...Summary * Individuals must understand the role that social justice has in the implementation of practices such as physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia. * Social justice is the primary form of justice, but it encompasses other types of justice such as commutative, restorative, distributive, and contributive. * The four types of social justice are significant as they cover all the human entitlements. The social work department incorporates human rights in the creation and implementation of policies dealing with end of life decisions. * Euthanasia has evolved to become an important ethical concern especially for the elderly. * Many individuals in the recent times have changed their outlook regarding the issue of physically assisted death. Main ethical concerns * Euthanasia is a Greek word, which implies a ‘good death.’ * In the contemporary world, euthanasia is the compassionate activity of ending the life of a terminally ill patient. * Conversely, physician-assisted death occurs when a doctor provides the means of suicide to a patient who has chosen to end their life. * There are two categories of euthanasia, which are active and passive. * Active euthanasia involves the activity by a physician to fasten the death process such as administering of a lethal injection. * Passive euthanasia involves the behavior of withholding the essential care that leads to survival such as refusing to administer the necessary medications...
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...Active Voluntary Euthanasia Active voluntary euthanasia can be considered a number of things, whether it is suicide or physician assisted suicide. Throughout this class, we have discussed various articles that dig into this issue and that I will be using in this paper to demonstrate what is accepted, and what is not by some of society’s leading scholars. Also, I will insert my own input to these views and offer more insight on what I believe is reasonable when it comes to active voluntary euthanasia. To begin, I will start off with Immanuel Kant’s article, “The Morality of Suicide.” Kant first discusses his views on people’s obligations to their own bodies. He talks about the right of freedom that we are all given, and that this freedom is to be used so as to protect life in a way. He argues that using freedom in ways that “abolish life” is “producing lifelessness,” and is therefore “self-contradictory” (385). To sum this part up, Kant believes that human beings should not “have the power to dispose of” their lives (385). After establishing his thoughts in this region, he moved on to that of suicide, which is his almost entirely against. He first comes across the argument saying that suicide is acceptable because “man is a free agent” (385). He counters this argument by explaining that yes man is a free agent, but that we are free to the point of “self-preservation” (385). To me, this means that we do things in life by our own choice, but usually these choices are made...
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...According to an article by Autumn Buzzel titled “Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide: It’s Murder in te First Degree, euthanasia is a way to end someone’s life by using lethal injection while he/she is in a serious disease condition and incurable. In his article, Buzzel also said that there are two kinds of euthanasia; first is passive euthanasia which is allowing someone to die by doing nothing when she/he has terminal disease, and second is active euthanasia which is making fast a death of someone who is in a terminal disease. Therefore, passive euthanasia is not actually wrong, but active euthanasia is a murder and it should be against because it’s unethical. So, I also disagree with euthanasia, especially active euthanasia, because my religion, Islam, said that life is in God’s hand, nobody can takes it easy. Some people interpret euthanasia as the practice of ending a life in a painless manner. Many disagree with this interpretation, because it needs to include a reference to intractable suffering. Euthanasia can belonging to suicide. Many people believe that suicide should be a criminal offence. Especially in sector religion, most religion disapproves of euthanasia. I am a moslem, so I disagree with euthanasia, because my religion said that life is in God’s hand, life is sacred. In Al-Quran, (Al-Maidah: 32), Allah said that whosoever kill a human being for other than manslaughter or corruption in the earth, it shall be as if he had killed all mankind, and whoso saveth the life...
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...Euthanasia: A Moral Dilemma The word euthanasia is derived from two Greek words, “eu” which means “good” and “thanatos” which means “death,” thus, you have the translation “good death.” For many, when faced with a terminal disease or injury, it is all they truly want. That is, the ability to choose the right to die, in lieu of, a slow and painful death. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines Euthanasia as, “The act or practice of killing hopelessly sick or injured individuals in a relatively painless way for reasons of mercy,” and also, “The act of or practice of allowing a hopelessly sick or injured patient to die by taking less than complete medical measures to prolong life – mercy killing.” In those two separate definitions, you have the words that define the difference between active and passive euthanasia. “The act or practice of killing…” is what is termed as active euthanasia, in that it involves a person physically “doing” something to bring about the death of an individual. Whereas, “the act or practice of allowing…” is considered passive euthanasia, in that it allows a person to die. Normally, this entails the withholding or withdrawal of necessary medical equipment or medicine. Historically, both methods have evoked great emotional turmoil throughout society. Why? Because, it puts into dispute moral, cultural, social, and religious values that individual’s hold regarding their right to live, aswell as their right to die. Furthermore, individuals want to be able...
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...INTRODUCTION Euthanasia is defined as the intentional killing, by act or omission, of a human being for his or her purported benefit. This definition is quite wide-ranging and a number of types of euthanasia and related activities have been defined. These include physician-assisted suicide and involuntary/non-voluntary euthanasia. While participation in the death of another—desired or otherwise—is usually defined in terms of a criminal act, a number of jurisdictions have established lawful protocols permitting such outcomes. By the same token, other jurisdictions, the Netherlands, have adopted what amount to non-punitive protocols in the face of existing legislation to the contrary when certain medical procedures are undertaken by licensed physicians. All of these acts have created considerable debate, extending to such issues as physician responsibility, duty of care, extent of individual responsibility, and personal integrity, to name just a few. This paper considers aspects of euthanasia and the moral factors that pertain. At the conclusion, this paper will recommend that certain types of euthanasia be permitted under the general supervision of a trained physician. EUTHANASIA AND PHYSICIAN-ASSISTED SUICIDE Physician-assisted suicide (PAS), like euthanasia, has been forbidden since the creation of the Hippocratic Oath. However, as a practical matter, physicians have had a measure of latitude in the specific application. For example, a fatal dose of an opium...
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...1) Describe and characterize Ken Harrison: Ken was a sculptor before the car accident. He has been hospitalised for 6 months and is now paralysed from the neck down. He’s a patient at the hospital, and he’s an old man, who wants to feel young and who misses ”the old times”. He’s a person who jokes a lot: “You’ll just have to make do with my backside …” (p. 7, line 6), “Have me on the floor Sister please.” (p. 7, last line), “Who said anything about a bikini?” (p. 31, line 29). All those jokes is a perfectly example of how much pervert he is. Ken hates his life because of his situation and would rather die than being hospitalised: “Can’t you see that this is why I’ve decided that life isn’t worth living? I am not human and I’m even more convinced of that by your visit than I was before, so how does that grab you? The very exercise of your so-called professionalism makes me want to die.” (p. 34, line 28-34) and another example is at page 43, Act 2: “I therefore want to be discharged to die.” (Line 16). His career and his passion, depends on his ability to move. Kens situation is that, he is sentenced to be in a hospitals bed for the rest of his life. He is suffering mentally and wants to be discharged from the hospital. Dr. Emerson, a consultant physician, won’t allow him to be discharged because he has no chance of survival in the condition he is in. 2) Do you think Ken’s personality and background helps or hinders the play’s discussion of free will? I think, that...
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...Title: Euthanasia Specific purpose: To persuade my audience that euthanasia should be legalized. Thesis: Euthanasia is about giving people their rights, cuts down on medical bills, and it also stops people from suffering. I. INTRODUCTION A. Attention getter : Imagine yourself being unable to walk, unable to see, and can barely breathe let alone speak. Your life was well lived all those years before. You are in such unbearable pain that you can’t even cry. Although your family is there for your every step of the way you begin to think, could ending your life be the answer to the pain? You are in more pain than you can bear. There is no way that you could function without assistance. You think and feel as if your life has no meaning. Well in all reality this isn’t something anyone needs to imagine. This is a real situation for many, many people. These people should be able to make their own choices and have control of their own lives. B. Background information of the topic: Euthanasia is a term still new to many of us. It is a Greek term meaning ‘good death’. It means self imposed death in a relatively painless and merciful way. Euthanasia is categorized in different ways, which include voluntary, non-voluntary, or involuntary and active or passive. Euthanasia is usually used to refer to active euthanasia, and in this sense, euthanasia is usually considered to be criminal homicide, but voluntary, passive euthanasia is widely non-criminal. C. Preview...
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...Medically Assisted Suicide Physician-assisted suicide also known as PAS, is a controversial topic everywhere; some believe if a patient is terminally ill then it should be permissible while others believe it is against their beliefs and religion to commit any type of suicide. Physician-assisted suicide is when a patient requests the help of digesting a lethal drug to quicken their death (United States Physician Assisted Suicide Law Summary and Law Digest par. 1). The most common patients to request assisted suicide are patients with cancer and AIDs. Active euthanasia is sometimes also considered physician-assisted suicide because it results in death from someone purposely doing something to the patient causing them to die; such as being injected with poison. Passive euthanasia is the withholding of a medical treatment for a patient, which is legal, but many come to be disagreed upon. Withholding food and water, turning off machines, and failing to resuscitate are prime examples of passive euthanasia (United States Physician Assisted Suicide Law Summary and Law Digest par. 1). There are currently three states that permit physician-assisted suicide, Washington and Oregon. On October 27, 1997, the Death with Dignity Act was passed in Oregon. The Death with Dignity Act states that an Oregonian that is terminally-ill has the right to voluntarily, self-administrate lethal medications with a prescription from their physician. On March 5, 2009, Washington passed the Death with Dignity...
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...IssUEs Of EUThANAsIA: ARGUmENTATIvE EssAy Bilal S. H. Badr Naga Majd T. Mrayyan (1) Bilal S. H. Badr Naga., MSN, RN, Prince Sultan Cardiac Center in Qassim, Saudi Arabia (2) Majd T. Mrayyan., Prof, RN, The Hashemite University, Jordan Correspondence: Bilal S. H. Badr Naga., MSN, RN, Prince Sultan Cardiac Center in Qassim, Saudi Arabia Email: Bilal_badrnaga@yahoo.com Case scenario Abstract Euthanasia is one of the issues that has been the subject of intense debate over time. It has been a pertinent issue in human rights discourse as it also affects ethical and legal issues pertaining to patients and health care providers. This paper discusses the legal and ethical debates concerning both types of euthanasia. It focuses on both the supporter of euthanasia and the opponent of euthanasia. Several statements for the Euthanasia argument arediscussed: a merciful response that alleviates the suffering of patients which is sometimes wrongly perceived to be otherwise unrelievable; the autonomy in which the patient has the right to make his own choices; the regulation and legislation of existing practices of euthanasia to protect health care providers and patients. In this heated debate religious, political, ethical, legal and personal views are also included. Among all these, those who desperately want to end their lives because they simply cannot go on in any way, are the ones who suffer. Every individual or group has a different viewpoint regarding euthanasia. Euthanasia is considered...
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...Courtney Hottowe October 23, 2012 Com 345.002 Informative Speech Outline General Purpose: To Inform Specific Purpose: Create awareness among the audience Central Idea: Animal Abuse is a constantly growing issue and today I am going to provide you with some information on where it stems from and how to prevent it. Introduction I. Attention Material a. “We are coming up on our 6 month anniversary of the day we brought Lola home from Homeward Pet. She is an amazing addition to our family; I cannot imagine a better dog for us. We are so grateful for our experience with Homeward Pets, our lives are changed forever.” That is a direct quote from the Miles family, who adopted their dog from an animal shelter. b. Raise your hand if you have had either a pet dog or cat at one point in your life. c. About 62% of households in the United States has a pet, this includes 78.2 million dogs and 86.4 million cats are owned in the United States. d. Based on those statistics, think about this. According to the yearly animal abuse report, of the 1160 reported cases in 2010, 64.5% involved Dogs and 18% involved cats. II. Orienting Material e. Central Idea: Animal abuse is a constantly growing issue, and today I am going to provide you with some information on where it stems from, as well as how to prevent it. f. The slide show that I will show may be graphic, but are pictures from real life abusive households. These pictures are not meant...
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...THE LAW ON ASSISTED SUICIDE On July 26, 1997, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously upheld decisions in New York and Washington state that criminalized assisted suicide. These decisions overturned rulings in the 2nd and 9th Circuit Courts of Appeal which struck down state statutes banning physician-assisted suicide. Those courts had found that the statutes, which prohibited doctors from prescribing lethal medication to competent, terminally ill adults, violated the 14th Amendment. In striking the appellate decisions, the U.S. Supreme Court found that there was no constitutional "right to die," but left it to individual states to enact legislation permitting or prohibiting physician-assisted suicide. (The full text of these decisions, plus reports and commentary, can be found at the Washinton Post web site.) As of April 1999, physician-assisted suicide is illegal in all but a handful of states. Over thirty states have enacted statutes prohibiting assisted suicide, and of those that do not have statutes, a number of them arguably prohibit it through common law. In Michigan, Jack Kevorkian was initially charged with violating the state statute, in addition to first-degree murder and delivering a controlled substance without a license. The assisted suicide charge was dropped, however, and he was eventually convicted of second degree murder and delivering a controlled substance without a license. Only one state, Oregon, has legalized assisted suicide. The Oregon statute...
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...Knowledge Area Module VI Contemporary Issues and the Ethical Delivery of Health Services Student: Harold Taitt, harold.taitt@waldenu.edu Student ID # A00293212 Program: Ph.D. Health Services Specialization: Health Management and Policy Faculty Mentor: Dr. Robert Hoye, robert.hoye@waldenu.edu Faculty Assessor: Dr. Jim Goes, jim.goes@waldenu.edu Walden University May 10, 2013 Abstract Breadth Component In this age of rapidly evolving technological advances, many of the legal and ethical issues that are challenging the delivery of health care and the health care profession are new. As we confront the legal, moral, and ethical aspects of health care, we are seldom faced with decisions that require or are resolved by simple right or wrong answers (Edge & Kreiger, 1998). In the Breadth component of KAM VI, I focus on several ethical theories and how those theories influence the way ethical issues and concerns are addressed and managed in the allocation and delivery of health care services. I critically assess and evaluate those theories, concepts, and derivative principles as they impact important decisions and the implications of those decisions within the context of social change and with special emphasis on health care management and policy. In addition, I discuss the key assumptions on which the selected theories are constructed, compare and contrast the writers’ interpretations across theories, and conclude by providing a critical commentary on the merits of the selected...
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...Chapter 7 : Moral Issues 7. 1 The Environment 7. 2 Life 7. 3 Rearmament and War 7. 4 Business Ethics 7. 5 Sexuality and the Family 7. 6 Discrimination 7. 7 Freedom of Information 7. 8 Science and Technology Chapter Overview This chapter will discuss the contemporary moral issues. There are eight main sub-headings and examined in turn. Students may not only learn about moral facts, principles and theories, but also some important moral issues so that they will kept in phase with current issues in facing the challenge out there. This chapter also encourages students to ...
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...CONTENTS Click on the up arrow to return here 1) INTRODUCTION 2) DEFINITIONS 3) ETHICAL THEORY 4) ETHICAL DECISION MAKING 5) NEGLIGENCE 6) CONSENT IN COMPETENT ADULTS 7) CONSENT IN CHILDREN 8) CONSENT IN INCOMPETENT ADULTS 9) CONSENT CONCERNING UNUSUAL IDEAS 10) ADVANCE DIRECTIVES 11) CONFIDENTIALITY 12) CONFIDENTIALITY AUDIT 13) EUTHANASIA 14) ABORTION 15) BIOTECHNOLOGY 16) SUGGESTED READING ONE – INTRODUCTION (Registrar) The importance of Ethical thinking in General Practice is becoming more and more apparent. It should not be thought that Ethics merely relates to the “Life and Death” issues in our Professional life – Abortion, Contraception, Euthanasia and the like. Ethical issues affect some part of almost every consultation, even if the ethical issue is something more mundane like obtaining adequate consent for an examination or respecting a patient’s dignity. Indeed, it could be argued that the Consultation skills that we foster so assiduously are actually Ethical skills – and that we need to know the patient’s “Ideas, Concerns and Expectations” in order to respect his Autonomy as well as in order to improve the outcome of the Consultation. In the 1998/99 academic year, I was appointed the deanery’s Medical Ethics fellow with a bursary from the MDU. I developed an approach to the teaching of GP ethics based on two half day sessions, which...
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...Chapter 1: Ethical Theory Meta-ethical positions include: * Ethical non-cognitivism (concept that ethics is a matter of feelings) * Ethical relativism (concept that ethics is relative to a particular point of view) * Ethical objectivism (notion that ethics is objective in nature). Meta-Ethical Positions Ethical Non-cognitivism The basis of ethical non-cognitivism is that ethical disagreement can be a highly emotional affair where no amount of reasoning is likely to convince the other party. * Example: “Let’s just agree to disagree” Ethical Relativism * Ethical relativism says that while ethical statements are cognitively meaningful, they do not hold in any objective sense because they depend on our point of view. * If we accept ethical relativism, then ethical disagreement among people who do not share the same perspective becomes impossible. * It assumes that if people agree on something, then it must be true. * Ethical relativism is suspect for a pragmatic reason: it is fundamentally at variance with our social practice. * Example: “To each his own”, or the belief that what’s right for one group isn’t necessarily right for another Ethical Objectivism * Ethical objectivism holds that right and wrong are objective phenomena. * Example: “I’m right and you’re wrong” What is Ethics? * As a discipline, ethics is a branch of philosophy. * It deals with questions of right and wrong conduct, and with what we ought to do and what...
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