The Pros And Cons Of Death With Dignity

1267 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Studying euthanasia in ethics

I am a nursing student at Penn State University. I study diseases, and what they do to the body. I make flash cards to help me memorize the symptoms. This year I started my clinical rounds at a local nursing home. I had never seen a nursing home before. In my head, I pictured a hotel-like place, with old people rolling around in wheelchairs saying “good morning” to the nurses. I pictured a big room where they would go to play checkers and watch black and white films. I pictured a nursing home like they are depicted in movies. It was not like that. Many of the residents are no longer able to communicate. Many need help eating. Many are confused. There, I saw those small, flimsy flash cards come to life. I live a happy, healthy life alongside my happy, healthy family. I knew that there were diseases, and that the diseases can be terrible. But until this year, I had …show more content…

But not all people, and the Death with Dignity Act can provide relief for them,” (“Assisted Suicide” 2013). Death with Dignity is not for everyone. It may not even be for most people. But it is for some and they deserve the right to have control. I, personally, do not know what I would do if I were terminally ill. I have no idea, and I’m sure many of us are the same way. There is no way to know how we would feel or what we would want. In the end, I think all we really want is comfort. We want to feel like we have some sort of control. Sandeen said, “I think it’s a peace-of-mind thing. You’re terminally ill and you’re facing the possibility of some pretty tremendous suffering, and just the idea that you have this [prescription] and tomorrow you can take it if it gets really bad provides some comfort,” (“Assisted Suicide” 2013). I believe that the Death with Dignity Act needs to be adopted nationwide. Thank

Show More
Related

  • The Pros And Cons Of The Death With Dignity Act

    1181 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Legalizing Death With Dignity By Brittany Maynard

    1864 Words  | 4 Pages

    ...o through when they are in their final stages. In addition, because the lethal medication is always to be requested and not encouraged by a doctor, requesting death with dignity gives patients a feeling of autonomy and power as they do have some control over their last parts of life during a time when they usually feel helpless. With proper legislation and training for professionals, death with dignity could be properly regulated and not be abused. The Death With Dignity Acts found in the states that have already legalized it have been successful with giving terminally ill the rights and choices they deserve while also have specific and strict guidelines. The rest of the country should take these states as role models because it still remains that legalizing death with dignity across the nation would benefit a lot of people who are suffering from a terminal illness.

    Read More

  • Physician Assisted Suicide ( Pas )

    859 Words  | 2 Pages

    Imagine, if you will, that you have just found out you have a terminal medical condition. Doesn’t matter which one, it’s terminal. Over the 6 months you have to live you experience unmeasurable amounts of pain, and when your free of your pain the medication you’re under renders you in an impaired sense of consciousness. Towards the 4th month, you begin to believe all this suffering is pointless, you are to die anyways, why not with a little dignity. You begin to consider Physician-Assisted Suicide (PAS). In this essay I will explain the ethical decisions and dilemmas one may face when deciding to accept the idea of Physician-Assisted Suicide. I will also provide factual information pertaining to the subject of PAS and testimony from some that advocate for legalization of PAS. PAS is not to be taken lightly. It is the decision to end one’s life with the aid of a medical physician. Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary states that PAS is “Suicide by a patient facilitated by means (as a drug prescription) or by information (as an indication of a lethal dosage) provided by a physician aware of the patient’s intent.” PAS is considered, by our textbook – Doing Ethics by Lewis Vaughn, an active voluntary form of euthanasia. There are other forms of euthanasia such as non-voluntary, involuntary, and passive. This essay is focusing on PAS, an active voluntary form of euthanasia. PAS is commonly known as “Dying/Death with Dignity.” The most recent publicized case of PAS is the case of Brittany Maynard. She was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer in California, where she lived. At the time California didn’t have Legislative right to allow Brittany the right to commit PAS so she was transported to Oregon where PAS is legal....

    Read More

  • Essay On Death With Dignity

    1978 Words  | 4 Pages

    In 1972 the United States Senate held the first National Hearing on Death with Dignity. The outcome of the hearing “Death with Dignity: An Inquiry into Related Public Issues” was an overwhelming annoyance caused by the use of the term, “medical miracle”. They felt as though it was ironic, the process of dying was only delayed and extended by a medical miracle and takes away from the quality of their life (Dowbiggin, 2003). Because of the present annoyance about using “medical miracles” as an excuse to ignore the idea of Death with Dignity, not much was accomplished at this hearing, besides arguing about a simple phrase. There was no improvement or movement on the actual topic of Death with Dignity.

    Read More

  • The Right To Die Persuasive Essay

    1242 Words  | 3 Pages

    Watching your immediate family suffer endlessly can undoubtedly cause irreversible damage. If a healthy person can choose to smoke cigarettes knowing that prolonged use can cause lung cancer, then a confined sick person should have the lawful right to choose assisted suicide. “For an issue as personal as one’s own life and death, the choice of how you might die is one of the most personal decisions an individual should make. To be denied the right to make this decision is blight on democracy.” (Swanton, “Appendix 1: The Right to die with dignity – euthanasia, A1.2 The rights of an individual.”) The cost of a planned death option would be much less expensive than relentless and pointless treatments for a disease that is incurable. Furthermore, most of the treatments for terminal illness can cause more negative symptoms for the already ill patient. Knowing that a loved one can choose a dignified way of death without reaching a vegetative state can subsequently cause less heartache for the chronic person’s family

    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

  • Death With Dignity Thesis

    1192 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Death with Dignity Act has been a controversial topic of medical discussion since Jack Kevorkian, infamously known as “Dr. Death” assisted in taking his terminally ill patient’s lives when they asked for him to perform an assisted suicide.

    Read More

  • The Pros and Cons of Euthanasia

    1265 Words  | 3 Pages

    “Euthanasia is defined as a deliberate act undertaken by one person with the intention of ending life of another person to relieve that person's suffering and where the act is the cause of death.”(Gupta, Bhatnagar and Mishra) Some define it as mercy killing. Euthanasia may be voluntary, non voluntary and involuntary. When terminally ill patient consented to end his or her life, it is called voluntary euthanasia. Non voluntary euthanasia occurs when the suffering person never consented nor requested to end a life. These patients are incompetent to decide because they are either minor, in a comatose stage or have mental conditions. Involuntary euthanasia is conducted when it is against the will of the patient (Gupta, Bhatnagar, Mishra). Euthanasia can be either passive or active. Passive euthanasia means life-sustaining treatments are withheld and nothing is done to keep the patient alive. Active euthanasia occurs when a physician do something by giving drugs or substances that ends a patient’s life. (Medical News Today)

    Read More

  • Arguments Against Physician Assisted Suicide

    917 Words  | 2 Pages

    This option would also reduce the financial burden the patient potentially places on the family. In some U.S states assisted suicide has become legal and is referred to as “death with dignity” laws. In these states the people have voted that it is the patient's choice to voluntarily euthanasia and so they have the “right to die” meaning that each individual is entitled to end their own life. This “Right to Die” concept is the main factor in support of “death with dignity”

    Read More

  • Right To Die With Dignity Case Study

    1151 Words  | 3 Pages

    Everyone will have one moment in life to ask, how would I like to die? This was the question that many people in America were asking themselves when the case of Brittany Maynard, a 29 year old female appeared in the news around the country. This female from California was diagnosed with aggressive terminal brain cancer. Many doctors tried different treatment trying to save her life, but the prognosis was not promising at all (Maynard, 2014). And she was told by doctors that her death will be under agonizing pain. With such horrible fear of losing control, she made up her mind and decided to die with dignity by medical assistance with her family at her bedside. The choice was not easy

    Read More

  • Argumentative Essay On Death With Dignity

    1144 Words  | 3 Pages

    In addition, the death with dignity act is performed through euthanasia which is the practice of intentionally ending a life to relieve pain and suffering. Since the death with dignity act isn't legalized all within america, it is a struggle among patients who rely on it. For instance, 3 years ago, 29 year old Brittany Maynard diagnosed with terminal brain cancer decided to move from her hometown California to Oregon, to take advantage of Oregon's death with dignity law. In other words, it allowed terminally ill patients, such as Brittany to choose where and when they want to die. After specialists told Brittany that she had 6 months to live, she was in a predicament to either follow a treatment plan which might ease her pain, but seriously diminish the quality of her remaining life, or reject the treatment and enable her family to watch her slowly suffer and die. however, Brittany looked for a third alternative and states that, “I did not want this nightmare scenario for my family,”(www.) On November 1st, Brittany planned to choose to end her miserable life in Oregon around her friends and family which Britanny called the ring of love. Without death with dignity, life can in fact, turn out to be hopeless since the terminally ill patient

    Read More

  • Death With Dignity Research Paper

    825 Words  | 2 Pages

    Oregon, Washington, and Vermont. Those are the only three states in the United States of America that allow adult patients with long term, terminal illnesses to request and receive a prescription that ends their life. Although very few people have chosen to use this law, there are people who have. The rules and regulations that come with the Death with Dignity law are specific, precise, and only used under certain circumstances.

    Read More

  • Death With Dignity Law

    1453 Words  | 3 Pages

    The freedom to die with liberty has been a huge accomplishment. Someone who is terminally ill has the rigt to die, although for physician assisted suicide there are set of steps that take action. According to the deathwithdignity main website the patient has to have 6 or less months to live, Patients must meet stringent eligibility requirements, including being an adult, state resident, mentally stable. Only the patient he or she can make the oral requests for medication, in person. It is impossible to stipulate the request in an advance directive, living will, or any other end of life care document. The patient must make two oral requests, at least 15 days apart. The written request must be witnessed by at least two people, who, in the presence of the patient, attest that to the best of their knowledge and belief the patient is capable, acting voluntarily, and is not being pressured to sign the request. One of the witnesses cannot be a relative of the patient by blood, marriage or adoption, anyone who would be entitled to any portion of the patient’s estate an owner, operator or employee of a health care facility where the qualified patient is receiving medical treatment or is a resident or the patient’s attending physician. It is only the right thing to do, death with dignity law does not just let a patient choose that “they want to die”, it’s a long process and therefor the

    Read More

  • Death With Dignity Essay

    1209 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Declaration of Independence guarantees every citizen the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. But what happens when you’re terminally ill and the happiness you once knew has been replaced with pain, suffering, and imminent death? Do you have the right to end your suffering or must you endure your final days on pain medications that make life tolerable? Out of the 50 United States, only three give you the right to make your own choice. In an unprecedented decision, the Oregon State Legislature enacted the first Death with Dignity Act in 1997, becoming the first state to allow terminally ill patients access to life-ending medication (Oregon’s Death with Dignity Act--2013). In 2009, Washington State passed their own Death with Dignity Act followed by the Patient Choice and Control at End of Life Act in Vermont in 2013 (Death with Dignity Data; Patient Choice and Control at End of Life Act). The process is rigorous and patients

    Read More

  • Right To Die With Dignity Essay

    1727 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Right to Die with Dignity is being brought out of the shadows and causes for assisted suicides continues to grow. As people began to notice the need for this cause more stories are continuously being released of the pros of assisted suicide, in which is discussed in this essay. The United States is not in full conclusion over the issue, whereas only few states it is legal. Oregon being the first state is paving the way. Doctors and other notable medical personnel remain in debate. Other areas of the world have all different stances on the issue. No matter where people are from, they will continue to travel to other countries to die with dignity. One day the entire world will eventually see it necessary to give the right to die to humans everywhere. The right to die with dignity is our human right.

    Read More

More about The Pros And Cons Of Death With Dignity

Open Document