...At some point in everybody’s life death will inevitably be knocking at the door, and often times many people end up struggling with the best way to cope with it. Dying usually happens because your murdered, you commit suicide, or naturally. We all should know that murder is a person taking another person’s life, suicide is the taking of your own life, and naturally is death by natural causes. Composing a paper as to why a 110 year old person dies would be really challenging for me, mainly because at 110 you are considered to be really old. However, recently there has been another form of death that has a lot of controversy surrounding it. Doctor assisted death also known as Euthanasia. Euthanasia currently does not fall into any of the three before mentioned categories; we put it somewhere in the middle between murder and suicide. Like many other words in our English language euthanasia is Greek rooted eu, it means good and then thanasia means death, combined they mean “good death”. Take a moment and consider you have an illness and the doctors have just informed you it is terminal and you have only four weeks to live. They then tell you that during those four weeks you are going to be in continual excruciating pain and unbearable agony, and that no matter what pain medication they gave you there was nothing that would give you even a moment of relief. What would you do? If you decided to take action would it be in the form of an injection, a handful of pills...
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...process. There really needs to be someone to step up and finish where Dr. Kevorkian was forced to stop helping people. There are hundreds, if not thousands of people that die every single day, and those people end up suffering because there is nothing, except conventional pain medications, that ease their pain while dying. While these pain medications do help sometimes, people are still suffering, waiting, and dying a slow death. This is why doctor assisted suicide/euthanasia should be legalized because at the end of their lives, most people do not want to suffer. Shouldn't we be Able to Choose how and When to Die? Have you ever thought about the way you would want to die if you were terminally ill? Most people do not think about things like that. However, if you could actually choose how and when you wanted to die, what choice would you make? If you had a terminal illness and knew that you were going to die very soon, would you want your family to watch you be in pain, listen to you yell or moan from that pain and slowly die? If you could have a way to die, that would keep you from suffering, and to keep your family from watching you go through the slow process of dying, would you do it? Like most people, you would and would want to go to sleep and not wake up. That is exactly what physician-assisted suicide/euthanasia is, you just drift off into a painless...
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...Euthanasia is the ending of a ill person's life in order to alleviate them of their pain and suffering. A person who goes through euthanasia normally has an incurable condition, but there are other situations where some people desire their life to be terminated. In many cases, it is carried out at the person's desire but there are instances when they may be too sick and the arrangement is made by relatives, medics or, in some circumstances, the courts. Euthanasia brings up a number of difficult moral dilemmas: Is it ever right to terminate the life of a terminally ill patient/person who is enduring severe pain and suffering? Under what instances can euthanasia be acceptable, if at all? Is there a moral discrepancy between killing someone...
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...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, which went into effect in October 1997, provides that a doctor may prescribe, but not administer, a lethal dose of medication to a patient who has less than six months to live. Two doctors must agree that the patient is mentally competent and that the decision was voluntary. As of April 1999, 23 patients were given drugs under the statute, and 15 of them used the drugs to commit suicide. A...
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...unable to eat, has lost all control of bodily functions, depressed and continually yells out in agony from the pain she is in. She begs you to help her, that she cannot endure this excruciating pain and miserable life any longer. The doctors tell you there is nothing else they can do for her at this time, that you should keep her comfortable and enjoy her while she is here. How would you feel, what would you do? Euthanasia by definition means the act or practice of killing hopelessly sick or injured individuals (as persons or domestic animals) in a relatively painless way for reasons of mercy (Merriam-Webster, n.d.). Many people are not familiar with this word, but are familiar with the name Dr. Kevorkian, the doctor who helped terminally ill people end their lives. He believed anti-euthanasia was pro- torture. He was reported as saying “I’m trying to knock the medical profession into accepting its responsibilities, and those responsibilities include assisting their patients with death.” (Schneider, Keith, 2011). He was sentenced to over 60 years for his efforts and eventually all his charges were dropped. The debate on legalizing assisted- suicide has been an ongoing issue for decades, but the U.S. government has refused to recognize this as something that needs to be addressed. At this moment Oregon, Washington and Montana are the only states that have legalized euthanasia under limited conditions (ProCon.org, 2012). If we are given the...
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...should have physician assisted suicide. I believe that a person has the right to die with dignity if they are in severe pain and have no hope of recovering. As long as a person is mentally intact, they should be able to make their own decision. But if the person is on life support and there is no brain activity and little or no hope; their family should make the decision. The doctor should consult but does not and should never make the decision. Therefore the doctors will not be called ‘murders’ or ‘inhumane’. When a person is terminally ill, and they're going to die, why make them suffer any longer. With assisted suicide the patient would be able to be surrounded by loved ones and go out the way they want to, not the way they are forced to. I believe a person should be able to choose whether or not they want to continue through the pain or come to terms with the fact they'll die and be ready for it. Why would an animal that is sick and dying get a needle and feel no more pain. But a human who is sick and dying has to die a painful death; suffering from their sickness. The law already permits patients to withhold or withdraw medical treatment even if that increases the chances that the patient will die. I fail to see much difference between physicians not giving patients medicine and physicians assisting suicide. There are various opinions regarding this debate. Most are based on religious beliefs. It is a dispute of who should have more power; the government and its laws, religious...
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...death. “In some religious contexts, while a suicide is considered to be an offense made out of unknowing, confusion, or despair, assisted suicides are ostensibly actions made in faith, with no expectation of incurred sin or such that would bar transcendence to an afterlife”. In certain religious denominations, particularly the Roman Catholic Church, suicides are considered a serious sin. So, many Catholics oppose the practice of assisted suicide. For years, doctors have been prohibited from assisting patients to end their own lives. There are many arguments for and against assisting terminally ill patients to remain in control of their own destiny. Should a terminally ill patient be able to commit suicide? Proponents of patients’ rights argue that patients have the right to die with dignity rather than have an illness reduce them to a shell of their former selves. Activists also argue: • The right to die should be a fundamental freedom of each person; • Tremendous pain and suffering can be diminished; • Health care costs can be reduced, which would save patient estates an lower insurance premiums; • Nurse and doctor time can be...
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...Argument Essay Rough Draft Local Views and Legislation of Euthanasia Euthanasia is defined in Taber’s Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary as; “1. Dying easily, quietly, and painlessly. 2. The act of willfully ending life in individuals with an incurable disease. Ethical considerations of this act are being actively debated. One difficulty is how will the physician or society determine that the time for acting to kill the patient has come.” (Taber, Pg. 683). I choose this particular dictionary to reference the definition of euthanasia specifically because of the detailed explanation that ethical considerations are being actively debated. Some may contend that euthanasia is a practice to be upheld in the U.S.A. due to being a country of freedom and liberty, and that is kind to allow one’s suffering to stop. However, others remain opposed and stand firm on the notion that assisting death is unethical, un-Godly, and to be illegal. The debate of assisted-suicide is argumentative amongst society, doctors, and legislators in Hawaii and throughout the nation; with recent regards to changing current law, euthanasia should remain to be illegal. Assisting in death, encouraging death, and advocating for death is wrong in many ways. Societal opinions differ and are found to be expressed throughout Hawaii in organizations, churches, and personal testimonials. What causes one to even think that assisted suicide is an acceptable foreseeable option? An example pros for debate is the notion...
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...disagrees with actively or passively letting her die. In all, his faith is conflicted with his understanding of the pain she was going through. He was empathetic with her state of quadriplegia. She was discontented but could not kill herself, so she tried to bite her tongue as a way to bleed herself to death. Many topics discussed in class about euthanasia were brought up in the movie. For example, did Maggie have a personhood while in her state, or would helping Maggie die faster would that be active or passive? Dunn, finally unplugs Maggie’s respirator, and injects a lot of adrenaline into her arms. Did Dunn respect the dignity of Maggie’s person by assisting her sped up death? I do believe that Dunn did actively kill Maggie but it was in Maggie’s verbal consent that she allowed him to assist her in her death. Dunn did respect her person because he did not actively kill her in a heinous crime but through a quick death via adrenaline. Though she may have suffocated somewhat beforehand,...
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...Commerce Law Task – Active Voluntary Euthanasia by Lara Mayfield 1. Overview of the issue According to the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) (2016, p 3) euthanasia is generally “used to describe the process of intentionally terminating a person’s life to reduce their pain and suffering”. “Active” voluntary euthanasia is when a patient requests active medical intervention to end their life. Legislation: Euthanasia is currently illegal at a Federal level and in all states except Victoria where on 29 November 2017, the Victorian Parliament passed legislation that allows for voluntary assisted dying with strict eligibility requirements and safeguards around how it will work. This legislation will come into effect from mid-2019. Euthanasia was legalised in...
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...His Specialty is Death On June 4, 1990, Janet Adkins, 54-year-old English teacher from Portland who suffered from Alzheimer's disease said her final goodbyes to Carroll Rehmke, her best friend of 34 years. Then prone in the back of a Volkswagen van in Michigan, she pressed a button to set in motion a machine, which administered saline solution, sodium thiopental to send her into a deep coma and finally a lethal dose of potassium chloride to stop her heart (Wilson). The machine was the brainchild of the Detroit medical pathologist Dr. Jack Kevorkian. Doctor Kevorkian, known as Dr. Death, claimed to have helped 130 people commit suicide when terminally ill, died in Detroit. He was 83. Born in Pontiac, Michigan, to Armenian immigrants, Jacob...
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...Student Name: David Mc Namara. Title: Are we moving towards Assisted Suicide? “Those who have exhausted the end seek the right to die with dignity, this is a choice to die, which allows the body to speak its end rather than have that end dictated by the voice of an expert, legal or medical” (Hannifin. 2009, p.84) The person who seeks to die is, to paraphrase Foucault, ‘the Passenger par excellence: that is, the prisoner of the passage’ (Foucault. 1967, p.11) The European Convention on Human Rights sets out a number of fundamental rights and freedoms, right to life, prohibition of torture, prohibition of slavery and forced labour, right to liberty and security, right to a fair trial, no punishment without law, right to respect and family life, freedoms of thought, conscience and religion, freedom of expression, freedom of assembly and association, right to marry, right to effective remedy, and prohibition of discrimination The Council of Europe produced the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms in 1950. This body was formed in the aftermath of the Second World War to achieve unity among its members in such matters as the protection of fundamental rights. The Convention was drafted after the atrocities of the Second World War. The Convention was signed by the High Contracting Parties in 1950, and came into force in1953. It was ratified by the United Kingdom in 1957. Article 2 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental...
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...month old baby who was quadriplegic. The accused confessed of taking his daughters life by inserting a hose from his pickup truck’s exhaust pipe into the cab, where he put his daughter. This later caused the daughter dying from carbon monoxide. Raising and taking care of a disabled child may be difficult, but does it go to such extremes where you have to take the life of your loved one? I think it’s wrong to help assist suicide under any circumstances. Whether the person is suffering or not, you’re still taking the law in your hands. Suicide in general isn’t acceptable, even though everyone is responsible for themselves, people do not have the right to die. For R. vs. Latimer case, what the court decided was the accused should be convicted of second degree murder, sentencing him life imprisonment without parole eligibility for 10 years. Although what the jury recommended was he should be eligible for parole after one year. But under the Canadian law it states anyone who is found guilty of second degree murder, requires a 10 year minimum jail sentence. Knowing that the accused daughter was disabled and was suffering, so he killed her to take her away from the pain, it was still a case of murder. The accused daughter was too young to give informed consent and there was no proof that the daughter had asked help for dying. The accused on his own decided to take his daughter’s life, whether it was for her own good or not, it’s the same as killing an ordinary person. Even though in...
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...Brandi Forester-Slaton Mrs. Webb ENGL 1113-401 8 November 2015 WE2 Physician assisted suicide (PAS) or physician assisted death (PAD) is a physician providing medication or other sorts of treatment/interventions with the knowledge and understanding that the patient intends to use these medications in order to end their life. Arguments for and against physician assisted suicide or death have shown to be both very strong. Although at times the issues brought up may seem to be old or very similar and even repetitive, new ideas and concerns constantly are emerging. Many states throughout the United States of America have continuously tried to legalize it, and Oregon, Washington, Montana, Vermont, and California being successful in that endeavor. Within the last couple centuries the public has brought attention to many issues and discussions regarding or involving physician assisted suicide as well as euthanasia from many different views and perspectives. Howard Ball is a supporter of physician assisted death in his article “Physician Assisted Death in America: Ethics, Law, and Policy Conflicts”, Ball addresses how the PAD arguments started in America, how views of PAD have changed overtime and what terminally ill patients have to deal with when making end of life decisions. I believe in the opportunity to die with dignity, in having the option to end your life when it is time, and in the comforts of your own home. I believe that in the end, this isn’t about death and when...
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...Hamlet (No Sweat Shakespeare, 2004-2013) begged Hamlet to question whether to exist or not exist. As in the play, there are people who have struggled to answer this question throughout human history. In modern times a debate has sprung regarding the sickly who are terminally ill. Although some believe that physician-assisted suicide should not be legalized because it is a moral issue that they maintain is unnecessary and what it boils down to a lack of physician training that puts undue pressure on patients to opt for suicide, the procedure should be legalized because, when death is imminent, people should not be limited by laws that affect their basic human rights, forcing them to live in agonizing pain due to inadequate medical services, and allow them to die with dignity. If physician-assisted suicide were legalized then terminally ill people would be relieved from having to endure unnecessary pain and suffering when, even with medical intervention, the patient is forced to endure an agonizing demise. Assisting in more than 130 terminally ill patient suicides between 1990 and 1998, Dr. Jack Kevorkian believed that terminally ill patients should be allowed to determine when they were ready to die. He went on to say "I'm trying to knock the medical profession into accepting its responsibilities, and those responsibilities include assisting their patients with death (McLellan, D., 2011).” By definition, physician-assisted suicide is when a physician provides terminally...
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