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Moral and ethical issues surrounding euthanasia
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If a loved one, friend, or neighbor were to be diagnosed with cancer or any other disease and had a week or so to live, they should have the right to die on their own term. In most cases, people don’t have the right to control their death. In many states in the US, it is illegal to give terminally ill patients the right to die. Being terminally ill takes a toll on a person. It hurts them physically and mentally. If they know they are going to die, they want to have the last say. I believe and I am for the legislation that terminally ill patient should have to right to die on their own term to prepare, say goodbye to loved ones, have control of their life and how wrongful it is to leave terminal patients in misery. Nevertheless, once an ill patient is granted the right to die, they have control over it. Dr. Eric Walsh tells CBSN news why he believes patients should have options. He states, “When somebody’s facing the end of their life shouldn’t they be in control? Shouldn’t I be able to help them when they’re suffering, and the burden of living becomes intolerable to them?”. Controlling their death is the last thing they have. Their disease already took control of …show more content…
From the passage One Dying Wish, writer James Duffy states, “To force these people to stay alive when they are in pain and there is no hope for recovery is wrong… Forcing people to live in pain when only machines are keeping them alive is unjust” (page 73). James illustrates how unjustly it is to not give the right for a terminal patient to die. She goes in-depth on how awful wrong it is to let someone go through misery and pain that we could not imagine. Going back to A Crime is Compassion, Barbara knew what she was doing by risking her job. She knew that it was unlawful but she did it anyway because she's a human being. As nurse at the time, Huttmann couldn't bare to see Mac in pain any longer. She says she would felt more guilty if she hadn't done
In What Dying People Want, Kuhl comments, "Dying involves choice"(xviii). People choose what they wear, what they do, and what they will eat on a day to day basis. Choosing how, when, or why sick people die is just like an everyday decision for them. This however, has not been accomplished by some individuals in this Country. Americans have the right of choice. When a patient communicates the desire to die, the inspection of acceptability for palliative care begins instantly. Inspections include evaluation of pain management, depression, anxiety, family burnout, spirituality and other observed issues (Baird and Rosenbaum 100). When working or living with an elder, never ignore the words "I want to die". If this is ignored, that person will not receive their wishes they deserve. Countries are starting to understand that people should be able to die if they choose, "In the United States there are assisted dying laws restricted to terminally ill and mentally competent adults" (Firth). The assisted dying law is only in Oregon, Montana, Washington, Vermont, and California. That is five states out of fifty states. This must be expanded to all fifty states because all individuals have the right of this law. In 2013, Vermont passed an "End of Life Choices" bill. This bill allows terminally ill people to get
Barbra Huttmann’s purpose in writing her story in A Crime of Compassion is to convince people that no matter their beliefs, it is sometimes more humane to let someone die if they are suffering. This was the case with a cancer patient of hers named Mac. She communicates this directly by saying, “Until there is legislation making it a criminal act to code a patient has requested the right to die, we will all of us risk of the same face as Mac” (Huttmann 422).
Barbara Huttman’s “A Crime of Compassion” has many warrants yet the thesis is not qualified. This is a story that explains the struggles of being a nurse and having to make split-second decisions, whether they are right or wrong. Barbara was a nurse who was taking care of a cancer patient named Mac. Mac had wasted away to a 60-pound skeleton (95). When he walked into the hospital, he was a macho police officer who believed he could single-handedly protect the whole city (95). His condition worsened every day until it got so bad that he had to be resuscitated two or three times a day. Barbara eventually gave into his wishes to be let go. Do you believe we should have the right to die?
The decision to end a life is a difficult one no matter the situation presented. It stirs a great deal of emotions when thinking about a loved one choosing to die in situations where they are terminally ill. Death is a scary thought for most people, but we need to remember that it is just a fact of life, no matter how morbid it sounds. There is some dignity in ending a life for a patient is who terminally ill and suffering, although it may be a tough decision, it can sometimes be the right one.
When faced with a terminal illness a person has to go through a process of thinking. What will happen to me? How long will I suffer? What kind of financial burden am I going to leave with my family when I am gone? What are my options? For many years the only legal options were to try a treatment plan, palliative care, hospice, and eventually death. For residents of Washington State, Oregon, and Vermont there is another option. They have the option to end their own life with a prescription from their physicians.
A divergent set of issues and opinions involving medical care for the very seriously ill patient have dogged the bioethics community for decades. While sophisticated medical technology has allowed people to live longer, it has also caused protracted death, most often to the severe detriment of individuals and their families. Ira Byock, director of palliative medicine at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, believes too many Americans are “dying badly.” In discussing this issue, he stated, “Families cannot imagine there could be anything worse than their loved one dying, but in fact, there are things worse.” “It’s having someone you love…suffering, dying connected to machines” (CBS News, 2014). In the not distant past, the knowledge, skills, and technology were simply not available to cure, much less prolong the deaths of gravely ill people. In addition to the ethical and moral dilemmas this presents, the costs of intensive treatment often do not realize appreciable benefits. However, cost alone should not determine when care becomes “futile” as this veers medicine into an even more dangerous ethical quagmire. While preserving life with the best possible care is always good medicine, the suffering and protracted deaths caused from the continued use of futile measures benefits no one. For this reason, the determination of futility should be a joint decision between the physician, the patient, and his or her surrogate.
Hospice focuses on end of life care. When patients are facing terminal illness and have an expected life sentence of days to six months or less of life. Care can take place in different milieu including at home, hospice care center, hospital, and skilled nursing facility. Hospice provides patients and family the tool and resources of how to come to the acceptance of death. The goal of care is to help people who are dying have peace, comfort, and dignity. A team of health care providers and volunteers are responsible for providing care. A primary care doctor and a hospice doctor or medical director will patients care. The patient is allowed to decide who their primary doctor will be while receiving hospice care. It may be a primary care physician or a hospice physician. Nurses provide care at home by vising patient at home or in a hospital setting facility. Nurses are responsible for coordination of the hospice care team. Home health aides provide support for daily and routine care ( dressing, bathing, eating and etc). Spiritual counselors, Chaplains, priests, lay ministers or other spiritual counselors can provide spiritual care and guidance for the entire family. Social workers provide counseling and support. They can also provide referrals to other support systems. Pharmacists provide medication oversight and suggestions regarding the most effective
Terminally ill patients deserve the right to have a dignified death. These patients should not be forced to suffer and be in agony their lasting days. The terminally ill should have this choice, because it is the only way to end their excruciating pain. These patients don’t have
Terminally ill patients should have the legal option of physician-assisted suicide. Terminally ill patients deserve the right to control their own death. Legalizing assisted suicide would relive families of the burdens of caring for a terminally ill relative. Doctors should not be prosecuted for assisting in the suicide of a terminally ill patient. We as a society must protect life, but we must also recognize the right to a humane death. When a person is near death, in unbearable pain, they have the right to ask a physician to assist in ending their lives.
...end ones terminally ill life should be up to the patient and no one else. Religion plays a major part on why the law hasn't been pasted yet. Just like the hippocratic oath, religion doesn't prohibit suicide in any way. One of the most basic commandments is “Thou shall not kill.” But no one knows where humans go once they past so it seems hypocritical to judge such situations on a myth. I do not encourage anyone to end their life nor would I request such a thing. However, I do support ones choice to die with dignity if facing medical reasoning such as terminal illness. The government should grant such request to honor their citizens.
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
“People want the right to die at a time of their own choosing. Too many families have watched helplessly as a relative dies slowly, longing for death.” These famous words from Polly Toynbee really explains the meaning of the right to die, if someone is terminally ill and suffering they should be able to choose the right time to die with the least suffering. When faced with end of life decisions, one must consider limiting suffering and creating less stress on the family, rather than thinking of it as suicide. One must consider limiting suffering, when faced with end of life decisions.
The right to die is an unalienable right just like the right to live and the right to pursue happiness. Regardless of the sad reality of death, it should be an acceptable option of
Journal of Alternative and Complimentary Medicine defines palliative care as what happens at the end of life when a cure is no longer possible. (Virginia P. Tilden, 2004) Hospice can be traced back to medieval times referring back to a shelter or a rest for the weary. The term hospice was first given to specialized care for dying patients by Dr. Dame Cicely Sunders in 1948 who created the first modern hospice St. Christopher's Hospice in London. In 1993, President Clinton's health care reform proposal guaranteed benefits for hospice nationally. Hospice is now an accepted part of the health care continuum.
The “right to die”, I believe that it is a very necessary medical treatment that should be used throughout the country. However, only six states allow the treatment, including Washington D.C, while Montana is disputed on the topic. In these six states, patients who are terminally ill, are in a coma and may never regain consciousness again, or have some type of disease that will cripple them for their remaining days, have the option to the “right to die”. In circumstances such as these, patients do not want to be bed ridden as their families feed, bath and watch them die slowly and painfully. Patients such as Brittany Maynard, who was diagnosed with terminal cancer of the brain, was looking for medical options to try and stop the spread of cancer to the rest of her brain.