Assisted Suicide Ethical Essay

Great Essays
The agony, the suffering, the painful knowledge of knowing you are going to die with excruciating pain, with no say in what happens to them, as you just watch your time run out. Assisted suicide grants someone the choice of a life or death decision in a more ethical way. Assisted suicide and suicide are two different things. Suicide is where an individual takes his/her life in a manner that is referred to as being inhumane such as hanging or a gunshot. Assisted suicide is where a professional physician gives you a lethal dose of pills that you have to be able to swallow to end your life peacefully rather than suffering until your death. Today physician assisted suicide is legal in Montana, Oregon, Washington,Vermont, and recently California in the United States, around the world it is legal in Belgium, Colombia, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, and Switzerland. Assisted suicide should be legal in all countries and nation because it leads to a more compassionate society, it is a freedom that grants freedom and peace of mind to an individual, despite religion, and suffering is unnecessary. Having control over your life and how you carry it out gives you dignity and pride leading to a more understanding society. Legalizing assisted suicide leads to many feeling they have a choice and say in what happens to them leading to a more compassionate society. An event in Belgium lead to an international debate and outrage over the topic. Two identical twin brothers were euthanized by doctors, but were not terminally ill. “If we believe in the right to life, shouldn’t we likewise accept that people have a right to dispose of that life, regardless of health considerations, whenever and however they want?” (Cartwright 1).The two twins were born deaf and were recently told by doctors that they were both going to go blind. They were so distraught with the whole situation they could not bear to not be able to hear or see each other, so they decided to end their lives together by assisted suicide (Siebold 2). They took control over their lives and were very pleased with their decision because they knew life would be unbearable trying to live without ever seeing or hearing again and no one wants to live that way. These twins knew it was going to be their time to go and this sparked a debate because they were not terminally ill. The debate is they should not have done that, but No one should be able to dictate how much suffering an individual must endure (Angell 1). We live a life where we can control almost every choice, but we can rarely control choices that involve our life. You make the decision to kill an animal so, “For animals, it is humane; for humans, it’s a capital offense” (Siebold 2). The twins ended …show more content…
Allowing assisted suicide gives people the dignity, pride of having a say in deciding on how they want to go and people who suffer. It gives everyone an equal opportunity to opt of of their suffering if it is to become legalized. One lady’s Uncle Valentino passed away peacefully, but after several months of painful struggle after having both of his feet amputated. He suffered, he was not allowed to find a way out, he was bed ridden slowly drifting away. He was living like he was already dead. “If you have ever lost someone you loved to suicide, you know how very determined they can be” (Williams 3). As Williams states, people start taking their own lives inhumanely, whether it would be by hanging or a gunshot the suffering they carry is just unbearable to live with, so they find their own way out. This is not a safe or humane way to leave, which is why the choice should be legalized. Equal opportunity would be given if legalized because everyone would then have the option to decide what happens with their life. The state tells people how to die, society puts people in a job and tells them how to basically spend their money, pay taxes, and live with no consideration for individual choice (Jenkins 1). Society is controlling. People should have the ability to control at least whether they live or die and in the end it is their live and no one else 's, but their choice. Should anyone being able to have a choice in how they die be a question

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Physician-assisted suicide is the act of a physician providing a patient that meets certain criteria, normally a terminally ill patient, with the means and information to end their own lives. Patients are prescribed medication and choose when or if they are going to take them. A physician doesn’t have to be present at the time of the administration of the drug. It’s legal in four U.S states and one county; Oregon, Washington, Montana, Vermont, and Bernalillo County in New Mexico. Physicians are not required to provide the information and prescription medication to patients.…

    • 1589 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Some, who only have six months or less to live would consider receiving physician assisted suicide over having their illness slowly kill them. Physician assisted suicide is when a doctor prescribes a lethal pill to a patient that has a terminal illness. It is only prescribed if the patient asks for it and if the patient only has six months or less to live. Physician assisted suicide is only legalized in California, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington. Every other state in the United States have prohibited physician assisted suicide.…

    • 1308 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Assisted Suicide

    • 1017 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Even though assisted suicide is relatively new to our society, it dates back centuries. Assisted suicide is the suicide of a patient suffering from an incurable disease, affected by the taking of lethal drugs prescribed by a doctor. In the past, in other countries and undercover in the U.S. some take the means of Euthanasia to end their life, done directly by the doctor injecting the killing medication. Supporters of assisted suicide today, believe The Declaration of Independence approves due to the message of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Assisted suicide should be accepted throughout the United States because of the patient’s dignity, the financial burden, and the excruciating pain.…

    • 1017 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    There is many pros and cons on this topic, however there is ways that everyone can get along on the topic. The cons can be that there will be turmoil in society, people who were looking to get into medicine for a career may be turned away, people would trust their physicians less, and the laws and guidelines won’t be in place right after legalization. However the pros can be, less suffrage for both the patient and family, people can die with less pain than other forms of suicide, and some may see physicians even more helpful. PAS is legalized in few areas, however is being discussed in politics around the…

    • 1733 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    There has been many controversies over whether physician ­assisted suicide should be legal or not. Many people believe that it is morally wrong and should be unconstitutional. Individuals who support physician assisted suicide argue that it cuts costs, ends pain and suffering, and is not morally wrong. Physician­ assisted suicide is a controversial procedure that should be accepted, legally and morally as it is cost saving, and eliminates suffering from individual’s lives. If legalized, physician ­assisted suicide has “potential cost savings” (Emanuel, 1998, p. 1).…

    • 1359 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Physician-Assisted Suicide Essay Outline I. Introduction - There is a controversial debate throughout the United States for the last decade regarding physician-assisted suicide for terminally ill patients, many believe having a Doctor prescribe a self-administered lethal drug to a patient is diminishing the value of life. While others believe this method should be the patients’ right to choice when the pain and suffering from a life threatening illness should cease. II. Main Point # 1 - Will Physician-…

    • 824 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    With a law that allows for assisted dying, family members can find comfort in knowing that the person they care about has control over how long they can continue to endure the pain and discuss how they plan to end it. Assisted dying also allows for families and friends to prepare for the aftermath of the death of their loved one. They can plan for a funeral or another commemorative ceremony properly because they are spared of the total shock and horror of knowing that somebody they love died. For these reasons, I believe assisted dying should be an option for all…

    • 750 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Physician Assisted Suicide

    • 1465 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Physician-assisted suicide should be legalized for those with a condition that is causing them suffering or cannot be treated. This practice is illegal in most countries due to the overwhelming misunderstanding on the idea and the odd obsession with forcing people to survive against their will. Hopefully through educating the public on what assisted suicide is, what conditions meet the requirements for assisted suicide, and how the procedure actually goes, the practice will be legalized and help those who are suffering and their families. So, what is assisted suicide?…

    • 1465 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    On November 1st 2014, Brittany Maynard laid in bed surrounded by loved ones. She had chosen this day to drink the fatal dose of medication she was prescribed. She no longer wanted to suffer from head and neck pains, surgeries, seizures, and stroke like symptoms she endured from her terminal brain cancer. She had to leave her home state and make a whole new life in Oregon months prior. She states,” I had to find new physicians, establish residency in Portland, search for a new home, obtain a new driver 's license, change my voter registration and enlist people to take care of our animals, and my husband, Dan, had to take a leave of absence from his job.”…

    • 1821 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Physician assisted suicide, also know as PAS, has always been a very controversial topic. Physician assisted suicide has been exercised throughout history and still is today in a few states in America. These states include Washington, Oregon, New Mexico, Montana, and Vermont. Physician assisted suicide is similar to euthanasia except instead of the physician performing the act of ending a life the patient does. At the patient 's request, a physician may help someone in extreme pain or suffering by helping them to end their life peacefully and without pain.…

    • 1850 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    There are a few valid points on disagreeing with assisted suicide such as the sanctity of life and receiving high-quality palliative care that make the topic argumentative. Death with Dignity should be legalized in more states to help those who are suffering, those who can no longer go on with the terminal illness they are fighting, and to end their long lasting hospital bills. Many patients who seek this should not have to change residences, especially since it causes more out-of-pocket…

    • 1328 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The essence of becoming a doctor is to care for and salvage human life. Legalizing assisted suicide would completely change the meaning of being a doctor by allowing the people who do all they can to save lives to legally have the permission to end lives. Finally, I believe that assisted suicide should be illegal because there always a chance, even if it is slim, that a person can survive an illness. Though some people are considered to be “terminally ill”, they still have the hope of living through the sickness. Though surviving a terminal illness may not be considered probable, the possibility of living is always something to live…

    • 1173 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Assisted suicide takes the stress off the family. It’s hard to watch someone you love slowly slip away and know that they are in pain. Andrew Solomon states in his book The Noonday Demon about his mother “One of her best friends had died of cancer, screaming in a hospital bed, and my own mother would not be doing the same thing.” In this quote it shows how much pain his mother went though watching her friend die suffering; that he and his other kin didn’t want to bear the pain that there mother did watching her friend die. This kind of situation makes it’s easy to grieve knowing that your loved passed away like they wanted.…

    • 1025 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Assisted suicide: suicide committed by someone with assistance from another person, many think it’s unethical but fail to consider the circumstances of the people that request it (“A Right” 2015). It is now legal in several countries and a few U.S. states including: Belgium, Canada, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Switzerland, California, Montana, Oregon, Washington, and Vermont (Kafer 2016). Although it’s legal in some places, there are many requirements and steps to applying for assisted suicide. These requirements are enforced by acts, such as the Termination of Life on Request and Assisted Suicide Act and the Death with Dignity Act (Friedman 2007). Most of the acts written to legalize assisted suicide in the United States were written in the early 2000’s, which is fairly recent.…

    • 1050 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    You wouldn’t say to an alcoholic, you’re just thirsty and that’s why you drink excessively, so why would an eating disorder fanatic be amused by the fun of trying to lose weight. Nurses’ puzzle, bemused. Therapists probe. Parents blame themselves. Friends step backwards.…

    • 1893 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Improved Essays