Assisted Suicide

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The legalization of assisted suicide has been a controversial topic that has created a divide within the medical community, as well as the general public, for many years. Assisted suicide occurs when a patient decides to take their own life, with help from their doctor. The doctor can end the patient’s life without causing any additional pain or suffering. While some believe that assisted suicide should be legal for patients who are suffering from a terminal and painful condition, others argue that it is unethical and going against the doctor’s oath to help and not harm their patients. As the average life expectancy age increases, people are living longer while also having to live with more serious illnesses. As a result, lives are ending with a great amount of suffering and pain, rather then dying peacefully. Since death is ultimately inevitable, I will therefore argue in favor of the proposition that assisted suicide should be legal for those capable of making a rationale end of life decision. In the article “Attitudes and Desires Related to Euthanasia and Physician-Assisted Suicide Among Terminally Ill Patients and their Caregivers” research was done to expose terminally ill patients and their caregiver’s views towards euthanasia and physician assisted suicide (Ezekiel et al., 2000). Surveying a sample of terminally ill patients, as well as their caregivers, twice a week from March 1996 until July 1997, provided enough data to evaluate (Ezekiel et al., 2000). The participants included a total of 988 terminally ill patients and 893 caregivers. The research was done to not only determine whether or not people support assisted suicide, but also to show how many patients had considered taking their own lives, and how man... ... middle of paper ... ..., B., blum, D., Bruera, E., penley, C., schnipper, L., & Mayer, R. (2000). Attitudes and practices of u.s. oncologists regarding euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide. Annals of Internal Medicine, 133(7), 527-532. Ezekiel, E. ,Fairclough, D., & Emanuel, L. (2000). Attitudes and Desires Related to Euthanasia and Physician-Assisted Suicide Among Terminally Ill Patients and Their Caregivers. JAMA, 284(19), 2460-2468. Lesser, H. (2010). Should it be legal to assist suicide?. Journal Of Evaluation In Clinical Practice, 16(2), 330-334. Onwuteaka-Philipsen, B., Rurup, M., Pasman, H., van der Heide, A., & , (2010). The last phase of life: Who requests and who receives euthanasia or physician-assisted suicide?. Medical Care, 48(7), 596-603. Orr, R. (2001). Pain management rather than assisted suicide: The ethical high ground. Pain Medacine, 2(2), 131-137.

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