Doctor-Assisted Suicide Should be Legalized Essay

â€Å"Dogs do not have many advantages over people, but one of them is extremely important: euthanasia is not forbidden by law in their case; animals have the right to a merciful death.† ― Milan Kundera, The Unbearable Lightness of Being One of the most controversial topics that is being debated today, both morally and legally, is assisted suicide, sometimes known as active euthanasia. Assisted suicide is the act of directly intervening in order to end the life of a terminally ill patient (i.e. administering a large amount of sleeping pills). The word euthanasia, comes from Latin eu for good and thanatos for death (OCRT 1). Many people in this country are existing in a living death, suffering on a day to day basis. The†¦show more content†¦They believe that assisted suicide crosses the moral border into government-condoned killing. The Christian, Jewish, and Muslim religions all seem to strictly discourage assisted suicide, as well as all types of suicide. They stress that life is Gods alone to give, and Gods alone to take (Van Biema 61). Traditional Christian beliefs against suicide were first affirmed by Thomas Aquinas, a writer in the early thirteenth century. He emphasized that suicide (and assisted suic ide) violates ones natural desire to live, harms other people, and that life is Gods gift to give and take (OCRT 2). Not all religions are against suicide, either. Hinduism promotes the taking of ones own life instead of living with dishonor (Flanders 49). Whatever a religion may offer as its belief about suicide, the followers of that religion do not always uphold that belief. At Masada, for example, a sect of fervently religious Jews known as Zealots held off Roman invaders for two years. When it became apparent that defeat was inevitable, their leader convinced the remaining nine hundred and sixty of them to commit suicide (Flanders 5). And Michel de Montaigne, a Christian writer living in France in the mid sixteenth century wrote five essays arguing that suicide is a matter of personal choice, and it is a viable option under some circumstances (OCRT 1). The American support of active euthanasia has been seen in national organizationsShow MoreRelatedAssisted Suicide : Rights And Responsibilities1570 Words   |  7 PagesAssisted Suicide: Rights and Responsibilities A woman suffering from cancer became the first person known to die under the law on physician-assisted suicide in the state of Oregon when she took a lethal dose of drugs in March, 1998. The Oregon Death with Dignity Act passed a referendum in November, 1997, and it has been the United States only law legalizing assisted suicide since then. According to the New England Journal of Medicine, more than 4,000 doctors have approved of the assisted suicideRead MoreEuthanasia And Assisted Suicide Should Be Legalized Essay1221 Words   |  5 Pagesof â€Å" Why active euthanasia and physician assisted suicide should be legalized† suggest that active euthanasia should be legalized because it can end a patient’s suffering, there is not much of a difference between the passive and active euthanasia, and it gives the patient a choice. In the article,â€Å"Why active euthanasia and physician assisted suicide should be legalized†, Len and Lesley Doyal argue that active eutha nasia and physician assisted suicide should be legal in medical practices; I agree thatRead MoreLegalizing Physician Assisted Suicide1140 Words   |  5 Pagescurrent society, legalizing physician assisted suicide is a prevalent argument. In 1997, the Supreme Court recognized no federal constitutional right to physician assisted suicide (Harned 1) , which defines suicide as one receiving help from a physician by means of a lethal dosage (Pearson 1), leaving it up to state legislatures to legalize such practice if desired. Only Oregon and Washington have since legalized physician assisted suicide. People seeking assisted suicide often experience slanted judgmentsRead MoreAssisted Suicide Essay1507 Words   |  7 Pagesï » ¿Assisted Suicide (Euthanasia) There probably isn’t one person that can say that they haven’t watched somebody they love in some way suffer from and ultimately die from some sort of unfortunate disease. Assisted suicide is a very controversial topic in the United States. Physician assisted suicide is defined as suicide committed by a terminally ill person with help from another person. This subject causes many controversies of ethical and moral issues. Some of these issues are that it violatesRead MoreThe Infamous Story Of Dr. Jack Kevorkian1229 Words   |  5 PagesThe infamous story of Dr. Jack Kevorkian is a unique one. Professor Hengameh M. Hosseini wrote how he was a doctor and was one of the first notable physicians to aid in suicide for his patients that wanted it. In 1989 Kevorkian aided in Janet Adkins suicide, his first patient to do so. After many years of helping his patients in this way, Kevorkian got in trouble in 1998 when he got caught administering a lethal injection to Thomas York, a patient who was suffering from Lou Gehrig’s disease and wantedRead MoreAssisted Suicide878 Words   |  4 Pages  2014   Block  5   Persuasive  Essay  Ã‚     Assisted  suicide  is  the  suicide  of  a  person,  done  with  the  help  of  another  person  but   mostly  a  physician.  (Wikipedia)  This  can  be  a  very  debatable  topic  because  it  has  actually  been   legalized  in  different  parts  of  the  world.  By  having  this  act  legalized,  it  doesn’t  really  mean  that   the  assistor  won’t  get  persecuted.  Many  people  may  not  agree  with  my  point  of  view,  but  in  my   opinion  assisted  suicide  should  not  be  legalized  at  all.      First  of  all,  there  are  many  pros  such  as  Read MoreArgumentative Essay : Physician Assisted Suicide Essay1095 Words   |  5 PagesArgumentative Essay: Physician Assisted Suicide, Should it be Legalized? Physician assisted suicide is requested by the terminally ill, typically when the pain from the illness is too much to handle and is not manageable through treatments or other medications. Assisted suicide is more of a broad term for helping someone die a good death, physician assisted suicide is where a medical doctor provides information and medication and the patient then administers the medications themselves. EuthanasiaRead MoreDeath with Dignity Act should be Legalized in Every State775 Words   |  3 Pageseventually lose themselves. These people should have a choice as of whether they want to live out those dreadful days that lie ahead of them, or to simply end their lives peacefully, without any pain. Physician- Assisted Suicide or Euthanasia allows people to make the decision. Although the end-result of both procedures is the same, the technique differs slightly. In Physician- Assisted Suicide, the physician injects the lethal substances, and with Euthanasia, the doctor o nly provides a lethal amount ofRead MoreAssisted Suicide Should Be Managed1273 Words   |  6 PagesAssisted Suicide Brittany Maynard was twenty-nine years old, she had been married for a year when she was diagnosed with brain cancer. Doctors gave her a prognosis of six months to live. After that, Brittany and her family decided to move to Oregon to take advantage of the Death with Dignity Act. On November 1, 2014, Maynard decided to end her life. Assisted suicide is a controversial topic that has been debated for many years. In a few countries, this procedure has already been legalized. ThereRead MorePhysician Assisted Suicide Is Not A Beneficial Treatment For Medical Patients1350 Words   |  6 PagesPhysician-Assisted Suicide Imagine having a relative with a terminal illness; perhaps this person feels that their only option is assisted-suicide. Now, put yourself into their shoes. Would you choose to live the rest of your days in pain, or would you choose to die with a sense of dignity? Physician-assisted suicide has been prohibited for many years and many physicians have given their input on the subject, enlightening many on the fundamentals of assisted-suicide; others have stated their opinions