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End of life decisions
End of life decisions
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Anyone can be diagnosed with a terminal illness. It doesn’t matter how healthy you are, who you are, or what you do. Some terminal illnesses you can prevent by avoiding unhealthy habits, eating healthily, exercising regularly and keeping up with vaccinations. However some terminally ill people cannot be helped, their diseases cannot be cured and the only thing possible to help them, besides providing pain relieving medication, is to make them as comfortable as possible while enduring their condition. Many times the pharmaceuticals do not provide the desired pain escape, and cause patients to seek immediate relief in methods such as euthanasia. Euthanasia is the practice of deliberately ending a life in order to alleviate pain and suffering, but is deemed controversial because many various religions believe that their creators are the only ones that should decide when their life’s journey should reach its end. Euthanasia is performed by medical doctors or physicians and is the administration of a fatal dose of a suitable drug to the patient on his or her express request. Although the majority of American states oppose euthanasia, the practice would result in more good as opposed to harm. The patient who is receiving the euthanizing medication would be able to proactively choose their pursuit of happiness, alleviate themselves from all of the built up pain and suffering, relieve the burden they may feel they are upon their family, and die with dignity, which is the most ethical option for vegetative state and terminally ill patients. Euthanasia should remain an alternative to living a slow and painful life for those who are terminally ill, in a vegetative state or would like to end their life with dignity. In addition, t... ... middle of paper ... ...t’s family should be able decide for the patient whether or not prolonging their life is moral. Another reason a patient may opt to euthanasia is to die with dignity. The patient, fully aware of the state he or she is in, should be able choose to die in all their senses as opposed to through natural course. A patient with an enlarged brain tumor can choose to die respectively, instead of attempting a risky surgery that could leave the patient in a worse condition then before the operation, possibly brain-dead. Or a patient with early signs of Dementia or Alzheimer’s disease may wish to be granted euthanization before their disease progresses and causes detrimental loss of sentimental memories. Ultimately it should be the patient’s choice to undergo a risky surgery or bite the bullet, and laws prohibiting euthanasia should not limit the patient’s options.
In this essay, I will discuss whether euthanasia is morally permissible or not. Euthanasia is the intention of ending life due to inevitable pain and suffering. The word euthanasia comes from the Greek words “eu,” which means good, and “thanatosis, which means death. There are two types of euthanasia, active and passive. Active euthanasia is when medical professionals deliberately do something that causes the patient to die, such as giving lethal injections. Passive euthanasia is when a patient dies because the medical professionals do not do anything to keep them alive or they stop doing something that was keeping them alive. Some pros of euthanasia is the freedom to decide your destiny, ending the pain, and to die with dignity. Some cons
Euthanasia is the fact of ending somebody’s life when assisting him to die peacefully without pain. In most cases, it is a process that leads to end the suffering of human beings due to disease or illness. A person other than the patient is responsible for the act of euthanasia; for example a medical provider who gives the patient the shot that must kill him. When people sign a consent form to have euthanasia, it is considered voluntary, involuntary euthanasia is when they refuse. When people are not alert and oriented they are not allowed to sign any consent including the consent to euthanasia. When euthanasia is practiced in such situation, it is a non-voluntary euthanasia. In sum, people who practice voluntary euthanasia in honoring other
The right to assisted suicide is a significant topic that concerns people all over the United States. The debates go back and forth about whether a dying patient has the right to die with the assistance of a physician. Some are against it because of religious and moral reasons. Others are for it because of their compassion and respect for the dying. Physicians are also divided on the issue. They differ where they place the line that separates relief from dying--and killing. For many the main concern with assisted suicide lies with the competence of the terminally ill. Many terminally ill patients who are in the final stages of their lives have requested doctors to aid them in exercising active euthanasia. It is sad to realize that these people are in great agony and that to them the only hope of bringing that agony to a halt is through assisted suicide.When people see the word euthanasia, they see the meaning of the word in two different lights. Euthanasia for some carries a negative connotation; it is the same as murder. For others, however, euthanasia is the act of putting someone to death painlessly, or allowing a person suffering from an incurable and painful disease or condition to die by withholding extreme medical measures. But after studying both sides of the issue, a compassionate individual must conclude that competent terminal patients should be given the right to assisted suicide in order to end their suffering, reduce the damaging financial effects of hospital care on their families, and preserve the individual right of people to determine their own fate.
The topic of euthanasia and assisted suicide is very controversial. People who support euthanasia say that it is someone 's right to end their own life in the case of a terminal illness. Those in favor of this right consider the quality of life of the people suffering and say it is their life and, therefore, it is their decision. The people against euthanasia argue that the laws are in place to protect people from corrupt doctors. Some of the people who disagree with assisted suicide come from a religious background and say that it is against God’s plan to end one 's life. In between these two extreme beliefs there are some people who support assisted suicide to a certain degree and some people who agree on certain terms and not on others.
The decision of euthanasia should not have to be made. No one has the right to say whether death should be inflicted on him or herself. That decision is left to someone of much higher power as it has been since the beginning of time. The patient may not be aware enough to make a sane decision. In this case, the decision would be left to the family. How would the family know whether the patient would want to live or die? No one has the right to judge that another person’s life is not worth living, and no one’s life should be taken because someone else thinks his or her quality of life is too low. There would be some cases in which family members would want the parent’s money instead of it being spent for hopeless medical treatment and request that the parent be put out of his or her misery. There have also been some cases in which the doctor performed the inhumane task without any form of consent (Katz).
Euthanasia, the right to die, death with dignity – no matter what you call it – should be readily available to all humans who wish to die. Euthanasia, as defined by MediLexicon’s medical dictionary, is “a quiet, painless death” or “the intentional putting to death of a person with an incurable or painful disease intended as an act of mercy” (----). There is one absolute certain in life – death. It is one matter that we have no choice in, we will all die. But shouldn’t we have some say in how, when, and where we will die? We are the ones who lived, after all. With the rise of support and advocacy of euthanasia, we might just be able to have some say in our deaths.
Is it Against the Law to Help Someone Else Commit Suicide? . (2013). Retrieved from FindLaw: http://healthcare.findlaw.com/patient-rights/is-it-against-the-law-to-help-someone-else-commit-suicide.html#sthash.2Rg28YAQ.v2hYML0G.dpuf
Robert Ho and Natalie Chantagul are authors of the journal Support for Voluntary and Non-voluntary Euthanasia: What Roles Do Conditions of Suffering and the Identity of the Terminally III Play?. Robert Ho is a professor of biology and anatomy. Natalie Chantagul has a phD in physiology. It is not seen as morally wrong to euthanized a patients, if done by the request of the patient and only if requested by the patient (Ho and Chantagul 253). Many times patients request euthanasia in order to reduce the pain and suffering Patients also seek to be euthanized, because they feel that they are a weight on their loved ones (Ho and Chantagul 254). It is difficult for people living with terminally illness and have to endure pain and suffering and not be able to opt for terminating their life. The people that do chose euthanasia, do it because they do not want their loved ones to endure their pain and suffering as well and they do not want to feel that they are a cargo on their family. There is new research suggesting that the treatments used for patients on life support ,do not meet their needs nor do they meet the patients will (Gardner 226). Nurses try to ease the pain of the patients who are terminally ill, but many times these patients feel humiliated and undesirable when they continue to live in this desperate situation (Gardner
In the discussion of physician assisted suicide, one controversial issue has been whether or not it should become legal across the United States. On one hand, some oppose that it is not right for individuals to take their own life, with a physician 's help. On the other hand, if you are terminally ill and in a lot of pain, you should have the right to end your life with the help of a physician or someone else 's help. My view of the topic is that I am for allowing those people who are terminally ill to end their life to quit their suffering. However, people someone should check to see if the law is safe. If the law is not safe, then they should take the time to make it safe. Maybe there needs to be some arrangements that need to be fixed or adjusted.
My claim: I argue in favor of the right to die. If someone is suffering from a terminal illness that is: 1) causing them great pain – the pain they are suffering outweighs their will to live (clarification below) 2) wants to commit suicide, and is of sound mind such that their wanting is reasonable. In this context, “sound mind” means the ability to logically reason and not act on impulses or emotions. 3) the pain cannot be reduced to the level where they no longer want to commit suicide, then they should have the right to commit suicide. It should not be considered wrong for someone to give that person the tools needed to commit suicide.
As patients come closer to the end of their lives, certain organs stop performing as well as they use to. People are unable to do simple tasks like putting on clothes, going to the restroom without assistance, eat on our own, and sometimes even breathe without the help of a machine. Needing to depend on someone for everything suddenly brings feelings of helplessness much like an infant feels. It is easy to see why some patients with terminal illnesses would seek any type of relief from this hardship, even if that relief is suicide. Euthanasia or assisted suicide is where a physician would give a patient an aid in dying. “Assisted suicide is a controversial medical and ethical issue based on the question of whether, in certain situations, Medical practioners should be allowed to help patients actively determine the time and circumstances of their death” (Lee). “Arguments for and against assisted suicide (sometimes called the “right to die” debate) are complicated by the fact that they come from very many different points of view: medical issues, ethical issues, legal issues, religious issues, and social issues all play a part in shaping people’s opinions on the subject” (Lee). Euthanasia should not be legalized because it is considered murder, it goes against physicians’ Hippocratic Oath, violates the Controlled
Thesis Statement: Physician assisted suicide or euthanasia may offer an accelerated and pain relieved alternative to end someone’s suffering, therefore people should not be denied the right to die especially when faced with terminal illnesses.
Euthanasia has been an ongoing debate for many years. Everyone has an opinion on why euthanasia should or should not be allowed but, it is as simple as having the choice to die with dignity. If a patient wishes to end his or her life before a disease takes away their quality of life, then the patient should have the option of euthanasia. Although, American society considers euthanasia to be morally wrong euthanasia should be considered respecting a loved one’s wishes. To understand euthanasia, it is important to know the rights humans have at the end of life, that there are acts of passive euthanasia already in practice, and the beneficial aspects.
The right to life has been a subject of controversy for decades. We can mention it when we talk about abortion, the death penalty, and simply by a natural process we allow such as the simple act of natural birth of a baby. Whether a life is worth living? and whether to assist the act to end a life? Has been one of the most controversial subjects among the religious communities and the society. According to the Louis Finkelstein Institute for Religious and Social Studies reported on its website in the document "Physician-Assisted Suicide Survey," (accessed on Oct. 27, 2006), "Religious identity correlates with attitudes toward the ethical status of assisting in suicide. Catholics, Protestants and Orthodox Jews believe in the majority that it
Euthanasia needs to consider the views of the family and friends affected, the medical profession and the individual involved. Utilitarianism opposes individual pursuit and promotes intention to bring about the greatest good, however in some cases this does not favour a minority. Euthanasia increases the utiles of a terminally ill patient but decreases the utiles that represent the pain. Jeremy Bentham believed the “role of law was to delimit autonomy, and the creation of rights destroyed all notion of liberty” (BMJ, 2005). Euthanizing provides personal liberation and autonomy to the patient deciding when and how they die.