Argumentative Essay: Physician Assisted Suicide

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Imagine a loved one battling with stage four cancer. The cancer is not responding to any type of treatment, and your loved one will never leave the hospital. Your loved one requires twenty-four-hour care, is confined to a wheelchair or bed, unable to feed themselves, clothe, or bathe themselves, and has difficulty communicating. Ask yourself, is life worth living in this situation? Many patients would rather end the suffering and pain. For many human beings, the value of life is commonly linked to the quality of living, and life below a certain quality is no longer worth living (“Right to Die”). A possible option your loved one could have is physician assisted suicide. Physician assisted suicide is a voluntary termination of someone’s own …show more content…
Jack Kevorkian one of the most important advocates of the right- to-die movement. Kevorkian was a pathologist who came up with a “suicide medicine.” Kevorkian helped over one hundred thirty people end their life. In 1998 Kevorkian was convicted and imprisoned. Kevorkian was charged with second-degree murder for the role in a patient’s suicide (“Right to Die”). The right to die movement has become more important as many people live longer healthier lives. Today’s medicine does more than prolong living, but extends dying. We have great technology that can give us artificial organs and more. About ninety percent of individuals die from prolonged illnesses which include cancer, stroke, Parkinson disease, Lou Gehrig’s disease, and many more (Girsh). A patient who lives in Oregon, Vermont, Washington, California, and Montana have the option of physician assisted suicide under the Death with Dignity statutes. Death with Dignity statutes states that the patient must voluntarily and legally request to receive a prescription medication from a physician. This prescription quickens the death of a patient in a peaceful and a respectable way ("Physician-Assisted Suicide Fast

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