Assisted Death And Voluntary Euthanasia - 1586 Words

SHOULD THE LAW BE REFORMED TO ALLOW ‘ASSISTED DYING’ FOR THE TERMINALLY ILL? To begin with, assisted dying remains highly topical and debated, both in the public and medical arena. Assisted death, incorporates both physician assisted suicide and voluntary euthanasia. It gives the freedom to a terminally ill person or a mentally competent adult, to choose on their own free will and after meeting strict legal safeguards, takes prescribed medication which will end their life in dying. There are two types of Euthanasia. Involuntary and voluntary. Voluntary euthanasia is when a terminally ill individual decides to end their own life, whereas, involuntary euthanasia is when another person makes the decision to end their life on their behalf. In the majority of countries assisted dying is against the law. According to the National Health Service (NHS), In the UK, it is illegal. Assisted suicide or voluntary euthanasia carries a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison in the UK. In this essay, it will be illustrated where assisted dying is legal and how it works, ther e is going to be an argument for and against assisted dying and it will be explained why assisted dying should be legalised in the UK. Meanwhile assisted dying is illegal in the majority of counties, there are some exemptions. For instance, The Netherlands was the first country in the world to legalise euthanasia in 2002. The rules are strict and cover only patients with an incurable condition who face unbearableShow MoreRelatedThe Centers For Disease Control And Prevention Released1181 Words   |  5 Pagesleading cause of deaths. As many as 44,193 individuals have died per year, which means there is about 123 suicide deaths a day happening as of now in The United States (â€Å"Suicide Statistics†). This is only the statistics of deaths that have been successful in The United States, it is not counting all suicide deaths around the world nor suicide attempts. This alone is already a major issue everywhere in the world, but recently assisted suicide has come around the news as a new form of death. Although, assistedRead MorePhysician Assisted Suicide And Euthanasia Essay1039 Words   |  5 PagesPhysician A ssisted Suicide Is physician assisted suicide ethical? Physician assisted suicide is an up and coming ethical question that examines a person’s right to their own death. Many people support physician assisted suicide, citing that it can save a lot of pain and suffering. Others claim that the concept of physician assisted suicide is a slippery slope. A slippery slope in the sense that if society accepts euthanasia as a rightful death for the terminally ill, they will potentially acceptRead MoreShould Euthanasia Be Legal?1635 Words   |  7 Pagesover our deaths. We claim to be free people but someone else’s morals and standards could possibly govern the way we die. Medicine today makes it possible for patients who are living with unbearable pain to choose to die peacefully and with dignity. Physician-assisted suicide or active, voluntary euthanasia for an adult who is in a rational state of mind and whose suffering happens to be unbearable despite the strongest medical efforts, is an i dea that should to be put into action. Euthanasia oughtRead MoreSiya Kumar. Dying With Dignity. . Imagine Yourself With1360 Words   |  6 PagesDying with Dignity Imagine yourself with a terminal illness. It has been confirmed that you will die in a few months, and there is nothing that can be done to change that. You have two options- you can wait to die a natural but terrifyingly painful death where you lose your eyesight, burn the hair off your scalp and become paralyzed without the ability to walk, or you can die peacefully in the company of your friends and family. Which would you choose? â€Å"I am not suicidal. I do not want to die. ButRead More Euthanasia Essay1459 Words   |  6 PagesWhen a person commits an act of euthanasia, he/she brings about the death of another person because he/she believes that the latter’s present existence is so bad that he/she would be better off dead. The word euthanasia originated from the Greek language: eu means â€Å"good† and thanatos means â€Å"death†. The meaning of euthanasia is â€Å"the intentional termination of life by another at the explicit request of the person who dies† (Religious Tolerance). However, euthanasia has many different meanings, whichRead MoreThe Debate Surrounding Physician-Assisted Suicide Essay1673 Words   |  7 PagesPhysician-assisted suicide is the practice in which a doctor prescribes a terminally ill patient with a lethal medication as a form of active, voluntary euthanasia. These patients, rather than suffer slowly and painfully, often request this procedure as a means of experiencing a more â€Å"dignified† death. The debate surrounding this issue is a heated one, especially among the general public whose attitudes are deeply influenced by the level of patient pain and discomfort (Frileux et al. 334). At theRead MoreShould Euthanasia Be Legalized?1536 Words   |  7 PagesLegalizing Murder â€Å"Euthanasia, also [known as] mercy killing, [is the] practice of ending another’s life with the aim of enabling the person to avoid severe suffering, typically from a terminal illness† (â€Å"Euthanasia†). Furthermore, a study conducted in Washington State revealed that most of the participants who requested euthanasia had the diagnosis of cancer, neurological disease, or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (Back et al. 919). This study also uncovered that â€Å"the patient concerns mostRead MoreEuthanasia Is A Medical Act Of A Physician Or Any Other Person?1016 Words   |  5 PagesEuthanasia is defined as the act of a physician or any other person intentionally killing a person by the administration of drugs, at that person’s voluntary and competent request. It is a ‘mercy killing’ which means to take a deliberate action aimed at ending a life to relieve intractable suffering or persisted pain. (Emanuel et al) Euthanasia could also be interpreted as the practice of ending a life painlessly. Euthanasia is technical description of the act regarding the process that is usuallyRead MoreAssisted Suicide And Voluntary Active Euthanasia Essay1345 Words   |  6 Pagesphysician assisted suicide and voluntary active euthanasia. Physician assisted suicide is when the patient is prescribed lethal medicine by the doctor to commit suicide. Meanwhile, voluntary active euthanasia is when a physician takes an active role in the act of killing the patient. There is often debate on whether or not any of these actions should be legalized in all states. Physician assisted suicide is legal in Oregon, California, Montana, Vermont, and Washington. Voluntary active euthanasia is illegalRead MoreEuthanasia Should Not Be Legal1520 Words   |  7 Pages Euthanasia or commonly known as Physician-Assisted Suicide is defined as the painless killing of a patient who is suffering from an incurable and painful disease or is in an irreversible coma. It is an act that speeds up death. Some people consider euthanasia to be a mercy killing and others consider it to be murder. This practice is illegal in most countries. In the United States, however, six states have legalized physician-assisted suicide even though most states, 44 to be more specific, have