A Stand Against Assisted Suicide - Essay - 2378 Words

A Stand Against Assisted Suicide Assisted suicide is a highly controversial topic. Assisted suicide is when, upon request, a doctor prescribes a lethal dose of medication to a terminally ill patient so that the patient can kill him or herself. In other words, a doctor provides the means for a patient to commit suicide. A form of assisted suicide is euthanasia. Euthanasia is when the doctor intentionally kills the patient with the intentions of ending the patient’s suffering; mercy killing. Although there have been many Supreme Court rulings on assisted suicide and the practice of euthanasia, it is legal in some states like Oregon and Washington. The practice of assisted suicide is done under the term â€Å"terminally ill.† There is no†¦show more content†¦This includes not only physical safety but also the sense of security. When a doctor assists in suicide, people believe that the patient was pressured by the doctor into doing it; therefore breaking the trust bond that patients have with their medical staff. Another important reason to ban assisted suicide is that terminally ill patients may decide upon assisted suicide while they are mentally unwell. Being termed â€Å"terminally ill† has many mentally devastating consequences for most patients. They are disheartened to hear that they will soon die from their disease. In most cases, this leads to severe depression. While under such overwhelming depression, patients are in a very vulnerable state of mind, making any decision they make questionable. Many patients feel pressure from themselves, loved ones, or even from their attending doctors, to end their life, as it is a burden on those around them. Depression is not the only factor that affects the mind of the terminally ill. Most patients with terminal diseases are in unimaginable chronic pain and are under an aggressive regime of pain medication. The affects of such an amount of medication can definitely take its toll on t he human mind. Even though the high amount of pain medication does offer some relief of pain, for most patients, it does not eliminate it completely. Therefore, on top of depression and painShow MoreRelated Rebutting Arguments to Legalize Euthanasia or Assisted Suicide1711 Words   |  7 PagesLegalize Euthanasia or Assisted Suicide      Ã‚   This essay focuses on several of the most common arguments in favor of the legalization of euthanasia or assisted suicide - and rebuts them. The language is simple, or, as they say, in laymans terms so as to be easily understandable. 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Due to the physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia law, terminally ill patients have been requesting physician-assisted suicide moreRead MorePhysician Assisted Suicide Essay1799 Words   |  8 PagesAssisted Suicide A controversial human rights issue in modern society is the right to die, an issue that has much to do with the way that human beings relate to society at large, the notion that a man has ownership of their own body, and the obligations set forth in the Hippocratic oath and medical ethics. Physician assisted suicide, or the right to die as those in the pro-assisted suicide movement call it, divides two very different kinds of people into two camps. One’s opinion on the subject