Through religious, ethical, and philosophical conversations, the topic of suicide has always had a decent amount of controversy surrounding itself by nature. Nowadays, suicide is viewed merely a phenomenon purely in a psychological nature. From a more historical lens, however, tends to bring ethical and religious codes into question. Through Ancient Greece and within the Old Testament, suicide was justified in cases of mental disarray, however, through the Renaissance, mainstream religion started to view the act as “diabolical” [Beattie]. This stigma that started to appear has complicated the issue of assisted, or medically-induced suicide. While seeming like an act that is almost contradictory to a physician’s “Code of Medical Ethics”, a sweeping
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For all of us, the concept of death is a very elusive one, one that we cannot seem to encapsulate without our notion of life, as it is all we know. However, simultaneously, it is easy to understand the desire to end unbearable pain and agony that one may experience at the end of a terminal illness. The burden on the family may not lie on a loved one’s passing, but rather the continuing of their suffering. Moreover, with the increasing development and knowledge about chemicals that ultimately result in death, I believe that a supply of these drugs to a patient by a physician is a more peaceful way of passing, given that consent is achieved between the two. In terms of severe depression and other psychological scenarios, it seems very difficult to make an overarching decision either way. Suicide prevention centers across the world deal primarily with these types of cases, and can often influence a person’s decision away from taking their own life. Because of this, consent between doctor and patient cannot be enough. A possible outcome would be the introduction of a third-party, such as a counsellor or psychologist, into the decision process. Overall, I do believe that the practice should be legalized conditionally, as it is evident that there are certain situations where the ethical line becomes blurry. However, for suffering patients
For all of us, the concept of death is a very elusive one, one that we cannot seem to encapsulate without our notion of life, as it is all we know. However, simultaneously, it is easy to understand the desire to end unbearable pain and agony that one may experience at the end of a terminal illness. The burden on the family may not lie on a loved one’s passing, but rather the continuing of their suffering. Moreover, with the increasing development and knowledge about chemicals that ultimately result in death, I believe that a supply of these drugs to a patient by a physician is a more peaceful way of passing, given that consent is achieved between the two. In terms of severe depression and other psychological scenarios, it seems very difficult to make an overarching decision either way. Suicide prevention centers across the world deal primarily with these types of cases, and can often influence a person’s decision away from taking their own life. Because of this, consent between doctor and patient cannot be enough. A possible outcome would be the introduction of a third-party, such as a counsellor or psychologist, into the decision process. Overall, I do believe that the practice should be legalized conditionally, as it is evident that there are certain situations where the ethical line becomes blurry. However, for suffering patients