Preview

Should A Patient Be Allowed To End Their Life

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
244 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Should A Patient Be Allowed To End Their Life
If a patient wishes to end their life then they should only be allowed under certain circumstances. If allowed then it must be after prolonged suffering from a disease in which there is no reversible cure. Also, these request should only be approved if the patient themselves has the capacity to make such an autonomous decision, as Powell and Lowenstein state. In order for it to be autonomous it must oblige by being intentional, based on sufficient understanding, sufficiently free of external constraints and sufficiently free of internal constraints. If the patient proves all premises to be true then they should be allowed to end their life. If this is not the case then there must be physiological and social constraints hindering such decision-making,
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Arguments Against Euthanasia
    • 920 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Arguments Against Euthanasia

    Euthanasia the assisted killing of a terminal patient is a controversial topic that medical professionals cannot avoid. Many health professionals face the ethical dilemma of whether or not they should end a patient’s misery. Patient’s rights are always the top priority, doctors are taught to find every possible way to treat and cure the patient, but the possibility of the patient being irremediable to what extent is the health care professionals willing to go to give the patient their wishes?…

    • 920 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Pros And Cons Of Physician Assisted Suicide
    • 575 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Pros And Cons Of Physician Assisted Suicide

    Not all terminally ill patients will choose this option, but it should be available for those who want it. Coping with the diagnosis of a terminal illness is difficult for both the patient and the patient’s loved ones and it only becomes more difficult as the disease progresses. Being given the ability to decide when to die allows the patient to feel a sense of dignity and control during a time when he or she may not have control over anything else in life. Not only does physician-assisted suicide provide a sense of relief to the patient, it provides relief to family and friends. Watching a loved one die is one of the most challenging things to endure in life. It only becomes more challenging when forced to watch a loved one die a slow and painful death. Physician-assisted suicide can provide closure to everyone involved in a situation dealing with a terminal illness; therefore, it must become legal in all fifty…

    • 575 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Brittany Maynard's Physician Assisted Suicide
    • 718 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Brittany Maynard's Physician Assisted Suicide

    emphasizing patient autonomy in bioethics and law. It is argued that the decision to end one’s life…

    • 718 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    persuasive essay arguing for physician assisted suicide, 481 words. includes disqualifications for opposing points of view, seperationg of church and state in america
    • 477 Words
    • 2 Pages

    persuasive essay arguing for physician assisted suicide, 481 words. includes disqualifications for opposing points of view, seperationg of church and state in america

    Physician assisted suicide is based on an ideal of conscious responsibility and control over one's life. In some circumstances when modern medicine cannot ease the physical and/or psychological suffering of a terminally ill patient, forcibly prolonging life is cruel and unnecessary. In such cases, the doctor does more harm by keeping the patient alive against his wishes than by helping him die. A terminally ill person may not want to live "superficially" with the help of modern medical advances since the quality of his life will dramatically decrease. Physical pain is not the only element of suffering; emotional distress is an equally serious concern for those considering physician-assisted suicide. It should not be the place of anyone other than the patient to determine what constitutes intolerable suffering.…

    • 477 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Quality of Life and Functioning for End of Life Care
    • 1801 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Quality of Life and Functioning for End of Life Care

    For instance, euthanasia may be seen as assisted suicide or having the right to choose when a patients’ quality of life is too diminished. Choosing when to withhold life saving treatment is also a very personal choice and opinions about the appropriate time can be extremely diverse from patient to family to friends to healthcare providers. Patients choosing to continue detrimental behaviors and actions, that may have resulted in the terminal illness, can also prove to be frustrating to nurses and family providing support and care.…

    • 1801 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Physician-Assisted Suicide - an Utilitarian Perspective
    • 1475 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Physician-Assisted Suicide - an Utilitarian Perspective

    Physician-assisted suicide is “the voluntary termination of one's own life by administration of a lethal substance with the direct or indirect assistance of a physician. Physician-assisted suicide is the practice of providing a competent patient with a prescription for medication for the patient to use with the primary intention of ending his or her own life” (MedicineNet.com, 2004). Many times this ethical issue arises when a terminally-ill patient with and incurable illness, whom is given little time to live, usually less than six-months, has requested a physician’s assistance in terminating one’s life. This practice with the terminally ill is known as euthanasia. Physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia is a controversial topic that brings up many ethical issues and the rights of the patients the physicians serve. Many questions arise when this topic is discussed. For example, does an individual have the right to end their life, if prolonging it will only cause more pain and suffering? Should families, who do not want to lose a loved one, be allowed to prolong the pain in the life of a terminally ill family member so they do not experience loss? Is this more or less ethical than letting the person die? This paper will examine why terminally-ill patients should be allowed to make decisions regarding their care and their life. This paper will examine a utilitarian perspective on physician-aided suicide, which provides a solid argument for allowing physician-assisted suicides in certain circumstances.…

    • 1475 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Removal of Life Support Pros and Cons
    • 1284 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Removal of Life Support Pros and Cons

    If further therapies to prolong life "do not offer a reasonable hope of benefit or entail an excessive burden", they may be refused by the family. (Rev. O ' Rourke, 2005). The intention intrinsic in an act of this nature does not constitute suicide or euthanasia. Rather, it is an act whose moral object may be accurately described as "allowing to die for legitimate reasons." When a person chooses to have life support withheld or removed, or when a proxy makes the decision, the decision maker is not making a choice in favor of death. Rather, an indirect choice is made about when the patient will die, "taking into account the state of the sick person and his or her physical and moral resources." (Somerville, 2010).…

    • 1284 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Euthanasia Ethical Dilemma
    • 2102 Words
    • 9 Pages

    Euthanasia Ethical Dilemma

    Euthanasia is a social issue in today’s world because not only does it affect the lives of those who are terminally ill and/or comatose, and the physicians who have been entrusted with their care, but it also affects the patient’s ability to have control over their own life, whether they are aware of this decision or not, which is one of the reasons why euthanasia has become such a controversial issue around the globe. Caddell and Newton (1995) define euthanasia as “any treatment initiated by a physician with the intent of hastening the death of another human being who is terminally ill and in severe pain or distress with the motive of relieving that person from great suffering” (p. 1,672). Even though the concept of great…

    • 2102 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Physician Assisted Suicide - Essay
    • 1959 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Physician Assisted Suicide - Essay

    Although there are several debates against this view point, it is not up to anyone else to make decisions of the ill and infirm. As such it should be recognized that “patients have a right to make their own decisions to preserve free choice and human dignity: this right includes the right to choose assisted suicide” (Ersek 48). Further more having access to physician assisted suicide allows the patient to maintain control over their situation and to end life in an ethical and merciful manner. Even though the benefits of physician assisted suicide for the terminally ill patients are greatly significant, there is still great debate over it. These include the responsibility of the medical community and those of the religious community. It is necessary to look at both sides of the view to understand this, but more importantly take in to fact of the rights of the individual in pain due to terminal illness.…

    • 1959 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    The Right to Choose Physician-Assisted Suicide
    • 1575 Words
    • 7 Pages

    The Right to Choose Physician-Assisted Suicide

    Choosing the time to die is a very sensitive and controversial topic of around the world and as people suffering from terminal illness make the hard choices to seek an end to their suffering, governments debate the legality, ethics, and morality of physician-assisted suicide. As thousands of people around the world suffer from terminal illnesses, it is important to explore options that allow people to make the choice to die on their terms and physician-assisted suicide is one option for people looking to end their lives on their terms with dignity.…

    • 1575 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Physician Assisted Suicide Research Paper
    • 1112 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Physician Assisted Suicide Research Paper

    The right to physician-assisted suicide is a very controversial topic that concerns many people all over the world. There has been much debate about whether a terminally ill patient has the right to die with the assistance of a physician. Physician-assisted suicide is defined as a physician providing a patient with means to kill themselves. The doctor would prescribe a lethal dose of medication to the patient to end their life. From the Utilitarian standpoint, physician-assisted suicide is morally acceptable because the patients should be allowed to end there suffering, reduce the damaging financial…

    • 1112 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Physician Assisted Suicide Argumentative Analysis
    • 1640 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Physician Assisted Suicide Argumentative Analysis

    Physician assisted suicide is a highly controversial bioethical issue that has been increasingly debated in recent years. Advocates of physician assisted suicide argue that it champions patient autonomy and reduces suffering while opposers suggest the benefits outweigh the risks and that there are other acceptable alternatives to the practice. This paper attempts to demonstrate the permissibility of physician assisted suicide as a regulated, medically reliable end-of-life option that can help end the suffering of individuals struggling with terminal illnesses. This will be achieved while still providing a comprehensive view of both opponents’ and supporters’ perspectives on the issue, specifically regarding the nature of the death that comes…

    • 1640 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Physician Assisted Suicide
    • 3170 Words
    • 13 Pages

    Physician Assisted Suicide

    This showed that physician assisted suicide could relieve such patients from the suffering. Based on the debate on physical assisted suicide, the proponents of the debate have appealed for legalizing physical assisted suicide. Their arguments have basically been founded on principle of autonomy (Birnbacher, 2008). The supporters have maintained that terminally ill patients should be provided an expansive room to either extricate themselves or control the end point of their lives (Humphry, 2005). This should be guided by the level of pain they undergo.…

    • 3170 Words
    • 13 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Physician Assisted Suicide
    • 2127 Words
    • 9 Pages

    Physician Assisted Suicide

    Death, while a reality for all people, is still a frightening and unknown experience. That is one of the reasons that physician-assisted suicide is such a complex topic. However, when one is faced with the prospect of witnessing the suffering of a terminally ill loved one and watching them experience unbearable pain, despite the known fact that they will never again be healthy, the issue becomes less complex. Whether an actual experience or an imagined one, it is one of the worst situations an individual can endure. If offered the possibility to end the suffering and relieve the patient or loved one from pain, would you be supportive or would you leave them to suffer? Physician-assisted suicide could be the answer for the select few patients who meet strict requirements and who are in need of relief. Physician-assisted suicide refers to a practice in which a physician provides a competent, terminally ill patient with a prescription for a lethal dose of medication, upon the patient 's request, which the patient intends to use to end his or her own life. (Black) Here is where the controversy arises: should terminally ill patients have the right to choose when to end their lives? Due to the facts that physician-assisted suicide can be constructed to have reasonable laws that ensure it will not be abused and protect the value of human life, relieve suffering patients, and allow citizens in need to exercise their fundamental freedoms to the right of death, physician-assisted suicide should be a legal practice in the United States.…

    • 2127 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Physician-Assisted Suicide
    • 2570 Words
    • 11 Pages

    Physician-Assisted Suicide

    Pain and suffering is unique to each individual. Even with excellent care, symptom management sometimes falls short in alleviating the suffering at the end of life. Only the individual can determine if he or she is able or willing to endure that suffering. In order to provide full autonomy and spectrum of choice for patients, physician-assisted suicide that is legal with standards of care to protect all parties should be in place.…

    • 2570 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More

Related Topics