Understanding Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide
This paper will address some of the more popular points of interest involved with the euthanasia-assisted suicide discussion. There are less than a dozen questions which would come to mind in the case of the average individual who has a mild interest in this debate, and the following essay presents information which would satisfy that individual's curiosity on these points of common interest.
Euthanasia and assisted suicide are legal in the state of Oregon and in the country of the Netherlands; these are the only two jurisdictions in the world where laws specifically permit euthanasia or assisted suicide. Oregon permits assisted suicide.(Oregon) The Netherlands permits both euthanasia and assisted suicide.(Review) In 1995 Australia's Northern Territory approved a euthanasia bill.(Rights) It went into effect in 1996 but was overturned by the Australian Parliament in 1997. Also, in 1997, Colombia's Supreme Court ruled that penalties for mercy killing should be removed.(Republic) However the ruling does not go into effect until guidelines, still to be drafted, are approved by the Colombian Congress.
The difference between euthanasia and assisted suicide is seen this way: One way to distinguish them is to look at the last act - the act without which death would not occur. Using this distinction, if a third party performs the last act that intentionally causes a patient's death, euthanasia has occurred. For example, giving a patient a lethal injection or putting a plastic bag over her head to suffocate her would be considered euthanasia.
On the other hand, if the person who dies performs the last act, assisted suicide has taken place. Thus it would be assisted suicid...
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Medscape. Available at http://www.medscape.com/Medscape/psychiatry/clinicalMgmt/CM.v03/pnt-CM.v03.html, citing Jamison K.R., Night Falls Fast, New York, NY: Alfred Knopf; 1999. Accessed 3/19/01.
Oregon's "Death with Dignity Act" (ORS 127.800-897) passed in November 1994 and went into effect in 1997.
Republic of Colombia Constitutional Court, Sentence # c-239/97, Ref. Expedient # D-1490, May 20, 1997.
"Review of cases of termination of life on request and assistance with suicide" was approved in April 2001.
"Rights of the Terminally Ill Act," Northern Territory of Australia (1996).
Wanzer,Sidney H. M.D. et al., "The Physician's Responsibility toward Hopelessly Ill Patients: A Second Look," 320 The New England Journal of Medicine (March 30, 1989), p. 848.
Webster's New World Dictionary of the American Language, Second edition (1976).
The subsequent paragraphs contain a general analysis as well as a description of the legal questions and principles that were raised in the age discrimination case of Mckinney v. University of Guelph. This case raised the issue of whether a company or organization (in this case, a post secondary institution for education) should have jurisdiction over the age at which an individual must retire. Additionally, this document contains an analysis of the laws of mandatory retirement and how they are still currently in effect in countries such as China. Along with the aforementioned is a description of how mandatory retirement is imperative to population management,
The Death with Dignity Act was passed in Oregon in 1994, and it is another option for dying with those who have terminal diseases. These people that want to die with dignity have to be seen by at least two doctors and have six or less months to live. While making the decision to use this act, the patient must be in a safe mental state to be making this decision. Currently, Oregon, Washington, Vermont, and soon to be California are the only states to carry the Death with Dignity Act. (Death)
The push for Congress to pass legislation protecting the rights of employees and their retirement was inevitable. Retirement plans are extremely important for all working individuals. Having funds to keep or exceed ones current standard of living and to enjoy one’s life beyond expectations after retire...
Since each funeral home is for the majority independent, the “leader” is either the owner or the manager. The position is achieved th...
The Death with Dignity Act was approved by voters in Oregon in 1994 and was confirmed in 1997 when the law went into effect. It is a law that allows mentally competent, terminally-ill adults to voluntarily request a prescription medication
The issue at hand constitutes that companies are not willing to look beyond their aging workforce, choosing instead to push them out of the technological loop rather than attempting to incorporate them as valuable assets. "There is enough research that says older workers are dependable, they can change, they can learn. What we haven' t come to grips with is that research and management practice are not always related" (Capowski, 1994, p. 10).
Bipolar disorder is a brain disorder that causes unusual shifts in a person's mood, energy, and ability to function.
...d friends. There are many emotions involved for the family and friends of the loved one and having a funeral provides a structured and safe environment to express them.
In her paper entitled "Euthanasia," Phillipa Foot notes that euthanasia should be thought of as "inducing or otherwise opting for death for the sake of the one who is to die" (MI, 8). In Moral Matters, Jan Narveson argues, successfully I think, that given moral grounds for suicide, voluntary euthanasia is morally acceptable (at least, in principle). Daniel Callahan, on the other hand, in his "When Self-Determination Runs Amok," counters that the traditional pro-(active) euthanasia arguments concerning self-determination, the distinction between killing and allowing to die, and the skepticism about harmful consequences for society, are flawed. I do not think Callahan's reasoning establishes that euthanasia is indeed morally wrong and legally impossible, and I will attempt to show that.
Although widely condoned around the world, only one nation, the Netherlands has made physician assisted suicide legal. Five states tried Washington in 1991, California in 1992, Michigan in 1998,and main in 2000, Oregon in 1994 approved the “Death with Dignity Act” it won 51 percent to 49 percent. 91 people committed suicide with the aid of a physician in the first four years the law was in effect.
Messages distributed by institutions such as the media have the potential to reach very large and anonymous audiences in a process called mass communication. In the movie Super Size Me, Morgan Spurlock documents a month of eating McDonald's, only to prove how food media affects the way Americans are living extremely unhealthy lives. According to The Mediated Communication Process (modified Westley-MacLean model) communication starts with an event, which in this case is the two teenage girls that decided to sue McDonald's for their obesity, then there are sources, a message, a communicator, another message and then the audience.
According to the textbook, memorial services are becoming increasingly popular in many Protestant churches. This coincides with my family’s faith; we belong to a local Presbyterian church. The memorial will take place at The West Metro Chapel, part of the cremation package through Newcomer Funeral Homes and Crematory. This will reduce the costs significantly, consolidating the facility rental fee to only $675. Considering their will be no open casket or closed casket display the cremation will take place shortly after death, making the date of the service more flexible ensuring everyone who wants to attend the service can make it. Cremating the body will also be universally ideal for any condition the body is in from the cause of
The aging of the U.S. population is affecting the demographics of the work force. Between 2000 and 2010, the age group experiencing the greatest growth will be those aged 55-64; by 2005, people aged 55 and over are projected to be nearly 20% of the working age population, compared to 12.5% in 1990 (Barber, Crouch, and Merker 1992; Barth, McNaught, and Rizzi 1993). For a number of reasons, including financial need, longer life expectancy, and a desire to continue working, the number of individuals aged 55 and over in the work force is continuing to grow (Hall and Mirvis 1994). It is no longer unusual for individuals to retire from one job, begin drawing a pension, and seek new employment: since 1984, both the full- and part-time work of "retired" men younger than age 65 has increased noticeably (Herz 1995).
Because the population is rapidly aging, the number of people who reach the retirement age at any given time is on the increase. This means that more money has to be used and available to provide for these people. To cater to these changes, policies such as increasing the retirement age and reducing pension pay have been proposed (UN. Population Division & Expert Group Meeting on Policy Responses to Population Ageing and Development Decline, 2004). These policies, however, are detrimental to the people who still have to contribute almost the same amount as before to the pension scheme despite the changes. The pension crisis is worsened by the fact the United State’s baby boomers, and the elderly all over the world are expected to retire over the next 10 years. The increase in life expectancy, also, creates bigger problems because this elderly generation is expected to live longer than any previous generation. This means that their retirement benefits will be paid to them for an increased amount of
Membership into these organizations is moderately priced at a $25-40 range. This fee will provide lifetime membership in a local organization as well as membership into the Funeral Consumers Alliance. This membership may be transferred to another funeral society at no additional costs, so that a member may move from the area where they originally applied, and still be able to use the services somewhere else. When asked, a funeral society informs an inquiring mind that the fee is necessary for the cost of mailing and printing of educational materials as well as the continuum of the non-profit organization, as well as the costs of funding conferences available to members.