A. ? Whose life is it, anyway?? These were the words of the late Sue Rodrigues, a
high-profile, terminally-ill resident of British Columbia, Canada, who suffered from ALS (Lou Gehrig?s Disease).
She was helped to commit suicide by a physician in violation of Canadian Law. B. Most people in North America die what may be called a bad death. One study found that ? More often than not, patients died in pain, their desires concerning treatment neglected, after spending 10 days or more in the intensive care unit. ? C. I believe that because so many people are dying so painfully, there are more reasons or physician-assisted suicide to be legal than not. 1. a form of euthanasia in which a doctor gives access to a person the means to kill him C. Steps in the process and methods of Physician-Assisted Suicide a. One method is Dr. Jack Kevorkian?s ?Suicide Machine. In this process,
the patient must first activate it by pushing a button. Then, three solutions are injected in order; first, a harmless saline, then, a sleep-inducing ative, and finally the lethal drug. b. Another is with the face mask. The patient wears the face mask and
then carbon monoxide is pumped through which poisons the patient. c. The third is plastic bag suffocation. D. Physician-Assisted Suicide is necessary : 1. to give people who don?t want to live, a peaceful way to die 2. not only for the terminally ill, but also the chronically ill, elderly, depressed, or E. Preventing Physician-Assisted Suicide from being legal is : 1. many different things including the beliefs a religion has about it although
The Essay on Physical Assisted Suicide Physician Patients Life
... many doctors financial incentives to encourage ill patients to choose assisted suicide. Already many patients requesting physician-assisted suicide are not terminally ill with cancer or plagued with pain, ... for humans to decide when another human being should die. I am against physician-assisted suicide because I think that anyone trying to remove ...
2. the answering arguments from those who are opposed. In these, similar
answers to ?…in Holland, 63 % of all deaths with the withdrawing of life support F. Physician-Assisted Suicide is legal in: a. Oregon is the only US state where any form of euthanasia is legal. This
is because of Oregon?s ? Death with Dignity Act ? which became effective G. People wish to have Physician-Assisted Suicide legal because: 1. ? There are three reasons why euthanasia should be legal: it is a question of
dignity, it is the solution for a person that will die soon, & it is the choice of the 2. ?Jack: Well have you ever thought about the fact that some people don?t want
that [their pain managed in hospices]? What if they don?t want to be drugged so much that they are unconscious for a long time until they die? If they think that they would rather die with dignity, then euthanasia should be allowed. Another thing is, what if they don?t have a medical care plan for such treatment??. That was from a mock argument that shows why euthanasia is such a controversial I. Legalization of Physician-Assisted Suicide: 1. has been attempted before but I have found no record of this at all 1. Dr. Jack Kevorkian?s ?Suicide Machine?, self-administered carbon
2. chemicals used in the ?Suicide Machine? such as sleep-inducing sedatives,
salines, and lethal drugs and in the face mask suffocation, carbon monoxide K. The amount of people killed by Physician-Assisted Suicide is: a. 400 of the cases were physician-assisted b. 2300 of the cases were when doctors killed upon request c. 1040 of the cases doctors had actively killed without the patients
d. 4941 of the cases doctors had injected lethal doses of morphine without A. Physician-Assisted Suicide must be legalized for humane purposes because too
B. So, let?s make it so Physician-Assisted Suicide can become legal to end
? Whose life is it, anyway?? (Robinson 1).
The Term Paper on Physician-Assisted Suicide
According to the American Medical Association, physician-assisted suicide “occurs when a physician facilitates a patient’s death by providing the necessary means and/or ... patient should be allowed to choose how he/she wants to die, and if assisted suicide is the choice, how can that be wrong? Are physicians ... is for the entire family. Emotivism is not a method I agree with at all. This is why I ...
These were the words of Sue Rodrigues, a high-profile resident of British Columbia, Canada. She was terminally-ill and suffered from ALS also known as Lou Gehrig?s Disease. She was helped to commit suicide by a physician even though it was in violation of Canadian Law. Did you know that most people in North America die what can be called a bad death? This was proved by a study in the following.
? More often than not, patients died in pain, their desires concerning treatment neglected, after spending 10 days or more in the intensive care unit.?(Robinson 2).
Should society let people suffer so painfully? My answer is no. I believe that if we legalized physician-assisted suicide it will allow the terminally-ill to die without suffering or, as you might wish to call it, a death with Physician-Assisted Suicide is a form of euthanasia in which a doctor gives a person access to a method to kill him or herself. In the process, the doctor would give the patient materials to carry out one of the three different methods to die through physician-assisted suicide. The first of the three methods was created by Dr. Jack Kevorkian, a Michigan physician who was found guilty of 2nd degree murder in a mercy killing in 1998 where he injected controlled substances into an ALS, or Lou Gehrig?s Disease, patient. It is known as ?The Suicide Machine?. In this method, the patient must first activate the process by pushing a button. Then, three solutions are injected in this order: First, a harmless saline, following that, is a sleep-inducing sedative, and finally, a lethal drug. In the second method, a face mask is placed over the patient?s mouth and carbon monoxide is applied, thus poisoning the patient. The third method is the plastic bag suffocation in which a plastic bag is sealed over the patient?s face which causes him or her to suffocate.
In these processes, certain tools and chemicals are used, such as Kevorkian?s ?Suicide Machine?, self-administered carbon monoxide masks, and plastic bags, and chemicals such as sleep-inducing sedatives, salines, lethal drugs, and in the face mask It is necessary for Physician-Assisted Suicide to be legal for many reasons. It would allow those who do not want to live, a peaceful, honorable way to die. If legalized, it would not only be for the terminally ill, but also for the chronically ill, elderly, depressed, or disabled people who would have a reason to want to die. ?According to a poll conducted by CNN & USA Today in June of 1997, 57 % of those polled were in favor of the legalization of physician -assisted suicide, and a mere 35 % were opposed.? (Robinson 9).
The Term Paper on Assisted Suicide Or Euthanasia
... the victim. So when physician-assisted suicide is mentioned in my argument it will also include passive and active euthanasia. Qualities of death issues ... both the patient and doctor decided that death is the ... (402). 3. The patient, of his or her own free will, must clearly repeat their request to die rather than suffering. If ...
?A second poll, conducted by the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition in British Columbia, Canada, 53.7 % of those polled were in favor, 38.3 % were opposed, and the 8.0 % left, didn?t know or refused to answer.? (Euthanasia Prevention Coalition 1).
This shows that more than half of both the populations of the United States and Canada were in favor of the legalization of physician-assisted suicide. The legalization of physician-assisted suicide has been attempted before, but no written documentary of this has been recovered by me. Although not all of these attempts were successful, some where. ?Physician-Assisted Suicide is legal in Columbia, Japan, the Netherlands, and the state of Oregon? (Robinson 4).
As of March of 1999, Oregon is the only US state where any form of euthanasia is legal. This is because of Oregon?s ? Death with Dignity Act ? which became There are three reasons why physician-assisted suicide should be legal. First of all, it is a question of dignity, of whether or not the patient who wishes to die has the quality or state of being worthy of esteem or respect. Secondly, it is the solution for a person that will die soon and probably more painfully also. Lastly, it is the choice of the patient and not anyone else, so they won?t be forced into it by anyone. The following excerpt is of a mock argument between someone who is in favor of the legalization of physician-assisted suicide and someone who is against it. It states reasons why physician-assisted suicide should be legalized. ?Jack : Well have you ever thought about the fact that some people don?t want that [their pain managed in hospices]? What if they don?t want to be drugged so much that they are unconscious for a long time until they die? If they think that they would rather die with dignity, then physician-assisted suicide/euthanasia should be allowed. Another thing is, what if they don?t have a medical care plan for such treatment?? (Legalizing Euthanasia 1).
This excerpt proves why the legalization of physician-assisted suicide is such a controversial issue. In the same mock argument as before, another excerpt shows why euthanasia/physician- assisted suicide aren?t legal. In this excerpt, Jill, who is opposed to the legalization of physician- assisted suicide, gives reasons why euthanasia/physician-assisted suicide are still illegal. ?Jill : Well, their [those opposed] argument is backed up…I mean, in Holland, 63 % of all deaths with the withdrawing of life support were executed without consent,?(Legalizing Euthanasia 1).
The Essay on Euthanasia: Physician Assisted Suicide
Euthanasia, or physician assisted suicide, is a highly debatable topic amongst physicians. They argue about euthanasia being ethical or non-ethical. Some physicians argue that euthanasia is a free choice by the person and they should be in control of their own live and when they want to die. However, other physicians argue that euthanasia is not voluntary chosen because it is the pain talking and ...
She says this refering to the legalization of active euthanasia in Oregon. She believes that it will evolve into involuntary euthanasia. A secondary reason why physician-assisted suicide isn?t legal is because some religions believe that it is anti-religious. Athough some religions do not believe it is anti-religious, it is still a hindrance in the legalization of physician-assisted suicide. Each year, tens of thousands of people die from physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia. The following data is from the 1991 Remmelink Report, the first, official government study of the practice of euthanasia in the Netherlands. ?In 400 of the cases, the deaths were physician-assisted. In 2,300 of the cases, doctors killed upon request. In 1,040 of the cases, doctors had actively killed without the patients knowledge or consent (murder).
In 4,941 of the cases, doctors had injected lethal doses of morphine without the patients explicit consent.? (The Remmelink Report 1).
This data is evidence of the amount of cases per year. This shows how popular deaths caused by euthanasia are. At this point, even though physician-assisted suicide is still illegal almost everywhere, it still is proved to be ethical through the polls conducted and other information found. I still believe that physician-assisted suicide should be legalized for humane purposes because of the many reasons stated throughout my research paper. So, let?s make it so that physician-assisted suicide can become legal to end at least a portion of the suffering from painful illnesses.
Bibliography:
Bibliography Bachman, Jerald G. ?Attitudes of Michigan Physicians & the Public Toward Legalizing Physician-Assisted Suicide & Voluntary Euthanasia. ?The New England Journal of Medicine.? 1 Feb. 1996 . Death. World Book Multimedia Encyclopedia. Vers. 1997. El-Haggan, Rasha. Home Page. 1997 Euthanasia. World Book Multimedia Encyclopedia. Vers. 1997. Euthanasia Prevention Coalition. ?1997 BC Euthanasia Poll.? . Gay, Kathlyn. The Right To Die. Brookfield, Connecticut: The Millbrook Press, 1993. International Anti-Euthanasia Task Force. Home Page. 2 Mar. 2000 . ?Legalization of Euthanasia.? . Legalizing Euthanasia. . Place, Michael E. ?Why We Should Not Legalize Euthanasia.? Health Progress. March 1993 . Raymond, Marie-Eve. Home Page. 5 May 1998 . Remmelink Report, The. 1990-1991. . Robinson, Bruce A. ReligiousTolerance.org Home Page.1 Jan. 2000 . ?Saga of Dr. Jack, The.? About.com. 21 Mar. 2000 . ?Self-Deliverance: New Technology.? ERGO! . 1 Dec. 1999. . Simon, Melissa. Home Page . Walker, Richard. A Right To Die?. New York, New York: Franklin Watts, 1996. Weiss, Ann E. Bioethics: Dilemmas in Modern Medicine. Hillside, NJ: Enslow Publishers, Inc. ?When Death is Our Physician.? Ultimate, Pro-Life Resource List. Dec. 1999 . Yount, Lisa. Issues in Biomedical Ethics. San Diego, California: Lucent
The Term Paper on Physician Assisted Suicide 11
Kirk Mueller Mr. Maclay 20th Century History 15 February 2001 Euthanasia and Physician Assisted Suicide: Public Opinions Euthanasia and physician assisted suicide (PAS) have been more widely accepted in the last decade of the 1900’s then any prior. In the United States, polls of citizens and medical professionals have shown an increase in support of PAS and euthanasia. Physician assisted suicide ...
