Bioethics -- Assisted Suicide
THREE-STEP MODEL-BASED ETHICAL ANALYSIS OF ASSISTED SUICIDE
Introduction
Assisted suicide, or euthanasia, is a controversial topic because it contradicts one of the most fundamental values of American and other Judeo-Christian teaching: namely, that human life is sacred. Similarly, in medicine, euthanasia violates the Hippocratic Oath, according to which the first ethical obligation of doctors is to do no harm. However, in modern society, that traditional prohibition against assisting others end their lives has increasingly been challenged, most notably, in connection with the highly-publicized efforts of the late physician Jack Kevorkian who willingly served a prison sentence for violating the criminal statutes prohibiting assisted suicide in Michigan. In addition to legal issue, the concept of euthanasia also raises important issues in relation to balancing various other ethical concerns and it challenges the deeply-held beliefs and personal reactions of many people. The Three-Step Ethical Model provides an analytical approach that addresses all of these issues.
Application of Three-Step Ethical Model
Legal Issues
In the United States, euthanasia is illegal in all 50 states and subjects physicians who administer medication to terminate the life of a patient to criminal prosecution and penal incarceration (Beauchamp & Childress, 2009). Several states have exempted physician-assisted dying, which involves a physician prescribing medication and advising dying patients in the process of ending their own lives but still strictly prohibits physicians from administering the medication or otherwise participating in the process directly (Beauchamp & Childress, 2009). The principal legal argument against the continued illegal status of physician-assisted suicide in the U.S. is a function of the fact that the original basis for the notion of the sanctity of human life in relation to suicide is religious philosophy and belief. Meanwhile, the concept of...
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