Why Is Physician Assisted Suicide Wrong

Physician-assisted suicide is the voluntary termination of one's own life by administration of a lethal substance with the direct or indirect assistance of a physician. It is the practice of providing a competent patient with a prescription for medication for the patient to use with the primary intention of ending his or her own life (2012). Physician- assisted suicide is an issue that has been debated in United States. While there are many supporters of it, there is also a large amount against it. Currently, states of Oregon, Vermont, and Washington have legalized assisted suicide through the legislature. While individuals have the right to choose whether he or she lives or dies, is physician- assisted suicide right or wrong? This paper …show more content…
Doctors take a professional oath to provide the best care to his or her patients. Doctors take what is called a Hippocratic Oath, a pledge that guides the ethical practice of medicine. This oath specifies that the primary duty of a physician is to, "first do no harm," it also specifies that a doctor shall "give no deadly medicine to anyone if asked." Physician assisted- suicide does not support this assurance. Instead, physician assisted- suicide is in direct conflict with the pledge by offering essentially no care to the patient, in its place death.
In an article by Colleen Carroll Campbell titled, "When the Right to Die Becomes a Duty" the author believe that physician- assisted suicide would create acts of misconduct. Mr. Schiavo, Terri’s husband along with the court acted in indiscretion by deciding against the physician- assisted suicide law. The physician assisted- suicide law allows adult patients to commit euthanasia under two conditions: (1) The patient must be competent and (2) The patient diagnosed by two physicians to have a terminal condition. Mr. Schiavo and that court violated both …show more content…
As reported by brainline.org, an individual in a vegetative state may be cared for at home. The individual is recognized to have a lot more lower- brain function, so he or she has automatic functions like breathing, heart rate regulation, and sleep. The individual has a bit more upper brain stem function like eye opening and making sounds, than a person in a coma. Doctors performed rehabilitative care, such as physical therapy and other experimental therapy in an effort to restore Terri Schiavo’s good health. This leads me to believe that Schiavo’s condition was thought to be improving and not deteriorating so much that doctors sent her home and offered a cure by warranting rehabilitative