Verified Document

Physician Assisted Suicide And Ethics Essay

Related Topics:

Is physician-assisted suicide ethical if the patient requests medical assistance in terminating his or her own life?

Introduction



In the U.S., the Supreme Court ruled in Washington v. Glucksberg (1997) that physician-assisted suicide is not protected by the Constitution. However, in other parts of the world, physician-assisted suicide is accepted socially and legally; and in the U.S., a patient who is terminally ill may engage in assisted-dying procedures, which are legal in six states and are legally differentiated from suicide (Buiting, Dieden et al., 2009). If one sets aside the legalistic parameters differentiating physician-assisted dying from physician-assisted suicide, can one say that the former is more ethical than the latter?

In other words, is physician-assisted suicide ethical if the patient requests medical assistance in terminating his or her own life?

Position Statement



In spite of what is permitted under the auspices of physician-assisted dying procedures, this paper will argue that physician-assisted suicide is, ultimately, unethical because it goes against the essence of the Hippocratic Oath that is at the heart of care giving.

Supporting Reason



The Hippocratic Oath maintains...
Deliberately causing the cessation of life is a violation of this Oath and goes against the essence of care giving. Even if the patient wants to die, suicide is defined by the DSM-5 as self-destructive and therefore should not accepted as a rational act or desire. From a philosophical standpoint, the preservation of life can be seen as the greatest good that can be achieved. To willfully and deliberately set about destroying life, even if it is at the will of a patient and the life is the patient’s only and no other person can be identified as a victim, the care giver should still be viewed as philosophically, morally and ethically prohibited from engaging in any type of behavior that will result in the deliberate and willful termination of life.

Opposing Reason



Someone who might like to oppose this argument may counter with the objection that a person has the right to determine his or her own quality of life. A person who is terminally ill in body may be no different from one who feels terminally ill in mind or in soul. Such a person should have the right to decide to end his or her life, because it is no different from a physically terminally-ill patient deciding to end his or…

Cite this Document:
Copy Bibliography Citation

Related Documents

Physician Assisted Suicide Ethics
Words: 1081 Length: 3 Document Type: Essay

right to terminate artificial life-Support system a practical condition on the successful practice of medicine? Terminating artificial life support is often viewed as being qualitatively and ethically different from physician-assisted suicide or aid-in-dying. Withholding treatment is sometimes referred to as passive euthanasia (Steinbock, 2015). When in a fully cognizant, possibly healthy state of mind a patient had provided express written directives that artificial life support be withdrawn under certain specific

Physician-Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia the
Words: 1441 Length: 4 Document Type: Term Paper

(Foley, 54; Braddock and Tonnelli). This again, is an argument based more on conjecture rather than solid evidence. While it is true that depression may accompany many serious and terminal diseases and there are anecdotes about patients who changed their minds about suicide after treatment; no credible studies are available about how often it happens or even if antidepressant treatment would make patients requesting death, change their minds. (Angell,

Physician-Assisted Suicide: The Kantian View Thanks to
Words: 1189 Length: 3 Document Type: Essay

Physician-Assisted Suicide: The Kantian View Thanks to modern developments in medical technology, people in advanced countries today live longer and stay healthy until they are relatively older. The technology, however, also allows some people to hasten their death and make it relatively pain-free. As a result, many patients suffering from unbearable pain of certain incurable illnesses from time to time ask their physicians to help them commit suicide. Any physician who

Physician-Assisted Suicide Should It Be Permissible for
Words: 1398 Length: 4 Document Type: Essay

Physician-Assisted Suicide Should it be permissible for one to take his life? Previously and now in many cultures, suicide has been considered as a best option in some certain situations of life. For example, in flashback we see Cato the Younger took away his life instead of living under Caesar. For stoics, suicide was a preferred and rational act and there was nothing immoral in suicide instead it was a best option

Physician Assisted Suicide and Active Euthanasia
Words: 902 Length: 3 Document Type: Essay

Physician-Assisted Suicide, And Active Euthanasia In Favor of the Moral Permissibility of Active Physician-Assisted Suicide According to Mappes and DeGrazia, Brock's support for voluntary active euthanasia is largely based on two ethical values that he regards fundamental (402). The values in this case include the well-being of an individual and individual autonomy or self-determination. Self-determination according to Brock has got to do with letting individuals chart their own destiny, that is, allowing

Physician-Assisted Suicide Physicians-Assisted Suicides: The
Words: 3218 Length: 10 Document Type: Essay

In an article in the British journal Lancet, the doctor stated that he liked Helen right off the bat, and then issued this statement: The thought of Helen dying so soon was almost too much to bear… on the other hand, I found even worse the thought of disappointing this family. If I backed out, they'd feel about me the way they had about their previous doctor, that I had

Sign Up for Unlimited Study Help

Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.

Get Started Now