Shamaila Sajid

Satonja Scott

Applied Ethics

Physician Assisted Suicide

Physician Assisted suicide is a procedure where a terminal ill person take his own life. The physician provides the necessary means or information and patient performs the task to end his life. Some of professionals who advocate Physician assisted suicide believe that patients has right to do with his and her body and it is doctor s duty to relieve the patient from suffering.

Physician Assisted suicide has some controversy issue that goes against ethics and medical rules. Many years of debates over Physician Assisted suicide have changed how the people were used to think about this issue. This is the reason it is growing very fast among many segments of the American people.

Dr. Jack Kevorkian was the first doctor who introduced assisted suicide openly. He was chief pathologist in Detroit and spent his whole life to advocating Physician Assisted suicide; even he opened suicide clinic and helps more than 130 people to end their life.

Physician assisted suicide legal in Oregon, Washington and Montana. Oregon was the first to pass the Death with Dignity Act in 1997. Washington passed the Death with Dignity Act in 2008, and Montana passed the Rights of Terminally Ill Act in 2009

When we are talking about end of life care, there are two concepts: Physician Assisted suicide and euthanasia In euthanasia, physician does an act, which causes patients death. For example, putting a plastic bag over patients s head to kill him. This act would be considering euthanasia. On the other hand, in physician-assisted suicide, physician only provide lethal dose for the purpose of causing death.

There are many arguments that are against physician-assisted suicide: Like an every other controversy topics, it has some pros and cons. There is no doubt to say that suicide is wrong and even for the sick person. But it eliminates the suffering of terminal ill person. It takes less than two minute to end the life. As we know to keep a dying patient alive is very expensive. Physician assisted suicide can reduce the medical expenses. With the death of patient, not only patient sufferings ends, his family burden and suffering also reduce.

The biggest reason to to say, No to end care life is; human life must be very special to any society. It is ethically wrong and no one has right to end his life. By practicing assisted suicide, peoples trust on miracle could diminish. A doctor can also make mistakes like every other person in the world. A wrong

diagnosis could lead to make suicidal decision of a savable person. Physicians should not have right to play GOD and decide who can live for how long and wholl die in certain period. It is incompatible with the healing goals of medicine. Beside the ethical and moral beliefs, there is not any religion on earth that supports euthanasia. Doctor is saver of humankind and helping to end a life should not be acceptable. When a doctor serving euthanasia to patients, physician violated Hippocratic oath which says do not Harm. Legalization of assisted suicide can leads down killing of the ill, weak, and disabled people.

Physician assisted suicide made tremendous strides in the 1990s. The future of Physicians assisted seems pretty fast. After legalization of euthanasia in three states, legislation to legalize assisted suicide has been introduced each year in several states. Every year number of voters increased to support assisted suicide. The concept of dying with dignity motivates the people. But I believe there is still a long way to go.

A considerable body of law has been built up to avoid the abuse. Legalization in states can create a new way elderly abuse. This has happened in Oregon, where persons labeled terminal have not only been denied coverage for treatment; they have been offered coverage for suicide instead. [41] The most well-known case involves Barbara Wagner, who had lung cancer.[42] The Oregon Health Plan refused to pay for a drug to possibly prolong her life and offered to pay for her suicide instead.[43] Overall ,Legalization in states discourage people from seeking cures.

So in conclusion, physician assisted suicide is wrong approach to end life. The choice of whether to live or die is not a lifestyle one. By favoring assisted suicide, we not are valuing the human life. Most people choose to end their life because they are in pain or afraid of being in pain. Thats why terminal ill person should have access to aggressive pain control. Some of our political, and religious departments are struggling to mark down the consideration of end-of-life care. I think people need to renewed religious believes, this way they can find meaning in death. Without the fundamental transformation, arguments for physician-assisted suicide will continue to appeal too many--in spite of the slippery slope they entail for us all

Work cited

Dougherty, Charles J. "What's Wrong with Physician-Assisted Suicide?" Newsletter. N.p., 1997. Web. 02 May 2013. <http://moses.creighton.edu/CSRS/news/F97-2.html>.

Dore, Margaret K. "Margaret K. Dore, P.S." Physician-Assisted Suicide: A Recipe for Elder Abuse and the Illusion of Personal Choice. N.p., 2011. Web. 02 May 2013. <http://www.margaretdore.com/vermont.cfm>.