Principles Of Physician Assisted Suicide

In order to come up with an opinion over the idea of physician-assisted suicide, one must take into consideration many viewpoints and try to analyze such an act through the four basic principles of medical ethics. In regards to autonomy, the practice seems justified. If a patient wants to depart this world with dignity or relieve him or herself from future pain, then they have the right to do so. As a physician, I would have to respect a patient’s right to choose what happens to his or her body. The other principles can contradict the idea of autonomy. With respect to beneficence, I, as a physician would need to strive in improving the health of my patients. Helping a patient commit suicide won’t improve their health. I would feel like …show more content…
By addressing each principle, along with certain religious views that I have, I believe that such a practice is not morally allowable in most situations. However, I do believe that there are exceptions to certain circumstances. For example, if someone was to be placed on life support and the patient didn’t wish such a thing when he or she was informed, conscious, and competent, then I would understand the need for physician-assisted suicide. Another circumstance may be if someone was terminally ill and is going through constant pain and suffering (the patient and the family). I don’t believe that there is a morally significant difference when it comes to helping a patient die in a state where the practice is legal compared to one that isn’t. There is a difference, but I don’t believe that it’s significant. This actually happens frequently in the states and around the world. Laws are created to establish and maintain order within a society; breaking it is considered morally wrong and makes one a deviant within society. That adds on to the fact that the doctor is harming a patient’s life which is extremely immoral. I believe that the repercussions of breaking the law are not as strong as taking a life even if it is legal. If many states consider such an act illegal, then it can be inferred that a fair amount of our society consider such an act immoral, thus is wrong. However, this is controversial and hard to address because the difference isn’t just in the act itself but in the surrounding circumstances. Even though I understand the need for physician-assisted suicide in certain circumstances, I still disagree with it. The act itself is morally wrong and the surrounding circumstances (a state that’s legal vs not legal) aren’t that significant. Breaking the law would just add on to the list wrong things being