Physician-Assisted Suicide

Words: 1093
Pages: 5
Open Document
Physician-aided suicide is the process of a physician providing the information or means or both for committing suicide to a patient ranging from counselling, drug prescriptions, lethal dosages and all the information one would need to know to take their own life. Medical codes have long prohibited the involvement of physicians in the act of assisting a patient in committing suicide but in recent years, the support for the liberalization of this ban has grown. I believe that physician-assisted suicide should be legalized to help the dying accept their fate on their own terms, to prevent unnecessary suffering and to help the affected loved ones find closure. Firstly, physician-aided suicide can be used by a dying patient as a way to …show more content…
Undergoing treatment to treat a terminal disease can bring about many negative side effects. For example, according to the UK National Health Service website, although different people react differently to chemotherapy, some of the common side effects of chemotherapy include fatigue, nausea and vomiting, hair loss, increased risk of infection, mucositis, loss of appetite and in some bad cases breathing difficulties and terrible chest pains are possible too (Side Effects of Chemotherapy). In cases where the terminal disease has reached an incurable stage, chemotherapy will not be able to save them and will only prolong their life with the expense of it being that the rest of the patient’s days would be spent in agonizing pain. For patients like these, a physician-aided suicide might be a viable option for someone who has no more options to turn to. This way the patient will be able to control his or her own death. They won’t feel as if the disease has full control over their life and they have the ability to end it whenever they choose to do so. In an interview with the BBC in September of 2013, when Stephen Hawking was asked about this topic, he responded saying “We do not let animals suffer, so why humans?” (Stephen Hawking speaks out about assisted …show more content…
While it might seem to be the contrary, in the majority of the cases involving a patient participating in a physician-aided suicide, their loved ones are actually left in a happier state compared to the loved ones of patients that died of their diseases. This is because when a patient takes part in a physician-aided suicide, they have full control of when they want to take their life. Thus, before taking their lethal prescription, they can take the time to console their family members and spend as much time as they want with their loved ones before finally taking their life in a peaceful way. On the other hand, patients that do not partake in physician assisted suicide have no clue as to when their death will come. They can’t have the conversation they want to have with their loved ones before they come to pass because their loved ones would not accept that death was imminent and they will still be hoping for a recovery of sorts. On top of that, death caused by illnesses can be very painful and full of struggles thus leading your loved ones to be more traumatized. I once had a friend named Joshua who suffered from ALS. When the disease effected his heart, I saw him struggling on his bed, gasping for air as his heart gave out. I was traumatized by the amount of pain he was going through. I feel like he should have been given the choice of ending it there without
Show More

Related Documents: Physician-Assisted Suicide

Physician Assisted Suicide

usually results in death of the patient that has the ailment. It is an incurable disease meaning that there is no way to rid the body of it definitely. Typically, a terminal illness is associated with cancer and heart disease. Physician-Assisted Suicide (PAS) is when a doctor assisted a patient into their death by prescribing them a lethal dose of medication. Terminally ill patients are more than likely going to pass as it is. PAS gives them a chance to control their death and gives them a chance to say…

Words 1180 - Pages 5

Physician Assisted Suicide

society suicide is seen as something ghastly, but what about Physician-assisted Suicide? how is it seen? Is it still just as bad as a “regular suicide” or is it different because it is being done by a professional? Most cases of suicide are performed by the person themselves over 34,000 people commit suicide a year, in later years suicide will bypass deaths from cancer, stroke, war and accidents according to the World Health Organization. Most people who do not have an illness commit suicide due to…

Words 1461 - Pages 6

Physician Assisted Suicide

several benefits associated with physician assisted suicide, one of the principal reasons for assisted suicide is that it alleviates suffering for those with a chronic illness. There are so many patients out there suffering from chronic illnesses such as cancer, stroke, heart disease and countless other illnesses. There gets to a point when the doctors are no longer able to treat the conditions and the patient essentially gets put on comfort care. For assisted suicide to become legal, there is a certain…

Words 768 - Pages 4

physician assisted suicide Essay

Pro Choice: Physician Assisted Suicide Assisted suicide can date it origins back to Roman times before the christian overhaul, where doctors gave suffering patients a fatal poison. With the new coming of religon throughout the world the act of “assisted suicide” was deemed a sin. Not until recently in the 20th century has this issue been a frontpage headline that is causing severe controversy. The arguments for and against loosly include that it is murder offends many religons and is inhuman. Support…

Words 716 - Pages 3

Physician Assisted Suicide Essay

Physician Assisted Suicide Itay Stawski ITT Technical Institute EN 1420 Professor Jeremy Pilarski November 10 2014 The Right to die debate; is the common name of this current issue. It’s legal in the state of Oregon since 1998. Since then more than 341 terminally ill people have taken advantage of it to hasten their deaths. According to Humphry (2013, September) “The Washington Death with Dignity Act, Initiative 1000, codified as RCW 70.245, passed on November 4, 2008” http://finalexit…

Words 1103 - Pages 5

Physician Assisted Suicide Utilitarianism

Should people that have non-life threatening illnesses be offered physician-assisted suicide? Many people in this world are suffering from something that might not kill them, but they feel that they difficulties that come along with it is too much to live with and they want to give up and die. Whether it is physical pain or mental pain, people have their reasons for not wanting their life to go on. Some might say that if they don’t want their life to keep going, then they should just kill themselves…

Words 1087 - Pages 5

Physician Assisted Suicide Essay

Name: Marva Dyer Date: June 3, 2008 Class: PHI1103 Word Count: 1225 Topic: Physician Assisted Suicide 1. Introduction and Thesis Chronic and life-limiting illness can also make a person feel like they have lost all control of their lives. The body isn’t doing what it should and there’s no way to stop it. Physician-assisted suicide (PAS) may feel like a way to regain some of that control. If they can’t control the illness, they can at least control how they die. Quality of life is the…

Words 1264 - Pages 6

Physician Assisted Suicide Essay

becoming a shell of their former selves. Without PAS people may commit suicide in a messy, horrifying or traumatic manor. Physician assisted suicide (PAS) is not for everyone, but for someone who wants to end their life because of a terminal debilitating illness, they should have that option with the help of a knowledgeable physician. Physician assisted suicide is defined by the American Medical Association as “when a physician facilitates a patient’s death by providing the necessary means and/or…

Words 2413 - Pages 10

Physician Assisted Suicide Analysis

Law Physician-assisted suicide is among the most debated issue of our time. This controversy is about the law that allows terminally ill patients to end their lives with lethal drugs prescribed by a doctor. Canada should allow euthanasia to be legalized because palliative care cannot cure all suffering, protections are put in place to minimize the risk of abuse, and individuals have the right to end their own life. Therefore, the Death with Dignity Law is just. Physician assisted suicide is not…

Words 709 - Pages 3

physician assisted suicide Essay

Paper 2 The definition of suicide is to kill oneself. In a society where suicide is looked down upon it is no surprise that the topic of physician assisted suicide is controversial. Ethically this action is deemed immoral and there are many theories that would support this claim. 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. The physician does not actually physically kill the…

Words 1144 - Pages 5