increasing likelihood that other states will follow suit in the foreseeable future. The purpose of this study is to determine if the factors chosen have any bearing on those who choose to end their