Assisted Suicide by Physician for the Terminally Ill Moral or Not - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 8 Words: 2283 Downloads: 3 Date added: 2019/06/24 Category Law Essay Level High school Tags: Assisted Suicide Essay Did you like this example? The notion of the right to assisted suicide is oftentimes a controversial topic surrounding the medical industry in the United States. One side of the spectrum will argue that assisted suicide is unjustifiable because by definition, death in itself is an inevitability, not a right. On the contrary, the other side of the spectrum claims that assisted suicide by aid of physician is an ethical right to a patients free exercise of autonomy. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Assisted Suicide by Physician for the Terminally Ill Moral or Not" essay for you Create order Therers a multitude of factors that play into the right to assisted suicide. My argument is that so long as the terminally patient within their own mind is psychologically stable and that all other potential life-saving measures have already been instilled, then it should lawfully be within someoners rights to take their own life by palliative, physician induced suicide. In terms is the United States, only eight states have legalized assisted suicide to some degree but within strict regulation. The issuing of a assisted suicide procedure within these states is still frowned upon and is only admitted for patients with a prognosis of six months or less to live. The problem with this is that being terminally ill is not only a physical battle of attrition but even more so a mental war within oneself no matter how long your prognosis is. In essence, pain and discomfort is not the sole reason for these patients wanting to take their lives. As Doctor Teresa Yao explains in her article Can We Limit a Right to Physician-Assisted Suicide?, the three most commonly answered reasons for seeking the assisted suicide procedure is because the patients have either loss their dignity, they have lost their own autonomy, or they feel like they simply cant do the things in life that made life enjoyable anymore. (Yao 5) The objective of the majority of these patients is t o relieve themselves of their lost sense of purpose. Why would we as a country only honor what these inevitably dead people have to say when the prognosis is six months or less? The physical pain seen visually to people oftentimes undermines the overall spiritual and mental anguish that these patients are going through. The sixth months to live laws are completely arbitrary. The sole reason these lawfully put in place is to appease the public side that opposes the notion all together. The argument that Doctor Yao is implying that United States as a whole was founded on the principle of autonomy. (Yao 6) What this means is essentially being prideful and living the life that you want to live. Why is it that once you become terminally ill but still have more than six months to live, you as an inevitably dead patient have lost your right to autonomy? We a nation preach the notion of autonomy in all aspects of life. Telling a terminally ill patient that they dont have the right to die peacefully at all or stipulating that a patient with a s ix month prognosis does completely undermines the principle all together. The reality of the United States is that the majority of the vocal public opposes physician assisted suicide all together and will only resiliently support the procedure in extreme circumstances such as disabilities or a six month prognosis. The right to die can and should be included in the right to receiving an assisted-suicide procedure no matter what the prognosis or if they are disabled. This in itself is contradictory and I happen to disagree with any form of opposition of the right to this procedure. The other side of the spectrum on this ideology will argue that a persons right to die should be rejected no matter what the circumstances because the notion of death in itself is an inevitability, not a right guaranteed to one as an individual. Doctor Sylvia Dianne in her article Euthanasia and assisted suicide; There is an alternative. dives into the argument of the world being universally opposed to the notion of assisted suicide and for logical reasoning as to why. The first ideology displayed by Doctor Dianne is that the majority of participants in Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, and Hinduism are unanimously opposed to the motives for assisted suicide. Also, studies show that Atheists and Agnostics alike tend to question morality of the process due to the universally accepted belief about the sanctity of human life despite religiously charged influence. (Dianne 25) To these four religions, suffering is a form of overcoming, displaying resilience and ultimately bringing about th e best in people. Euthanasia is in essence, implying that suffering no longer has a meaning or purpose behind it. Some of the world greatest literature, art, and music has been brought into existence because of suffering. Christians oftentimes claim that it was the unjust suffering of Christ that ultimately allowed redemption for the everyday sinners on Earth. After arguing in respect to worldwide religions and cultures, Doctor Dianne researched the issue of assisted-suicide from the medical perspective. It turns out that from the very beginnings of medically involved times till now, the sanctioning of killing patients is and never will be acceptable. Also, euthanasia practices voluntary or not are in violation of historical codes birthed in medical ethics. (Dianne 30) The explanation behind this research is that the grand majority of medical professionals feel that the practice of voluntary assisted suicide is hypocritical and goes against exactly what it is the medical professiona l was trained to do. What the author is insinuating is that euthanasia needs to be an absolute last resort option and rather than jumping to the conclusion of termination so rapidly, Doctors need to exhaust every avenue of potential life saving treatment first so that questioning of physician assisted suicide is never brought into question in the first place. As a practicing Christian myself, I think that Doctor Dianne did a good job at arguing in favor of not only Christianity but also the three other most commonly practiced religions worldwide in Judaism, Buddhism, and Hinduism. When debating a topic that is correlated between science and religion I feel like this article remained fairly unbiased in that Doctor Sylvia was successful in bringing about the fact that both the medical industry and religions alike are opposed to physician assisted suicide in some way, shape, or form. It is definitely important to respect the morality and views of people when considering the topic of assisted suicide. Religions and people in general claim that human life has inherent value and that euthanasia isnt something that any medical professional wants to be responsible for. These are important variables to take into account but, I also feel that sometimes it is important to challenge such views when it comes to terminally ill patients. I personally do nt see euthanasia as a last resort option. I see it as a form of immediate relief which is something medical professionals are trained to do metaphorically speaking. I also greatly oppose the argument of suffering no longer having meaning. Enduring a life of hardships and perseverance is something that brings about the best in people. Lifestyle hardships are far fetched from someone on the verge of dying, potentially going through excruciating pain and suffering. There really needs to be a deviation between the two in the eyes of someone arguing in favor of their religiously innate ideas. I now want to revert back as to why physician assisted suicide is justifiable. Doctor Timothy Quill is actually a practicing medical professional himself and wrote his article Physicians Should Assist in Suicide When It Is Appropriate. In order to explain that in many cases, assisting suicide by a physician is actually ethically justifiable. Early on Doctor Quill claims that assisted suicide shouldnt be considered for a terminally ill patient until all aspects of excellent palliative medical care has been induced. (Quill 58) This correlates directly to the argument displayed by religiously activated Doctor Dianne in the previous article examined. After laying this foundation, Doctor Quill explains that legalization of physician assisted suicide will absolutely does not undermine improvements in palliative care and hospice. The idea for terminally ill patients having the option of the procedure is potentially a good safety blanket in that it brings the patients more tolerance and resi lience to suffering knowing that there is that option if need be. After being moderate on the idea, Doctor Quill then discusses the autonomy argument similar to that of Doctor Yao. Autotomy is essentially the greatest factor played into the seeking of euthanasia, and understandably so. He talks by personal experience witnessing terminally ill patients living a life of no dignity and pride while continuously piling on medical bills and from what he has seen itrs absolutely demoralizing to people and their families. (Quill 63) What Doctor Quill is insisting is that why let your family see you suffering and why be a financial burden when death is inevitable sooner than later? So long as the practices are not in secret and are repeatedly pronounced to the patient and family for a formal consent, then therers really no justification as to why this practice is harsh or immoral again, this is once all other avenues have been exhausted. This is unfortunately a harsh reality that some families have to experience when it comes to terminal illnesses however, there is much truth value behind what he is claiming. The practice of physician assisted suicide indeed needs to be a consensual procedure with the patient having the ultimate authority so long as they are mentally competent. I like how Doctor Quill discussed how demoralizing living with a terminal illness is. Where I somewhat disagree with him is when he relates to Doctor Dianne on stressing the importance of exhausting every potential life saving avenue. I would say once diagnosed as terminally ill it is crucial to let the patients and their families demonstrate their own choices and let them decide what they want to do. Even with assistance from insurance treatments can become a financial burden as well as a waste of resources for patients who arent terminally ill. The last article I researched by Doctor D. Etienne de Villiers was called May Christians Request Medically Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia? This article gives the perspective from an average American Christian as to why the practice is not ethical in accordance to the Bible and traditional American values in general. The general Christian belief system entails that the terminally ill are to live both morally and loyal to god until their death. This, as well has remaining prejudice against the termination of any human life for any reason. (Villiers 1) Another influential ideology as to why Christians are so hesitant when asked about assisted suicide even for the terminally ill is because the Bible promotes absolute prohibition. Doctor Villiers explains this by going on to discuss the Sixth Commandment Thou Shalt Not Kill. Although quite vague, the modern interpretation of the sixth commandment is to value human life as sacred. The journey of life for a Christian, even when terminally ill, is to essentially trust the sustained care and support of God no matter what the circumstances are. (Villiers 4) The main idea here is to put the illness in the hands of God and let it play out the way that it was intended too. In other words, a physician has no place telling a person when their time on Earth is up. It is Godrs will as to when your time comes. Generally what Doctor Villiers is establishing is that physician assisted suicide is considered blasphemy by the majority of Christianrs and that needs to be respected by the medical industry when cases are made in favor of the practice. I truly have mixed emotions on this article. Although I am a practicing Christian, I think itrs important to note that when someone is diagnosed as terminally ill it can be inferred God has already willed that death will take place for that very person. I feel as though this article was objective at trying to bring about an understanding from the religious perspective on the issue and I think that Doctor de Villiers stayed fairly neutral and within certain boundaries even though she showed religious biases in her argument structure. Biblically speaking, I can agree and understand the notion that the body is somewhat like a temple and is to be taken care of at all times. Where I come to disagree is at what point is the body worth trying to save anymore? If your soul truly is eternal and the body has wasted away to near death then maybe itrs time to surrender and let your soul move on. This article was backed with Biblical evidence however I feel much of this article was more speculati on rather than research. The source proved to be effective in further adding to the notion that we as nation need to appease all sides of the spectrum and witness who displays these antagonistic views and why. In conclusion, the research that I have performed for this paper has taught me that the majority of the world is unanimously opposed to the notion of physician assisted suicide for reasons tied to religion, ethics, and morality. These multitude of explanations cannot not be ignored and should always be considered when trying to promote such a procedure. Although the opposition create a solid counterargument, the benefits of physician assisted suicide at least to me, outweigh the negatives. For this very reason, my argument remains that so long as the terminally patient within their own mind is psychologically stable and that all other potential life-saving measures have already been instilled, then it should lawfully be within someoners rights to take their own life by palliative, physician induced suicide.

American Dreams The American Dream - 1068 Words

American Dream? American Dream: Noun, the ideals of freedom, equality, and opportunity traditionally held to be available to every American. That is the definition of the American dream according to Dictionary.com, but the American Dream is more than a definition, but a way of life for many. Millions of immigrants come to our country in search of this â€Å"American Dream† including my grandparents but more and more are disappointed. So does the American Dream exist? Has it ever existed or has it all been an illusion? When my grandparents came in the 70’s they came in search of the American dream. My grandfather had been working for a few years in the states, so one day my grandmother and my father, who was a baby at the time, came and settled in City Terrace. They worked their butts off at multiple jobs and sometimes jobs that were dangerous. My grandfather has the scars on his arms from the acid used in a factory, he worked at, his slipped disks in his spine from his fall at a shipyard. My grandmother has the pain and scars on her knees from her work in a fish packing warehouse and the resulting knee surgeries with the most recent being last year. My grandparents, despite their pain were able to achieve this American dream, raised three sons and now live in a house they own in Alhambra. Of course there are going to be struggles and setbacks in anyone’s quest for the American Dream and my grandparents were no exception. My uncle was killed in front of the house and that isShow MoreRelatedImmigrants And The American Dream1362 Words   |  6 PagesImmigrants and the American Dream In the article â€Å"The American Dream†, by James Truslow Adams in The Sundance Reader book, he stated that the American dream is that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement. It is a difficult dream for the European upper classes to interpret adequately, and too many of us ourselves have grown weary and mistrustful of it. It is not a dream of motor cars and highRead MoreThe American Dream By Kimberly Amadeo1637 Words   |  7 PagesNowadays, a large number of people migrate to the United States to work and achieve the American Dream. According to the Article â€Å"What is the American Dream?† by Kimberly Amadeo, â€Å"The American Dream was first publicly defined in 1931 by James Truslow Adams in Epic of America. Adam’s often-repeated quote is, ‘The American Dream is that dream of land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyon e, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement.’† There are many peopleRead MoreAnalysis Of The Movie The American Dream 754 Words   |  4 Pages Nyreel Powell Ms. Jones American Literature 1 June 2015 The American dream in A Raisin in the Sun Have you ever had a dream and it didn’t come how you wanted it to be? Have you ever had accomplishments that you wanted to achieve but people were getting in the way of them? The four main characters in this book all have good dreams but there are people in the way of getting to those dreams or their dream is too high to accomplish. A Raisin in the Sun a play written by Lorraine Hansberry, andRead MoreSister Carrie and the American Dream1618 Words   |  7 PagesThe American Dream is surely based on the concept of â€Å"Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness† but it is above all, a matter of ambition. James Truslow Adams, an American writer and historian, in 1931 states: life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement†, which not only points towards a better standard of living for Americans but also denounces a degree of greed in the US society. Ambition not only â€Å"killed the catâ₠¬  butRead MoreGrapes Of Wrath And The American Dream1644 Words   |  7 PagesThe idea of the American Dream is ever changing depending on the person and the time of life that person is in. Although the main ideas of the American Dream remain the same to be educated, economically sound, healthy, to have a family, and equal rights. Many great films and works of literature were created to show case all the different ideas people have for their American Dream. The film â€Å"Grapes of Wrath† directed by John Ford and the poem â€Å"I Will Fight No More Forever† by Chief Joseph, both depictRead More Destruction of the American Dream Essay2145 Words   |  9 PagesDestruction of the American Dream I’ve talked about it in the past, the destruction of the American Dream. Always, there have been papers, writings, and thoughts that quantify a particular section of its ultimate demise, be it due to money, education, or sexuality. Maybe the destruction cannot be viewed as a singular event or cause. Perhaps instead it must be examined as a whole process, the decay and ultimate elimination of a dream. Self destruction, if you will†¦ Mr. Self Destruct Read MoreJim Cullen And The American Dream2081 Words   |  9 Pages The American Dream, as defined by Cullen, is starting your goal off with a little and ending with more; it s like a business, you invest in it in order to gain more money. Usually, people will define the American Dream as being able to achieve your goal because everyone is offered opportunities. Cullen does acknowledge that people are born with different opportunities, so he talks about the good life. The good life describes different factors that determine your opportunities. Throughout the otherRead MoreFactors Influencing The American Dream1834 Words   |  8 Pagesindividual to succumb or to not succumb to the seductions of crime. These three factors are brilliantly portrayed in the television show, Breaking Bad and the novel, The Stick Up Kids. The American Dream is what many American citizens strive for. However, not all of those citizens are able to achieve the American Dream through a legal pathway. The reason an indivudal may not being able to do so is because of his or her background factors. It is important to note that background factors are a fractionRead MoreSuccess As One Of The American Dream1137 Words   |  5 PagesApril 2015 Success as One of The American Dream When we hear the word â€Å"success†, we often think of wealth and money. To some people, the embodiment of being success is earning a lot of money. In fact, the concept of success is primarily based on how much money a person earns. However, each person views the definition of success differently. One way to define success is something that has more to do with flash than it does with substance. John Wooden, an American basketball player and coach viewRead MoreShark Tank And The American Dream1755 Words   |  8 PagesShark Tank and The American Dream The TV show Shark tank embodies everything the American dream represents. The show obtains successful Entrepreneurs ready to invest their own money into other Americans wanting to be just like them, reaching the American dream and become a successful entrepreneur. The show presents entrepreneurs working towards the goal of creating a business to not only gain wealth but also change the way we live today. The show is to keep the American dream alive and well while

The Red Bandana free essay sample

There are many stories about brave firefighters and policemen who gave up their lives on that fall morning. They were prepared for the tragedy that was at hand. It was the average men that acted so bravely, were not trained to handle a catastrophe, that were the hero’s of that September morning. There is a story about a man who was in the south tower of the World Trade Center; he was neither a fireman nor a police man. He didn’t wake up thinking he would be in harms way, for him it was just another day. When the plane hit his tower he didn’t have to stay and help people. He could have done what most people did, get to a stair well and get out of the tower. However, he chose to stay, not because that was his job, but because there was something inside him that told him go and help anyone who was trapped. We will write a custom essay sample on The Red Bandana or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Many people were saved that day by a fireman or a police officer, but several people say they were saved by a man wearing a white T-shirt and a red bandana over his mouth and nose to keep smoke from filling his lungs. There are also countless other stories of average people performing extraordinary deeds. They are the true hero’s of that day. They reminded every American citizen that they to have the capacity in them to do a great and noble act, they simply have to be in the right place at the right time. The man in the red bandana that died that day was Welles Crowther, his body was found next to two firemen, and he was 24 years old. There are some people that, to most appear to be ordinary average American’s. However in times of great peril those few people become extraordinary heroes. There actions have inspired a Nation and given hope to the world.

Social Psychological Forces that Lead to Self-Destruction free essay sample

A discussion of two plays: The Revengers Tragedies by Middleton Thomas and Rowley Williams and The Changeling by Anon and the prevalence of murder and suicide within them. This paper reviews the two plays The Revengers Tragedies, by Middleton Thomas and Rowley Williams, and The Changeling, by Anon and analyzes the social and psychological forces that can be said to be the reasons for the facilitation of the murder and suicide themes that are dominant to both plots.The paper gives an insight into the depths of human want and desire that is the cause of psychopathic and society hating characters. The Revengers Tragedies begins with the protagonist, Vendice, railing the duke, who he holds responsible for the death of his fiance. His brother joins him, bringing to his knowledge the lustful and unacceptable nature of the Dukes younger son, further strengthening. In the immediately following act we learn that the Dukes son, the younger son as he is referred to, is tried for the rape of a certain Lord Antonios wife. We will write a custom essay sample on Social Psychological Forces that Lead to Self-Destruction or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page His mother and Ambitioso defend him, the younger son. Subsequently, as the play proceeds and the plot thickens, we find Vendice scouting around Lussurioso for information under the pretext of being his servant. While in disguise, Vendice discovers that it is actually Lussurioso who is the guilty one; he also further discovers that he, Lussurioso, is now planning to try for Castiza, who is Vendices sister. Vendice also learns of Lussuriosos plans of proceeding to target Gratiana, Vendices mother, in the case of not having any luck with Castiza. Vendice even goes so far as to go to his sister, without disclosing his true identity, with Lussuriosos offer, which is coldly turned down, to the pleasure of Vendice. Her morality and righteousness are clearly illustrated at this point. His mother, however, appears to have more tendencies to sway, suggesting her character to be rather fickle and she is later berated for this by both of her sons. The play builds up with Vendice dressing up the skeleton of his dead fiance, and, proceeding to apply poison to the mouth of the skull, he brings the duke into its presence. The Duke kisses the skull and while he is in his dying throes, Vendice discloses to him the entire scheme, including the fat that Antonios wife poisoned herself after being raped by the Dukes son. At this point, it becomes rather apparent that Vendice and his brother are a vindictive pair and will stop at nothing in order to attain revenge.