...The Greek term euthanasia literally means “good death” (MacKinnon, 164). Many people today heavily support euthanasia because they feel each individual has the right to die. Proponents for euthanasia would agree that by electing to be euthanized the individual not only has the right to die but the right to die with dignity, to end pain and suffering, and to lessen the financial and emotional burdens on their loved ones. In short, proponents rationalize that the ill are simply “better off dead”. Opponents of euthanasia feel that in no way are we “better off dead”. This reasoning goes against our human inclination to live. Euthanasia is irreversible suicide, simply wrong and should not be accepted. Williams’ article, “The Wrongfulness of Euthanasia” states that in our daily lives we exercise the caution and care necessary to protect ourselves (MacKinnon, 179). Our bodies and mindset were designed to promote life. His article goes on to state we are structured for survival right down to the molecular level. For instance, most of us make attempts to eat well, exercise, take vitamins, and simply try to live life and be as healthy as we can. For most of us it comes as a major shock when we are stricken with terminal illness. No one wants to think of death or spend our last days suffering from pain. There is no doubt that there are times during an individual’s agony when dealing with pain that they may think, if I were to die I could no longer feel this pain. Many people...
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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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...Running head: ANALYSIS OF AN ETHICAL DILEMMA Analysis of an Ethical Dilemma NRS 437V December 11, 2011 Analysis of an Ethical Dilemma Euthanasia, sometimes referred to as mercy killing, is an act by a third party that causes a patient’s death. Such acts include administering a lethal dose of medication by way of injection or mask, usually to a seriously ill patient. This analysis will discuss the ethics of euthanasia as it relates to nursing, laws, society, and the stakeholders involved in the scenario. The American Nurses Association (ANA) believes that the nurse should not participate in Active euthanasia because such an act is in direct violation of the Code for Nurses with Interpretive Statements, the ethical traditions and goals of the profession, and its covenant with society. (Task Force on the Nurse's Role in End-of-Life Decisions, 2011) While patient advocates should be vigilant for providing diligent care, they should perform their tasks with respect, support and due commitment towards their care. In healthcare practice, in order to relieve pain and suffering, there is an obligation to promote dignity and autonomy of patients. Euthanasia is a complex issue in which nurses are uncomfortable determining the life and death of a patient. Nurses have to practice ethical principles of beneficence, which maximize benefit and reduce potential risk and harm to the patient. Non-malfeasance is another ethical issue in which a nurse should do no harm. A competent...
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...Euthanasia Euthanasia - Deep sympathy for the suffering Introduction Euthanasia is the deliberate killing either by omission or commission of a dependent person for their benefit. Arguments against euthanasia claim that the concern for happiness and human life and not their obliteration is the objective of any good governance. They say that the terminally ill are people who require protection from social, economic and family pressures, and who are particularly prone to this pressure as a result of chronic depression, pain and effects of continued medication. Arguments for euthanasia say it is impossible to maintain quality of life if a patient is dead. While there have been massive arguments, debates and campaigns against euthanasia, this paper will seek to support euthanasia because of the moral issues that relate to the topic. This paper supports that when a personal is physically dead, the only reason anybody wishes to keep them alive is for their selfish clinging onto them with the hope of a miracle and the fear of closure without regard to the wishes of the person. It supports the practice of euthanasia and seeks to evaluate the reasons why euthanasia should be legalized. This paper will have a general audience because of the controversy that it sparks every time it comes up Death is a dreaded subject for all human beings because it signifies leaving the known to go to the unknown. This is the reason why by its nature euthanasia is a hugely hushed up topic...
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...ETHICAL ISSUES IN HEALTH To evaluate the impact of moral philosophy on medical practice we must first look at what a moral philosophy is, also which philosophies that will be included. Moral philosophy is the area of philosophy concerned with theories of ethics, with how we ought to live our lives. Deontology and utilitarianism are the two philosophies that I shall be evaluating and applying throughout this essay. These are two time-honoured philosophical positions that apply to a wide variety of topics. Deontology is an ethical system that is attributed to the philosophical tradition of Immanuel Kant. Deontology demands that the actions, or means themselves must be ethical. This philosophy is based upon principles of duty and obligation, we have the freedom to act morally (right) or otherwise (wrong) based on General Universal Laws. To respect life means that you must not kill, to respect others is not to steal these moral laws are black and white as you must do what is right and do not do what is wrong regardless of circumstance or outcome. Deontologists argue that there are transcendent ethical norms and truths that are universally applicable to all people. Deontology holds that some actions are immoral regardless of their consequence; these actions are wrong in and of themselves. We should not act out of feeling, inclination, love or compassion, but out of our moral duty according to the universal moral laws. Kant gives a ‘categorical imperative’ to act morally at all times...
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...A gravely ill man lies in bed awaiting death. He exerts all his energy upon every breath he takes. One of life’s agonies is waiting for it all to be over. Euthanasia, a remedy for this man’s unfortunate situation, could be his solution to happiness. It has been a long disputed act in the United States and Europe. Euthanasia is the practice of painlessly ending the lives of people who have incurable, painful, or distressing diseases or handicaps. Euthanasia is sometimes called ‘mercy killing’. To begin, one aspect of euthanasia’s benefits is the fact that the quality of life when a person is chronically ill tends to be very bad. Euthanasia can end an uncomfortable and painful life. Secondly, euthanasia can save families money on medical bills. The cost of keeping a person alive with an unfortunate fate would be higher than a person who chooses to pass away. Lastly, a person, legally, should have the right to end their life. Firstly, the issue of quality of life plays a large role in the support of euthanasia. Lying in bed all day can be a form of torture within itself. Bed sores and boredom result from staying in bed, wasting away. Also, illness such as cancerous diseases and other sicknesses decline the quality of life. Of course, pain plays a role in this matter. It’s very difficult to function in everyday life when pain is a constant companion. To most people with any of these problems, in their point of view, value of existence can be low. Continuing along on this issue,...
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...Euthanasia According to Webster’s dictionary, euthanasia is “intentional killing by act or omission of a dependent human being for his or her alleged benefit”. Clearly, everybody hopes that his or her death is gentle and easy, and bypasses pain and suffering and loss of dignity. However, the question of whether people can legally passively or actively end their own lives raise many issues. Some argue that by allowing euthanasia will permit people to look down on human life, as if it is not important and can be used for certain criminal circumstances. On the other hand, others argue that permitting people to take their own lives actually maintains human dignity, since people should not have to die painful deaths. I believe that human dignity and the value of human life can best be protected and preserved by permitting people to chose to stop treatments which prolong their lives, but without legalizing the active taking of lives. The philosopher Dyck is representative of the the position that euthanasia should never be legal, because it does not entail compassion for one, or one owns human dignity. Dyck proposes an alternative moral argument to euthanasia, the idea of “benemortasia.” Benemortasia is the belief that a “good” death doesn’t need to be painless or be fully controlled by the person.. Not only does Dyck argue that our definition of good death should change, but he has multiple arguments for why euthanasia is morally wrong. First off, one who causes someone...
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...and Dignity Act; I found this to be an interesting idea. It is not difficult to understand that the citizens may have varied and strong opinions about this subject, however the article I have chosen examines the physician opinion of medically assisted suicide, mainly the physicians without the legal option of medically-assisted suicide. A Survey of Physician-Assisted Suicide With an aging population it is not only important to understand the attitude of the public in regards to physician assisted suicide, but also the attitudes of those charged with carrying out the task of euthanasia or assisted suicide. First it is important to understand the term physician assited suicide refers to the medical professional providing the client with the means to commit suicide, meaning the physician provide medications or equipment to facilitate the end of the clients life. This differs from euthanasia in that the physician is not actually ending the client’s life through lethal injection or other direct means. The article I chose to examine is a study of physician attitude towards assisted suicide and a study and the prevalence of this request by their clients. The results are the compiled data of a survey sent to 3102 physicians, these physicians work in the fields most likely to receive a request for assisted suicide. Methods and Analysis The survey involved closed ended questions, these question involve yes or no answers and are a means of creating validity and uniformity...
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...Erica Watson Mr. Bono English 6-7 6 December 2010 Euthanasia in the 1930’s Euthanasia: one of the biggest health controversies talked about for decades always has people judging and debating. Many people have different opinions and beliefs on the topic. From my knowledge, I understand that euthanasia is “the action of killing an individual for reasons considered to be Merciful” (Studyworld.com). Too many questions come to mind when I think of euthanasia. When do you decide to kill the patient? Does the patient agree to this? Is euthanasia legal? In the research that I did, I quickly educated myself on this topic. In the 1930’s many people didn’t know how to grasp the thought of euthanasia. Not too many were educated on it and just considered it suicide. In the United States, euthanasia has never officially been legal. “Medical practitioners opposed the idea of euthanasia and strongly claimed it to be illegal” (Buzzle.com). But, around this time period, the Nazi’s believed in involuntary euthanasia. They were determined to “eliminate the unhealthy members of society through euthanasia” (caae.phil.cmu.edu). Although euthanasia is illegal; “Physician aid-in-dying (PAD) is legal in the states of Washington, Oregon and Montana” (wikipedia.org). The difference between the two is that “Euthanasia entails the physician or another third party administering the medication, whereas PAD requires the patient to self-administer the medication and to determine...
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...ENC 1102C June 20, 2011 The Right to Die: Physician-Assisted Suicide In cases such as the Death before Dignity Act, lawmakers and citizens are trying to legalize what some would call physician-assisted suicide or euthanasia. Physician-assisted suicide is when a physician provides the means of death for a gravely ill patient but the patient takes the final step ( Dictionary.com, LLC ). According to Dictionary.com, euthanasia is the act of putting to death painlessly or allowing to die as by withholding extreme medical measures, a person or animal suffering from an incurable, especially painful disease or condition. In most cases, the physician would recommend to the family or the patient would ask for him/herself but you have many instances where the physician hastens or rushes the patient to make the decision (Henry). The issue at hand though, is why a person can’t have control over their life and determine when it shall end. If one is mentally competent and have a terminal illness, meaning they have six months or less to live, why can’t one end their life? If all they’re doing is lying in a hospital bed receiving palliative care, eating pills like candy just to try to ease the pain, why can’t one say “okay, enough is enough?” Place yourself in their shoes, imagine if you were diagnosed with lung cancer that metastasized to your brain, or if you no longer had HIV but AIDS, would you want to live through that pain or would you rather ease it all by ending your life? That...
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...legislative hearing before the General Assembly’s Public Health Committee. With this bill two physicians would have to certify, in writing, under oath, that their patient is terminally ill and is likely to die within the next six months. Additionally, the patient must be mentally competent to make an informed decision about his or her own death. A similar bill was proposed in 2009. Perhaps the strongest argument made on behalf of legalizing euthanasia or assisted suicide is that it, like abortion, is a "choice" issue. Supporters dispute that euthanasia/assisted suicide is the ultimate civil right, and to deprive mentally competent, terminally ill people who want to end their suffering is to disrespect their rights. Supporters also argue that legalizing euthanasia/assisted suicide ensures that no one dies in painful agony or suffering. Opposes contend that laws against euthanasia and assisted suicide are in place to prevent abuse and to protect people from unscrupulous doctors and others. Proponents also claim that opposition to euthanasia/assisted suicide is based primarily in religion and that laws prohibiting the practice are thus unconstitutional because they violate the division between church and state. We all die; however, in an age of amplified longevity and medical advances, death can be suspended, sometimes indefinitely, no longer in its own timetable. So, for both patients and their loved ones, real decisions are demanded: When do we stop doing all that we can do...
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...Euthanasia – Murder or Mercy? My cat passed away the other day. She had been sick for a while and took a stroke the day earlier. A decision had to be made; by chance I didn’t have to make that choice she passed quietly in her sleep in the wee hours of the morning. But it got me to thinking how many timeshave you heard someone say they had to put their pet to sleep because they were sick and suffering, in pain, there was nothing left to do but be merciful and put them out of their misery. Why is it that we, as human beings, have more compassion for our animals than we do for our loved ones? Through advanced directives and Rights of the Terminally Ill Act of 1985 aperson is allowed to declare a living will specifying that, if the situation arises, he or she does not wish to be kept alive through life support. This essentially means someone can chose not toreceive treatment or have efforts made to keep them alive. But they cannot choose to die how and when they want. Have you ever sat with someone who is dying? In the healthcare industry I encounter this quite often. Patients can experience extreme pain, so much so, that even opiates will notalleviate it or they become almost totally unresponsive due to the drugs in their system. Most lose the desire to eat or ability to swallow, making consuming food and drinking impossible, so food is withheld resulting in weight and muscle loss, and they linger until the body can no longer sustain itself. Organs begin to fail; the...
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...certain that a persons illness isn't going to be cured, in other words, he or she is terminally ill, would it not be merciful to allow the person to die? Would not euthanasia--or mercy killing as it is termed--be acceptable to the suffering patient as well as to those who are close to him? mercy killing causes no harm to anyone. in fact, it provides a relief to the realtives of the victims as they undergo immense agony, seeing a dear one suffering. Euthanasia is an act of professional support to the terminally ill patient and hence canot be held as a cruel act on the part of the person who commints it. On the other hand, there is a deep rooted belief that life is a god given gift and it is presumptious on the part of a human being to end it. As for taking it away from another human being, howsoever merciful the motive, it is regarded as playing god. If the patient is terminally ill or in a coma, without having expressed any idea on the subject, who is to decide on terminating the persons life? The possibily of greedy and unscrupuluos relatives colluding with an equally unscrupuluos doctor to kill a patient, is a real danger. Morever, though it is an individual decisiom, it cannot be ignored as a major social problem as it opens up a chapter of suffering for the realtives of the patient. Any law, therefore, on euthanasia should have safeguards to preclude any possiblity of exploiting the situation by unscrupulous elements. The Scam in Mercy Killing Imagine one of your family...
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...Euthanasia Euthanasia is defined as "the act of bringing about the death of a hopelessly ill and suffering person in a relatively quick and painless way for reasons of mercy". Assisted suicide is one of the forms of euthanasia. However, generally, assisted suicide and euthanasia are taken for one and the same thing. According to Boylan (2000) in classic Greek, euthanasia means “good death” (p. 195). It is also, generally, known as mercy killing, which involves taking an action that will end the life of a patient that is afflicted with a terminal disease characterized by intense suffering which will surely result in the patient’s death. Richardson (2002) explains euthanasia as being divided into two different categories: active and passive. Active, also referred to as commission, is the act of bringing about one’s death; passive, or omission, is intentionally withholding a life-saving medical procedure, therefore allowing them to die. All of these are done with merciful intentions, and intentions to help the suffering person, it raises profound issues of importance for society, the medical profession and nursing. Physicians are frequently faced with the question of whether or not assisted suicide is ethical or immoral. There is an ongoing legal battle; the theoretical and practical parameters of euthanasia and assisted suicide are still debatable in society today. Although assisted suicide is currently illegal in almost all states in America, few states like Montana, Washington...
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...Assisted Suicide Assisted Suicide is when the physician provides the necessary means or information and the patient performs the act. Euthanasia is where the physician performs the intervention defined as the “act of bringing about the death of a hopelessly ill and suffering person in a relatively quick and painless way for reason of mercy (as cited in Mosser 2010). Physician Assisted Suicide has grown to be a controversial issue and one of the major disputes is; can an incurable ill patient be able to choose Physician assisted suicide? This phenomenal dilemma has risen debates on rather to legalize PAS or keep it illegal because of the different issues concerning the different religion, moral and ethical views people have on the topic. In this essay I will discuss issues of why many people and I believe assisted suicide should be legalized. There are different laws around the world concerning physician assisted suicide and only a few states that has legalized the procedure. In 2005, there were only four places in the world that open and legally authorize assistance in dying patients: “Oregon (since l997, physician-assisted suicide only); Switzerland (1941, physician and non-physician assisted suicide only); Belgium (2002, permits 'euthanasia' but does not define the method and the Netherlands (voluntary euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide lawful since April 2002 but permitted by the courts since l984.)(Assistedsuicide)” Since then there have...
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