The Fight Over Assisted Suicide - 1746 Words

Over the last thirty years the fight over assisted suicide has earned a spot in the national spotlight, for both positive and negative reasons depending on your stance on the issue. There have been challenges made based off the constitution, the right to privacy and moral reasons for both sides. While there have been many notable persons of interest during this time some have helped the cause as others have hindered progress. There have been attempts to challenge physician assisted suicide based off the Fourteenth amendment of the constitution and the Due Process Clause. Those in favor have argued that in not allowing people access to physician assisted suicide is a violation of the Due Process Clause which was heard during the case of Cruzan v. Director, Missouri Department of Health in which the Supreme Court ruled it was the patients right to refuse medical treatment, even if refusal would lead to death (Cruzan v. Director, MHD). The Supreme Court also heard the case of Washington v. Glucksberg in 1997 during which time there were four physicians arguing that Washington’s assisted suicide ban was unconstitutional because it violated the Fourteenth Amendments Due Process Clause by placing undue burden of the liberty. The case was being arguing on behalf of four terminally ill patients. It was ruled by the Supreme Court at that time that assisted suicide is not a â€Å"right† under the fund amental liberties of the amendment (Washington v. Glucksberg). The Supreme Court alsoShow MoreRelatedEssay on Physician Assisted Suicide903 Words   |  4 PagesPhysician assisted suicide/dying (PAD) is it good or bad? PAD is referred to when physician provides patients who are terminally ill with prescriptions of a lethal dose of medication, upon the patient’s request, which the patient intends to use to end their own life (Merriam-Webster Dictionary, 2011); another option that is close to physician assisted suicide is Euthanasia. Euthanasia is the act or practice of killing or permitting the death of hopelessly sick or injured individuals (as personsRead MoreDoctor Assisted Suicide And Suicide1585 Words   |  7 PagesDoctor assisted suicide is a topic that has recently become a much larger debated issue than before. A timeline put together by Michael Manning and Ian Dowbigging shows that prior to Christianity, doctor assisted suicide was something that was tolerated , and was not heavily questioned (2). Yet, in the 13th century, Thomas Aquinas had made a statement about suicide as well as doctor assisted suicide, and his words shaped the Catholic teaching on suicide into what they teach today. Beginning in theRead MoreThe debate of Physician Assisted Suicide993 Words   |  4 PagesOver the years the medical field has developed many miraculous ideas and procedures. From organ transfers to blood transfusions, tons of lives have been saved. A doctor’s whole purpose is to help those dying to live. Yet, doctors have developed PAS, Physician Assisted Suicide, also known as Physician Assisted Death, and not to be mixed up with Euthanasia. Physician Assisted Suicide is morally wrong, gives doctors too much power, and it opens a door for those less critical patients to receive treatmentRead MoreAssisted Suicide Should Be Option1691 Words   |  7 PagesAssisted Suicide Should Be Option Lauren Bacall once said, â€Å"A man’s illness is his private territory and, no matter how much he loves you and how close you are, you stay an outsider. You are healthy.† This quote makes the point that no one knows exactly what someone with an incurable illness is going through. We are all outsiders. So, who is to say, for example, physician assisted suicide should be illegal? If a person has the constitutional right to live then a person should have the right to chooseRead MoreEssay Euthanasia1740 Words   |  7 PagesEuthanasia The right to die with dignity, euthanasia and physician assisted suicide is a very sensitive issue debated in this country today. Euthanasia is the act of painlessly ending the life of a person for the reason of mercy. It is sometimes referred to as mercy killing. Americans are hearing more and more horror stories of the elderly tragically killing his or her spouse in order to avoid painful and horrible deaths. It is sad and amazing the extreme measure one had to go throughRead MoreEssay on Euthanasia1395 Words   |  6 Pagescurrent society. Assisted suicide, self-deliverance, auto euthanasia, aid-in-dying are all terms that deal with the choice of achieving a good death; the choice of deciding for oneself when it is time to escape unimaginable pain and have the chance to die with the dignity we all deserve. According to the Euthanasia Research Guidance Organization (ERGO!) there are two main forms of suicide (Euthanasia Research Guidance Organization, www.finalexit.org). One is emotional suicide, which is definedRead MoreAssisted Suicide878 Words   |  4 PagesEnglish  12   Dec.  13,  2014   Block  5   Persuasive  Essay  Ã‚     Assisted  suicide  is  the  suicide  of  a  person,  done  with  the  help  of  another  person  but   mostly  a  physician.  (Wikipedia)  This  can  be  a  very  debatable  topic  because  it  has  actually  been   legalized  in  different  parts  of  the  world.  By  having  this  act  legalized,  it  doesn’t  really  mean  that   the  assistor  won’t  get  persecuted.  Many  people  may  not  agree  with  my  point  of  view,  but  in  my   opinion  assisted  suicide  should  not  be  legalized  at  all.      First  of  allRead MoreAssisted Suicide And Voluntary Active Euthanasia Essay1270 Words   |  6 Pageswith pain and fight through their disease. No methods have been discovered to cure these poor people. Everyday, he or she wish for relief on their significant unrelenting pain, but the only method right now is to end their lives. There are two methods that many terminally ill look to that are familiarized by our society, physician assisted suicide and voluntary active euthanasia. Physician assisted suicide is when the patient is prescribed lethal medicine by the doctor to commit suicide. While, voluntaryRead MoreEuthanasia And The Closely Related Procedure1584 Words   |  7 Pagesclosely related procedure, assisted suicide, are some of the most highly debated topics in ethics. Although the procedures are different in name, their definitions are quite similar. Euthanasia can be defined in two ways: passive or active. Passive euthanasia is defined as allowing the patientâ€℠¢s illness to kill them; refusing medical treatment. Active euthanasia, however, is defined as killing through lethal injection, which also happens to be known as assisted suicide. From the perspective of theRead MoreAssisted Suicide And Voluntary Active Euthanasia Essay1345 Words   |  6 Pagesterminally ill people struggle with pain and fight through their diseases. No methods have been discovered to cure these poor people, but, everyday, he or she wishes for relief on their significant, unrelenting pain. Also, the only alternative method right now is to end their lives. There are two methods that many terminally ill people look to that are familiarized by our society: physician assisted suicide and voluntary active euthanasia. Physician assisted suicide is when the patient is prescribed lethal