Introduction For some of us, death can be a scary thing. Yet King Solomon once said, “It is better to go into a house of mourning rather than a house of feasting, for death is the destiny of every man and the living should take this to heart” (ESV, Ecc. 7:2). Often times, a hospital can be seen as a house of mourning. People often go there because of an illness, ranging from severe illnesses like cancer to smaller illnesses like a bad cold. Some doctors will even have to take care of patients who will soon pass away. Patients with these illnesses are referred to as terminally ill. Sometimes, due to their terminal illness, these patients may go through extreme suffering, and when you are a doctor, one of your goals is probably to minimize your
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In the medical field, Passive Euthanasia is defined as, “the physician 's abiding by the rational valid refusal of life-sustaining treatment of a patient or his surrogate decision-maker” (Gert, and Culver CM). For example, Passive Euthanasia would be cases where a patient would get cut off from their life support system, and the physician would “pull the plug.” Active Euthanasia is usually defined in a similar nature to Physician Assisted Suicide, where a patient who has a terminal illness would have his life terminated for the sake of ending his/her suffering. However, there is one key difference between the two, “In Euthanasia: The physician performs the intervention [and] In Physician-assisted suicide: The physician provides the necessary means or information [and] the patient performs the act” (Emanuel and Charles Von Gunten). Active Euthanasia and Physician Assisted Suicide are two topics that generally draws a bit of controversy, while Passive Euthanasia draws little to no …show more content…
In fact, “the Anglo American common law tradition has punished or otherwise disapproved of both suicide and assisting suicide [...] For the most part, the early American colonies adopted the common law approach” (Washington v. Glucksberg). Then, later on, New York was the first state to adopt a U.S. Statute outlawing Assisted Suicide. It was “a criminal code that prohibited 'aiding ' a suicide and, specifically, 'furnish[ing] another person with any deadly weapon or poisonous drug, knowing that such person intends to use such weapon or drug in taking his own life '” (Washington v. Glucksberg). After the code’s adoption in New York, many other states adopted a code for acts of assisted suicide similar to it. However, in 1870, a man by the name of Samuel D. Williams made a speech that advocated Euthanasia, and it circulated throughout many credible journals. Many of these journals rejected his views, but nonetheless “prompted much discussion within the medical profession” (Emanuel). This allowed for Active Euthanasia to gain more support among the masses, and eventually, “Charles Eliot Norton, a renowned Harvard professor, delivered a speech advocating euthanasia [which] inspired a wealthy woman, Anna Hill [...] to campaign for the legalization of euthanasia in Ohio” (Emanuel). Because of her campaigning, Ohio became the first state to introduce a bill trying to legalize
In the medical field, Passive Euthanasia is defined as, “the physician 's abiding by the rational valid refusal of life-sustaining treatment of a patient or his surrogate decision-maker” (Gert, and Culver CM). For example, Passive Euthanasia would be cases where a patient would get cut off from their life support system, and the physician would “pull the plug.” Active Euthanasia is usually defined in a similar nature to Physician Assisted Suicide, where a patient who has a terminal illness would have his life terminated for the sake of ending his/her suffering. However, there is one key difference between the two, “In Euthanasia: The physician performs the intervention [and] In Physician-assisted suicide: The physician provides the necessary means or information [and] the patient performs the act” (Emanuel and Charles Von Gunten). Active Euthanasia and Physician Assisted Suicide are two topics that generally draws a bit of controversy, while Passive Euthanasia draws little to no …show more content…
In fact, “the Anglo American common law tradition has punished or otherwise disapproved of both suicide and assisting suicide [...] For the most part, the early American colonies adopted the common law approach” (Washington v. Glucksberg). Then, later on, New York was the first state to adopt a U.S. Statute outlawing Assisted Suicide. It was “a criminal code that prohibited 'aiding ' a suicide and, specifically, 'furnish[ing] another person with any deadly weapon or poisonous drug, knowing that such person intends to use such weapon or drug in taking his own life '” (Washington v. Glucksberg). After the code’s adoption in New York, many other states adopted a code for acts of assisted suicide similar to it. However, in 1870, a man by the name of Samuel D. Williams made a speech that advocated Euthanasia, and it circulated throughout many credible journals. Many of these journals rejected his views, but nonetheless “prompted much discussion within the medical profession” (Emanuel). This allowed for Active Euthanasia to gain more support among the masses, and eventually, “Charles Eliot Norton, a renowned Harvard professor, delivered a speech advocating euthanasia [which] inspired a wealthy woman, Anna Hill [...] to campaign for the legalization of euthanasia in Ohio” (Emanuel). Because of her campaigning, Ohio became the first state to introduce a bill trying to legalize