Legalizing Physician Assisted Suicide - 1140 Words

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†¦show more content†¦The witness requirement does not protect the patient from the very real possibility of the patient being persuaded into requesting physician assisted suicide in order for an inheritor to receive their inheritance. Physic ian assisted suicide allows outside influences to make patients feel its their duty to choose death. On the other hand, it is offered that people should be given the freedom to choose a peaceful death at their convenience. Burke Balch explains the opposing argument; â€Å"They argue that society should respect and defer to the freedom of choice such people exercise in asking to be killed† (Balch and O’Bannon 1). The ‘right to die’ campaign, where some believe it is a personal right to ask for death, is a prevalent push towards the legalization of physician assisted suicide. However, the legalization of the ‘right to die’ can become a slippery slope to abuse of this right. Randall O’Bannon, Director of Research at National Right to Life, demonstrates this slippery slope; â€Å"the so-called ‘right to die’ is very likely in practice to become a ‘duty to die.’ Many consider the law to be the teacher of what is ri ght and proper, and such a codification would be manipulated by the health care industry† (Balch and O’Bannon). The practice of physician assisted suicide could quickly become abused by people who see the human life of those who areShow MoreRelatedEssay on Legalizing Physician-Assisted Suicide1871 Words   |  8 PagesPhysician-assisted suicide should be a legal option, if requested, for terminally ill patients. For decades the question has been asked and a clear answer has yet to surface. It was formed out of a profound commitment to the idea that personal end-of-life decisions should be made solely between a patient and a physician. Can someones life be put into an answer? Shouldnt someones decision in life be just that; their decision? When someone has suffered from a car accident, or battled long enoughRead MoreThe Issue Of Legalizing Physician Assisted Suicide2123 Words   |  9 Pageslives. Legalizing physician-assisted suicide can give the dying individual co mfort in knowing that they have options. Physicians presently are allowed to relieve the dying of their pain and suffering by administering lethal doses of pain medications. Terminally ill patients should be able to access lethal doses of medicine voluntarily through their physician to allow them the choice of death. Strong morals and ethics surrounding this issue have split society on whether or not physician-assisted suicideRead MoreEssay about Legalizing Physician Assisted Suicide1074 Words   |  5 PagesFor hundreds of years we have developed a system where human beings establish and revise rules and regulations that help protect individual lives in our society. However this protection ends when it is time to die. 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According to Breitbart and Rosenfeld (1), physician-assisted suicide can be defined as â€Å"a physician providing medications or advice to enable the patient to end his or her own life.† One may find many articles that are written by physicians, pharmacists, patients, and family of patients who receive PAS; from there, it is possible to gain a betterRead MoreLegalizing Physician Assisted Suicide And Active Euthanasia843 Words   |  4 PagesFatal Differences The civil argument in the U.S. over whether or not to authorize physician-assisted suicide and active euthanasia has reached new levels of vehemence. Oregon, California, Vermont, and Washington (and Montana, via court ruling) have become the first states to legalize physician-assisted suicide. There has, too, been campaigning, ballot measures, bills, and litigation in other states in attempts to legalize one or both practices. Supporters increasingly urge either absolute legalizationRead MoreShould Physician Assisted Suicide Be Legal?810 Words   |  4 PagesThe Right to Die Having the right to life, also gives one the right to death. Outrageously, physician assisted suicide is illegal in all but five states in the U.S; including California, Montana, Oregon, Washington, and Vermont; this law, violating rules of ethics, also defies morals. Some actions in the past, including women not having voting rights, and experimentation on prisoners and the mentally ill, also infringed upon ethics and morale. Women not being permitted to vote before theRead MoreSince The Fifteen Century, Society Has Viewed Suicide Or1178 Words   |  5 PagesSince the fifteen century, society has viewed suicide or intentional death as immoral. It was not until the twentieth century that these â€Å"immoral† attitudes were challenged. As of 2016, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Colombia have unambiguously legalized direct assisted dying. Other areas, having to undergo a process of either a judicial or legislative decision, include Canada, Japan, and German y. Currently in the United States, following the same process of a judicial or legislative processesRead MoreEssay On Physician Assisted Suicide1549 Words   |  7 PagesWriting Project Worksheet 1. This paper will examine the Washington state policy of physician-assisted suicide. 2. State Info: (characteristics, size, culture, political culture, industries, features, etc. to explain state support of policy) Washington is a state in the northwestern United States with an estimated population of 7,288,000, as of July 1, 2016. Washington’s population is primarily white at 69% (not including Hispanics), with Hispanics comprising 12.4%, Asians 8.6%, and African Americans