The Morality Of Physician Assisted Suicide

Great Essays
Physician assisted suicide is a very controversial topic. Many people think that physician assisted suicide is ethical and should be performed on those who are terminally ill and others think that physician assisted suicide is not ethical or moral and think that physicians who are associated with physician assisted suicide should lose their licenses and go to court. But why let a loved one suffer? If someone is terminally ill and in chronic pain all the time they should be able to have a dignified, pain free death. A prescription of a lethal dose is quite a peaceful way to go. If it wasn’t for that lethal dose, then the person would stop eating and drinking for two whole weeks. That isn’t ethical, that could be very painful. When a person is …show more content…
Many people think that if a physician assists in a suicide of a person the doctor must go to court and can get charged with murder or assisted murder. Helping someone take their own life is frowned upon in society but that’s because people in society only know the details made public, but there are many details that aren’t made public. But people only see the face value which is someone’s life at stake. Many people think that death by physician assisted suicide is not a dignified one. “Committing suicide deprives a person of the remaining time he or she has in this life. It also deprives the family and friends of someone whose life they’ve shared. This reality causes tremendous pain for those left behind and gives rise to many complex emotions and questions” (Harvey, 2016, p. 2). While suicide creates pain for loved ones left behind it is entirely selfish to ask someone who is suffering a painful death that could last six months to stay alive because a loved one is not ready to let go. The patient who is dying is suffering the pain and for a loved one to want them to stay around is incredibly selfish because they are not experiencing that pain. It’s best to understand what the terminally ill person is going through and respect and support that person’s wishes. Don’t make it harder on the person who is already dying as someone that person loves you need to be accepting and supportive, make sure the person knows how loved they are. Every person’s life is valuable and each person is unique in their own way but no one should have to suffer a painful death when they’re already

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    A person who would even consider physician assisted suicide has gone through this for so long that they can not handle it anymore. This is something that the person themselves have to decide for themselves, after all it’s their body so they can choice what they want to do with it. However, the down side on Physician Assisted Suicide is that doctors are not adequately trained to perform it. This meaning maybe of easing the suffering and giving the patient a peaceful death, they are doing the complete opposite and…

    • 1105 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Typically, these types of patients undergo a great deal amount of physical in the remaining months of their life. In most cases, pain management and other palliative medicine to manage their symptoms is simply not enough. During times like these, there is nothing a doctor can prescribe these patients to make the pain or the presence of imminent death disappear. In Unplugged, the author expresses the stigma associated with death. “Doctors learn in medical school to assess, treat, and care.…

    • 1335 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Physician assisted suicide is a huge conversation right now due to terminally ill patients wanting the option to end their lives. The patients, who will eventually die from their disease, deserve the option to die where they want and when they want. Terminally ill patients are moving from one state to another so they receive a certain drug that will eventually take their lives. In my opinion, I think this offer should not only be offered to terminally ill patients but those who are suffering from a mental illness that changes who they are. Patients with certain illnesses should be able to end their suffering through physician assisted suicide.…

    • 540 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    If the public put themselves in the shoes of the patient and actually experienced what the patient was feeling, their view would change dramatically and support for physician-assisted suicide would most likely rise. If the patient does not want to endure the pain of their illness any longer, and there is not any medication that can ease their pain, they should not be forced to experience it any…

    • 1539 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Controversy of Physician Assisted Suicide According to the Constitution every person has the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The statement means no one needs permission to live and each person has the right to do what make him or her happy even if it means dying (Bowden 36). There are many people throughout the United States that believe Physician Assisted Suicide is wrong, however, there are also many people who believe it is a human right. The controversy of PAS can be understood by learning what it is and where it occurs, why it should be legal, and why it should not be legal.…

    • 1397 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Many wonder if euthanasia is right and moral and if it is not what should be done when being faced with this situation. I think the best way to look at physician-assisted euthanasia is through consequentialism and deontology. It’s important we look at the consequences of physician-assisted suicide because they are literally the difference between life and death. A patient that is gravely ill or in a coma may be diagnosed and given a time limit until death, however, some patients have surprised their doctors.…

    • 770 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    When someone passes it is never easy for a family member and it is never easy to accept the fact that they are gone. Grief or depression is the first reaction a family member will get when a loved one passes. ” Sudden loss, loss of a child or a partner, low self esteem, low internal control, lack of religion or spiritual belief, lack of social support, low education, and young age have been identified as risk factors for developing traumatic grief”(Swarte et al.1). When a patient decides on using physician assisted suicide, then it’s hard for a family member, even if they know it is happening.…

    • 1148 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Many people probably view this as a pro of assisted death and would lean towards this option due to the fact that it is much less expensive. However, because it is very inexpensive, more individuals will want to take the easy and cheaper way out. They may think, “Why pay thousands of dollars when I can pay a little over one-hundred and be done?” This is not the mindset one should have though. A person should hopefully want to continue living and this decision should not be changed due to the fact taking a few drugs will cost less than the treatment to stay…

    • 820 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    When person know they are going to die and there is nothing that can be done to help them why should they have to spend weeks or months suffering in pain. Most people who have animals do not let their pet suffer at the end of their lives. They euthanasia their pet because they love their animal and do not want them to be in pain they want them to find peace and rest easily. There should be a legal way for a person to stop their pain and suffering if that is all they have left in life. Physician-assisted suicide is not and would not be for everyone.…

    • 1676 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Physician-Assisted Suicide Essay Outline I. Introduction - There is a controversial debate throughout the United States for the last decade regarding physician-assisted suicide for terminally ill patients, many believe having a Doctor prescribe a self-administered lethal drug to a patient is diminishing the value of life. While others believe this method should be the patients’ right to choice when the pain and suffering from a life threatening illness should cease. II. Main Point # 1 - Will Physician-…

    • 824 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    According to an article, “Assisted suicide in the United States” patients had many concerns and had faced several struggles when they began looking for assistance with life ending prescriptions. These concerns ranged from guilt of the burden they placed on others, financial stresses from treatments, loss of control of their bodily functions, and lack of engagement in activities that make their lives enjoyable. “Over 90% of these patients reported loss of autonomy, almost 32% of these same patients said the pain control was inadequate. there are many times that the pain medication simply does not help” (Assisted Suicide in the United States 1). The suffering is avoidable and they should be allowed to have the right to end it.…

    • 1041 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Everyone in the world will experience the subject of death at some point their lives. The common wishes in regards to this subject are to die a peaceful death, surrounded by loved ones, with no suffering. A practice that would allow terminally ill patients to have this wish granted is the practice of physician-assisted suicide. Physician-assisted suicide, or PAS, is an action in which a physician provides a terminally ill patient with the means to end his or her own life. Most people want to be in control of their own end-of-life decisions.…

    • 986 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    One of the many ethical dilemmas surrounding health care today is physician assisted suicide. Many will misinterpret this as Euthanasia because they both accomplish the same goal, causing the death of a person. However, physician assisted suicide is different because of the way that death is accomplished. Boudreau and Somerville (2014) explain that, “In assisted suicide, the person takes the death-inducing product; in euthanasia, another individual administers it” (p. 2). The physician in the case of physician assisted suicide is removed from the actual act of death.…

    • 1226 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Most importantly, physicians are a part of this decision, which makes this topic a huge concern because it goes against a physician’s integrity, which is why a plethora of ethical concerns arise from physician-assisted suicide. The principle of non-maleficence and the theory of deontology demonstrates why physician-assisted suicide is unethical in the medical world. First, the principle non-maleficence states to avoid all harm. The principle understands that it might be impossible to avoid all harm, but the action taken must at least be good. Secondly, deontologists believe it goes against a doctor’s duty to assist in a patient’s suicide.…

    • 899 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    There are many issues regarding the legalization of assisted suicide. Medical doctors are trained and trusted to save lives, not take them, that leads many to question all doctors if so many are willing to assist in ending the lives of their patients. Medical doctors are sworn in using the Hippocratic Oath in which they promise to save lives to the best of their abilities. If we question the act of physician-assisted suicide it is legally and morally unethical. For example, if an individual is determined to take their life and a friend hands them a gun instructing them to kill themselves, the person giving them the means to carry out the act is just as responsible as the individual committing the act itself.…

    • 1086 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays

Related Topics