My Right, My Time
Eleanor Roosevelt once said “In the long run, we shape ourselves. The process never ends until we die. And the choices we make are ultimately our own responsibility.” Choices are ultimately a person’s responsibility. That includes the choice of a patient to die on their own terms. If a patient chooses to die, that is how they want to shape their life, This especially pertains to patients with a terminal illness. Physician assisted death is the basically suicide of a terminally ill patient with the help of a physician. The physician would prescribe a lethal dose of drugs to the patient. The patient would have to take the medicine on their own. They would also have to be making this decision under no influence from anyone around …show more content…
One of their reasonings could be that if it was legal then everyone would want to do it. Although as of now “Approximately 1 of 1,000 dying Oregonians obtain and use a lethal dose of medication” (Lachman 123). That is only .001 percent of all eligible participants in the state of Oregon. That is not a large quantity of the population. Another argument could be that it does not always work. Although this is true, the patient is choosing to participate knowing all the risks and the possibility of failure. Another point of these groups and people who do not support physician assisted death could be the emotional strain on physicians and nurses. Any physician or nurse would not legally have to administer these lethal drugs if they believe it is against their religion, or code of ethics. Although “The American Nurses Association (ANA) Code of Ethics for nurses with interpretive statements (2001) identified the expectation that nurses provide interventions to relieve pain and suffering of the dying patient, even if they may hasten death” (Lachman 124). This shows that even their code of ethics would allow for them to assist in the death of a terminally ill and mentally competent patient who is likely to die within the next twelve …show more content…
It would cause them less pain, both physical and mental, to the patients as well as their families. The overall reason of physician is to cure patients. Although if an illness has no way of being cured the physician can help the patient speed up the process and save the families the pain of seeing their loved one degenerate. This of course is only if the patient chooses this is how they want to end their lives. These patients are already going through a very difficult time. They are in pain both physically and emotionally. They know that they are soon going to die. In the book Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse “Years passed by; Siddhartha hardly felt them fading away while he was surrounded by the good life.” This shows that if your life is good and plentiful it will move by quickly. This is not the case for terminally ill patients. Every day drags on because they never know if the next day is guaranteed. They live their last days in a slow agonizing pain because, for most, physician assisted suicide is not an option for them. If a patient is already going to die they should be able to choose to not go through all the pain and suffering that comes with a terminal illness. For all these reasons the use of physician assisted death should be legalized in the forty seven states that have yet to take the
Eleanor Roosevelt once said “In the long run, we shape ourselves. The process never ends until we die. And the choices we make are ultimately our own responsibility.” Choices are ultimately a person’s responsibility. That includes the choice of a patient to die on their own terms. If a patient chooses to die, that is how they want to shape their life, This especially pertains to patients with a terminal illness. Physician assisted death is the basically suicide of a terminally ill patient with the help of a physician. The physician would prescribe a lethal dose of drugs to the patient. The patient would have to take the medicine on their own. They would also have to be making this decision under no influence from anyone around …show more content…
One of their reasonings could be that if it was legal then everyone would want to do it. Although as of now “Approximately 1 of 1,000 dying Oregonians obtain and use a lethal dose of medication” (Lachman 123). That is only .001 percent of all eligible participants in the state of Oregon. That is not a large quantity of the population. Another argument could be that it does not always work. Although this is true, the patient is choosing to participate knowing all the risks and the possibility of failure. Another point of these groups and people who do not support physician assisted death could be the emotional strain on physicians and nurses. Any physician or nurse would not legally have to administer these lethal drugs if they believe it is against their religion, or code of ethics. Although “The American Nurses Association (ANA) Code of Ethics for nurses with interpretive statements (2001) identified the expectation that nurses provide interventions to relieve pain and suffering of the dying patient, even if they may hasten death” (Lachman 124). This shows that even their code of ethics would allow for them to assist in the death of a terminally ill and mentally competent patient who is likely to die within the next twelve …show more content…
It would cause them less pain, both physical and mental, to the patients as well as their families. The overall reason of physician is to cure patients. Although if an illness has no way of being cured the physician can help the patient speed up the process and save the families the pain of seeing their loved one degenerate. This of course is only if the patient chooses this is how they want to end their lives. These patients are already going through a very difficult time. They are in pain both physically and emotionally. They know that they are soon going to die. In the book Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse “Years passed by; Siddhartha hardly felt them fading away while he was surrounded by the good life.” This shows that if your life is good and plentiful it will move by quickly. This is not the case for terminally ill patients. Every day drags on because they never know if the next day is guaranteed. They live their last days in a slow agonizing pain because, for most, physician assisted suicide is not an option for them. If a patient is already going to die they should be able to choose to not go through all the pain and suffering that comes with a terminal illness. For all these reasons the use of physician assisted death should be legalized in the forty seven states that have yet to take the