Assisted Suicide

Assisted Suicide

Introduction

Assisted suicide is a term used to define a set of actions used by an individual in helping another person in bringing an end to its own life. The topic has been argued upon globally on the moral conceptions of an individual's right to its death and moral conceptions. Speaking legally, the practice may be considered illegal, legal and even undecided depending on the jurisdiction and the culture. One of the sub branches of assisted suicide is physician assisted suicide. The legality of this topic is a very delicate issue and different people have presented different arguments on whether it should be legal or not. Presented assisted suicide is known to be legal in several jurisdictions which include Luxembourg, Belgium, Switzerland, and the Netherlands along with three states of America.

The three states include Montana, Washington as well as Oregon. The Oregon death with Dignity Act, the Washington Death of dignity Act as well as the 2009 trial court of Baxter vs. Montana allowed the legality of assisted suicides. However, these provisions are associated with some significant barriers. For example, the state of Oregon forces the fulfillment of the requirement of a physician for prescribing the needed medication. However, the decision should managed by the individual itself. The individual should be Oregon's citizen and the physician should be able to confirm that the act is informed as well as voluntary. This limitations of the model has resisted constitutional scrutiny in Gonzales vs. Oregon 368 F. 3d 1118 (2004), affirmed by 546 U.S. 243 (2006).

Discussion

Personally, I believe that assisted suicide is a crime. It should not be allowed in any of the States of America. This is known to be very unethical as well as immoral. These issues have been very argumentative since the beginning of the practice. The physician assisted suicide is one of the sub categories of our major topic. The Hippocratic Oath which the physicians take initially asks them to revolt the legality of such practices. The doctors should be banned from ever providing any suggestion or medication to the patient to allow him to inflict its own death (Gert, B., Culver, C. M., Clouser, K. D., 1997). The PAS or physician assisted suicide has been an ongoing practice since the ancient Greek and Roman times. The initial debate over the topic was presented by Samuel Williams, a non-physician. This person became one of the first people to argue in front of the Birmingham Speculative Club. The debate strongly argued on legalizing the assisted suicide in the late 19th Century. In 1905, a bill was introduced but was immediately defeated. In addition to that, the debate further became interesting when it was allowed in the Netherlands.

The major emphasis is laid on the ethical considerations of this practice. However four arguments have been provided regarding the practice. The first argument claims that the practice allows the autonomy of the patients. The physician provided reasoning that they are able to provide the patients with complete autonomy of ...