PHI 103 Final
Should Physician-Assisted Suicide Be Legal?
Eileen K. Cordova
PHI 103
Instuctor James Hardy
July 11, 2013
SHOULD PHYSICIAN ASSISTED SUICIDE BE LEGAL Physician-assisted suicide has been a controversial topic for over a decade now. In today’s society, physician-assisted suicide brings so many ehtical questions as such, who is the true owner of our lives? Should releiving pain and suffering always be the highest priority, or does it occure for a reason? Is God really the Beginning and the End, Alpha and Omega, and the Creator of heaven and earth, including our lives? After all, it states in the Holy Bible that God is in control of our lives, and He tells us we all have a purpose in this world, right? If that’s true, then it is His decision when our time here on earth is up, not our own? There are no clear answers as to whether or not physician-assisted suicide be legalized, mostly because this is an ethical issue that is dependent on an individual’s values, morals, beliefs, religion, and personal experiences. Therefore, the debate on whether physician-assisted suicide should be legal, will most likely remain just that, a debate. Many people oppose the issue of legalizing of physician-assisted suicide on the ground that (as they think) there is no way of sustaining the practice so as to provide adequate protection’s for the poor and the weak, They might be right, and if they are, then all bets are off. Alternatively, they may be wrong. Physician-assisted suicide presents one of the greater contemporary challenges to the medical profession’s ethical responsibilities. Proposed as a mean to humane care of the dying, asssisted suicide threatens the very core of the medical profession’s ethical integrity. Broad public debate was sparked in June of 1990, when Dr. Jack Keverkian assisted in the suicide of Janet Atkins (NY Times, June 6, 1990: A1). The debate advanced in March, 1991, when Dr. Timothy McQuill disclosed
Eileen K. Cordova
PHI 103
Instuctor James Hardy
July 11, 2013
SHOULD PHYSICIAN ASSISTED SUICIDE BE LEGAL Physician-assisted suicide has been a controversial topic for over a decade now. In today’s society, physician-assisted suicide brings so many ehtical questions as such, who is the true owner of our lives? Should releiving pain and suffering always be the highest priority, or does it occure for a reason? Is God really the Beginning and the End, Alpha and Omega, and the Creator of heaven and earth, including our lives? After all, it states in the Holy Bible that God is in control of our lives, and He tells us we all have a purpose in this world, right? If that’s true, then it is His decision when our time here on earth is up, not our own? There are no clear answers as to whether or not physician-assisted suicide be legalized, mostly because this is an ethical issue that is dependent on an individual’s values, morals, beliefs, religion, and personal experiences. Therefore, the debate on whether physician-assisted suicide should be legal, will most likely remain just that, a debate. Many people oppose the issue of legalizing of physician-assisted suicide on the ground that (as they think) there is no way of sustaining the practice so as to provide adequate protection’s for the poor and the weak, They might be right, and if they are, then all bets are off. Alternatively, they may be wrong. Physician-assisted suicide presents one of the greater contemporary challenges to the medical profession’s ethical responsibilities. Proposed as a mean to humane care of the dying, asssisted suicide threatens the very core of the medical profession’s ethical integrity. Broad public debate was sparked in June of 1990, when Dr. Jack Keverkian assisted in the suicide of Janet Atkins (NY Times, June 6, 1990: A1). The debate advanced in March, 1991, when Dr. Timothy McQuill disclosed
References: Battle, J.C. (2003). Legal states of physician assisted suicide. JAMA, (289(17), 2279-81 Retrieved from: https://search.proquest.com/docview/211384092?accountid=32521 Ethics, Vol.109, No.3 (April 1999). Pp.497-518. The University of Chicago Press Retrieved from: http://www/jstor.org/stable/10.1086/233919 Keown, J. (2000). Physician-Assisted Suicide: Expanding the debate. Journal of Medical Ethics, 26(4), 291.