Essay The Right to Assisted Suicide - 2100 Words

The Right to Assisted Suicide Recently, a terminally ill British woman lost a high-profile court battle to take her own life in a test case of whether Britain will permit assisted suicide. Wheelchair-bound Diane Pretty, a 43-year-old mother of two, has waged a lengthy legal fight to allow her husband to kill her without being prosecuted. Pretty, who contracted motor neuron disease two years ago, which is a muscle-wasting disease, lost her bid to have an assisted suicide. She has had every type of medical treatment available, but they have all failed her and her last wish was to be allowed to die. (BBC; November 28, 2001) The pro-euthanasia lobby backed her and saw her case as their best chance of changing the law.†¦show more content†¦Using this distinction, if a third party performs the last act that intentionally causes a patients death, euthanasia has occurred. For example, giving a person a lethal injection or putting a plastic bag over their head to suffocate them would be considered euthanasia. On the other hand, if the person who dies performs the last act, assisted suicide has taken place. Thus it would be assisted suicide if a person swallows an overdose of drugs that has been provided by a doctor for the purpose of causing death. It would also be assisted suicide if a patient pushes a switch to trigger a fatal injection after the doctor has inserted an intravenous needle into the patients vein. Euthanasia is legal in only a few places. Oregon, the Netherlands and Belgium are the only jurisdictions in the world where laws specifically permit euthanasia or assisted suicide. Oregon permits assisted suicide. The Netherlands and Belgium permit both euthanasia and assisted suicide. (Euthanasia Info 2) Euthanasia and assisted suicide is a major issue in our society today. There are many reasons why people want to end their life by committing suicide, either by themselves, or with the aid of someone else. First, some are severely depressed over a long period of time. To them, suicide may be a permanent solution to a temporary problem. Also, people who live in excessive, chronic pain, some due to povertyShow MoreRelatedThe Rights Of Assisted Suicide966 Words   |  4 PagesDying Your Way: The Right to Choose Assisted Suicide Introduction Death has a finality to it that gives even the most cynical person a reason to pause. The possibility of death is always present, the elephant in the room. Prior to the twentieth century, before the leaps and bounds of modern medical care, people worried about the possibility of dying more often. Childhood diseases could strike and take a beloved child away at any moment, affecting two or more homes in the same community. Today childrenRead MoreThe Right Of Assisted Suicide Essay1615 Words   |  7 PagesThe right to assisted suicide is a huge topic that worries humans all around the usa. The debates go from side to side approximately whether or not a death patient has the proper to die with the assistance of a physician. some are in opposition to it due to religious and ethical motives. Others are for it because of their compassion and respect for the dying. Physicians are also divided on the issue. They differ where they area the line that separates alleviation from death--and k illing. for manyRead MoreThe Rights Of Assisted Suicide Essay1584 Words   |  7 PagesThe Right To Die With Dignity Assisted suicide is the act of committing suicide with the help of another person or doctor, most commonly referred to as Physician Assisted Suicide. It is currently legal in Oregon, Washington, Vermont, Montana, California, and Colorado. 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With multiple cases occurring in the past, current and the more to occur the in the future, this looksRead MoreAssisted Suicide : Rights And Responsibilities1570 Words   |  7 PagesAssisted Suicide: Rights and Responsibilities A woman suffering from cancer became the first person known to die under the law on physician-assisted suicide in the state of Oregon when she took a lethal dose of drugs in March, 1998. The Oregon Death with Dignity Act passed a referendum in November, 1997, and it has been the United States only law legalizing assisted suicide since then. According to the New England Journal of Medicine, more than 4,000 doctors have approved of the assisted suicideRead MoreThe Right to Assisted Suicide Essay937 Words   |  4 Pagesrespect your elder’s wishes? It is a cruel reality we live in when ability to choose the time of our demise, especially for terminal patients, is not seen as a personal right to be acted upon, but to be shunned as a taboo. This is why assisted-suicide, the contraction of a third-party to provide the materials necessary to commit suicide, should be legalized; it would allow both terminal and permanently disabled patients an escape from the mental, emotional, ph ysical pain of useless treatments, andRead MoreAssisted Suicide : Right Or Wrong?880 Words   |  4 PagesHillard 01/14/15 Nursing Roles I Professor Rodgers Assisted Suicide: Right or Wrong? The article I selected is called Assisted Suicide: Right or Wrong? By: Claire Andre and Manuel Velasquez. This article talked about a researcher named Matthew Donnely. For over 30 years Matthew conducted research on x-rays. Matthew was diagnosed with a terminal skin cancer. During his battle with cancer he had lost his nose, his left hand, two fingers on his right hand and part of his jaw (Andre Velasquez). 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