The Personal Matter of Death

1393 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Aid-in-physician suicide and ethical principles

The Personal Matter of Death The "right to die" argument is building moral, ethical and legal issues. The proponents for physician aid in dying are arguing from the perspective of compassion and radical individual autonomy. However, we cannot take the life of another human being in our hands and play the role of God. The case against physician-assisted suicide, which is essentially a moral case ("thou shall not kill; thou shall not help others to kill themselves"), is straightforward and clear. Proponents of physician-assisted suicide clearly want to relieve suffering, and show mercy. What could be wrong with that? What is wrong is that accomplishing this good entails violating not only the fourth commandment, "You shall not kill", but also the first commandment, "You shall have no other gods." For in assisting in a suicide we are indeed assuming the role of God, taking life and death in our hands, forgetting that we are the creatures and that God is God. A person does not own his life, for he did not create it. We are the creatures of God and we must respect and secure the gift that He gave us, the gift of life. Most people agree that to cause one's death directly is objectively wrong. They also recognize that people who commit suicide are usually not fully responsible because depression or intractable pain has overwhelmed them. Most of them also agree that physician-assisted suicide must be stopped. In a survey conducted at the University of Arizona in March 1999, 85% of 500 students supported that by legalizing physician-assisted deaths, society runs the risk of sliding into a practice of both true involuntary euthanasia and exerting subtle pressures on vulnerable and disenfranchised patients to opt for an a... ... middle of paper ... ...r so many, so will PAS grow into a widely used procedure. The assisted-suicide controversy will determine the kind of society we live in, and the one we will leave to our children. We must stop this movement before it is too late for our sake and for our children's sake… References Bibliography: "Dr. Kevorkian's side scores." America April 1996. Vol. 174. Gabrielle Saveri. "An ethicist insists patients need help living, not dying." People May 1995. Vol. 43 "Lies we've heard before; the same flawed arguments that legalized abortion are now used to support physician-assisted suicide." Christianity Today July 1998. Vol. 42. Robert Marquand. "Revolt against 'right-to-die' movement." Christian Science Monitor August 1996. Vol. 88. Issue 176. Survey conducted at the U of A. March 1999.

Show More
Related

  • The Pros And Cons Of Physician Assisted Suicide

    1112 Words  | 3 Pages

    There are many convincing and compelling arguments for and against Physician Assisted Suicide. There are numerous different aspects of this issue including religious, legal and ethical issues. However, for the purpose of this paper, I will examine the ethical concerns on both sides. There are strong pro and con arguments regarding this and I will make a case for both. It is definitely an issue that has been debated for years and will continue to be debated in years to come.

    Read More

  • Annotated Bibliography : Is Assisted Suicide Inhumane Or Dignified?

    1073 Words  | 3 Pages

    Barlas, Stephen. "Conservative Groups Urge Congressional Response to Assisted Suicide Decision." Psychiatric Times, vol. 23, no. 3, 2006., pp. 58,NC Live. http://nclive.org/ cgi-bin /nclsm?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/204569828?accountid=13939. Accessed 24 Sept. 2016.

    Read More

  • Pros And Cons: The Idea Of Physician-Assisted Suicide

    924 Words  | 2 Pages

    Everyone deserves the right to make a decision on his or her own, and no one should have to suffer; with that though, no one should have to feel like this is the easy way out. This is about the fact that making physician-assisted suicide legal could put unneeded pressure on these patients. We have to think about the less fortunate, the lonesome, and the outcasts. Assisted suicide isn’t the answer to financial struggles or burdens. Rather than offering up this idea of physician-assisted suicide, shouldn’t we be making these patients comfortable?

    Read More

  • Physician Assisted Suicide: A Compassionate Mean to End Suffering

    1116 Words  | 3 Pages

    Although physician assisted suicide may result in the fulfillment of another’s choice, be considered a compassionate mean to end suffering, or even be considered a right, I believe it is not morally acceptable. In the act of physician assisted suicide, a patient voluntarily requests his or her doctor to assist in providing the means needed for self killing. In most cases of physician assisted suicide, patients who request this type of assistance are terminally ill and mentally competent (i.e. have sufficient understanding of an individual’s own situation and purpose and consequences of any action). Those who have committed the action of physician assisted suicide or condone the act may believe that one has the right to end their own life, the right of autonomy (the right or condition of self governing), the right to a dignified death, believe that others have a duty to minimize suffering, or believe it (physician assisted suicide) to be a compassionate act, or a combination of these things. However, since this act violates the intrinsic value of human life, it is not morally acceptable.

    Read More

  • Mapping the Issue: Assisted Suicide

    1341 Words  | 3 Pages

    The issue of physician assisted suicide has been around for quite a while. There has been many court cases on it to make it legalized but all of it has been struck down by the Supreme Court. What seem to be a lost cause in the past is now becoming a real possibility as America moves further into the twenty-first century. As citizens increase their support for PAS, many states are beginning to draft bills to legalize this cause, with tough restriction and regulation of course. In 1997, Oregon became the first state to legalized physician assisted suicide for the terminally ill. Soon after, three other states (Washington, Vermont, and Montana) follow Oregon’s footstep while two other states are inching closer to making this procedure legal. Even so, there are still many people against PAS and are constantly fighting this from becoming legal. With the rise of popularity on this issue, the debate on whether one has the right to end their life, and the morality of this issue are reason why the UTA community should care about this topic and why it is worth exploring the three position concerning PAS. In this paper, I will discuss the three main position on this debate: that physician assisted suicide should be illegal, that physician assisted suicide should be limited to terminally ill patient, and that physician assisted suicide should be available for everyone.

    Read More

  • The Pros And Cons Of Euthanasia And Assisted Suicide

    2211 Words  | 5 Pages

    As the years go by our society advances in all fields. As a result, we as a society have come to question many elements in our lives by comparing them to longstanding morals and traditions. The medical fields has always, and probably will always, raise many controversial issues. The latest concerns whether euthanasia or physician assisted suicide should be universally legalized in the U.S. Those opposed see that there are other alternatives other than taking a person’s own life, with the help of a doctor. Not only are they essential to incorporate into the options for people experiencing terminal illnesses, legalization would allow an overall upgrade in combating abuse with this treatment, at the same time, people are thoroughly against the

    Read More

  • Legalizing Physician Assisted Suicide

    1128 Words  | 3 Pages

    In current society, legalizing physician assisted suicide is a prevalent argument. In 1997, the Supreme Court recognized no federal constitutional right to physician assisted suicide (Harned 1) , which defines suicide as one receiving help from a physician by means of a lethal dosage (Pearson 1), leaving it up to state legislatures to legalize such practice if desired. Only Oregon and Washington have since legalized physician assisted suicide. People seeking assisted suicide often experience slanted judgments and are generally not mentally healthy. Legalization of this practice would enable people to fall victim to coercion by friends and family to commit suicide. Also, asking for death is unfair to a doctor’s personal dogma. Some argue that society should honor the freedom of one’s choice to take his own life with the assistance of a physician; however, given the reasoning provided, it is in society’s best interest that physician assisted suicide remain illegal. Physician assisted suicide should not be legalized because suicidal people experience distorted judgments resulting in not being mentally equipped to make such a decision, people who feel they are a burden to their family may choose death as a result, and physicians should not have to go against their personal doctrines and promises.

    Read More

  • The Right to Physician Assisted Suicide

    1874 Words  | 4 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Medical Ethics

    776 Words  | 2 Pages

    Physician-assisted suicide refers to the physician acting indirectly in the death of the patient -- providing the means for death. The ethics of PAS is a continually debated topic. The range of arguments in support and opposition of PAS are vast. Justice, compassion, the moral irrelevance of the difference between killing and letting die, individual liberty are many arguments for PAS. The distinction between killing and letting die, sanctity of life, "do no harm" principle of medicine, and the potential for abuse are some of the arguments in favor of making PAS illegal. However, self-determination, and ultimately respect for autonomy are relied on heavily as principle arguments in the PAS issue.

    Read More

  • Assisted Suicide Thesis

    671 Words  | 2 Pages

    Today's society is now introduced to one of the most controversial issues; assisted suicide. Just like in other controversial arguments, there are many people that feel that it is wrong for people to ask their healthcare provider to end one's life; while others feel that if the person is terminally ill and has given their will to die, that they can be assisted in suicide. Though both sides are reasonable many people believe that people should not take part in helping someone take their own life, assisted suicide should be legal because, it plays a factor of conquering one’s feelings, gives an option to those whom are terminally ill or in immense pain, and every human

    Read More

  • Physician Assisted Suicide

    997 Words  | 2 Pages

    One of the arguments which are often used in favor of banning Physician assisted suicide and euthanasia is that it legitimizes suicide. If suicide and physician assisted suicide become legal rights, the belief that people attempting suicide are unhinged and in need of psychological help, tolerated out by many studies and years of experience, and would be reversed. Those seeking suicide would be legally entitled to be left alone to do something irreversible, based on a slanted asse...

    Read More

  • Argumentative Essay On Physician Assisted Suicide

    1130 Words  | 3 Pages

    Physician -assisted suicide has been a conflict in the medical field since pre- Christian eras, and is an issue that has resurfaced in the twentieth century. People today are not aware of what the term physician assisted suicide means, and are opposed to listening to advocates’ perspectives. Individuals need to understand that problems do not go away by not choosing to face them. This paper’s perspective of assisted suicide is that it is an option to respect the dignity of patients, and only those with deathly illness are justified for this method.

    Read More

  • Ethics of Euthanasia

    1466 Words  | 3 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Assisted Suicide Should Not be Legalized

    1627 Words  | 4 Pages

    Throughout the course of history, death and suffering have been a prominent topic of discussion among people everywhere. Scientists are constantly looking for ways to alleviate and/or cure the pain that comes with the process of dying. Treatments typically focus on pain management and quality of life, and include medication and various types of therapy. When traditional treatments are not able to eliminate pain and suffering or the promise of healing, patients will often consider euthanasia or assisted suicide. Assisted suicide occurs when a person is terminally ill and believes that their life is not worth living anymore. As a result of these thoughts and feelings, a physician or other person is enlisted to “assist” the patient in committing suicide. Typically this is done by administering a lethal overdose of a narcotic, antidepressant or sedative, or by combining drugs to create an adverse reaction and hasten the death of the sick patient. Though many people believe that assisted suicide is a quick and honorable way to end the sufferings of a person with a severe illness, it is, in fact, morally wrong. Assisted suicide is unethical because it takes away the value of a human life, it is murder, and it opens the door for coercion of the elderly and terminally ill to seek an untimely and premature death. Despite the common people’s beliefs, assisted suicide is wrong and shouldn’t be legalized.

    Read More

  • Argumentative Essay On Assisted Suicide

    1062 Words  | 3 Pages

    Assisted suicide brings up one of the biggest moral debates currently circulating in America. Physician assisted suicide allows a patient to be informed, including counseling about and prescribing lethal doses of drugs, and allowed to decide, with the help of a doctor, to commit suicide. There are so many questions about assisted suicide and no clear answers. Should assisted suicide be allowed only for the terminally ill, or for everyone? What does it actually mean to assist in a suicide? What will the consequences of legalizing assisted suicide be? What protection will there be to protect innocent people? Is it (morally) right or wrong? Those who are considered “pro-death”, believe that being able to choose how one dies is one’s own right.

    Read More

More about The Personal Matter of Death

Open Document