Physician Assisted Suicide Kindness Or Killing

Beverly Unruh EN-140 Researched Academic Argument Essay August 5, 2014 Physician Assisted Suicide: Kindness or Killing? Legalization of physician assisted suicide has been a highly debated topic over the past two and a half decades. It has evoked many emotions and differing opinions from the public. Surveys show that two-thirds of Americans are in favor of physician assisted suicide in terminally ill patients. But when the issue is at the polls, usually less than fifty percent vote for passage of physician assisted suicide (Quill). It is a topic that hits close to home as many have had loved ones die of a terminal disease or a long, lingering illness. This paper will review the terms of the issue, the history of the issue, encourage the reader to consider better options available to a dying person than physician assisted suicide. Physician assisted suicide is defined as the process where the physician prescribes a lethal dose of medication that the person himself must administer to cause death (Snyder). Euthanasia is defined as the process where the physician actively administers a lethal dose of me dication to a patient with the specific intent to cause death. It is sometimes referred to as a â€Å"good death† (Darr). Terminal illness can be defined as a disease that will cause the patient to die within six months of diagnosis (Drickamer 148-149). Palliative care is the medical specialty that treats the dying patient holistically (Quill). In 1990, physician assistedShow MoreRelatedEuthanasia Is Painless Killing Of A Patient1435 Words   |  6 PagesEuthanasia is painless killing of a patient suffering from an incurable and painful disease or in an irreversible coma, also means to take a deliberate action with the express intention of ending a life to relieve intractable suffering. 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