РефератыИностранный языкEuEuthanasia Essay Research Paper I BeginningA 2

Euthanasia Essay Research Paper I BeginningA 2

Euthanasia Essay, Research Paper


I. Beginning


A. ? Whose life is it, anyway?? These were the words of the late Sue Rodrigues, a


high-profile, terminally-ill resident of British Columbia, Canada, who suffered


from ALS (Lou Gehrig?s Disease). She was helped to commit suicide by a


physician in violation of Canadian Law.


B. Most people in North America die what may be called a bad death. One study


found that ? More often than not, patients died in pain, their desires concerning


treatment neglected, after spending 10 days or more in the intensive care unit. ?


C. I believe that because so many people are dying so painfully, there are more reasons


or physician-assisted suicide to be legal than not.


II. Middle


A. Physician-Assisted Suicide is:


1. a form of euthanasia in which a doctor gives access to a person the means to kill him


or herself


B. A Physician is:


1. a doctor


C. Steps in the process and methods of Physician-Assisted Suicide


1. There are three ways:


a. One method is Dr. Jack Kevorkian?s ?Suicide Machine. In this process,


the patient must first activate it by pushing a button. Then, three solutions


are injected in order; first, a harmless saline, then, a sleep-inducing


ative, and finally the lethal drug.


b. Another is with the face mask. The patient wears the face mask and


then carbon monoxide is pumped through which poisons the patient.


c. The third is plastic bag suffocation.


D. Physician-Assisted Suicide is necessary :


1. to give people who don?t want to live, a peaceful way to die


2. not only for the terminally ill, but also the chronically ill, elderly, depressed, or


disabled people


E. Preventing Physician-Assisted Suicide from being legal is :


1. many different things including the beliefs a religion has about it although


some do think it is O.K.


2. the answering arguments from those who are opposed. In these, similar


answers to ?…in Holland, 63 % of all deaths with the withdrawing of life support


were executed without consent,?.


F. Physician-Assisted Suicide is legal in:


1. Columbia


2. Japan


3. the Netherlands


4. the state of Oregon


a. Oregon is the only US state where any form of euthanasia is legal. This


is because of Oregon?s ? Death with Dignity Act ? which became effective


on October 27, 1997.


G. People wish to have Physician-Assisted Suicide legal because:


1. ? There are three reasons why euthanasia should be legal: it is a question of


dignity, it is the solution for a person that will die soon, & it is the choice of the


patient.?


2. ?Jack: Well have you ever thought about the fact that some people don?t want


that [their pain managed in hospices]? What if they don?t want to be drugged so


much that they are unconscious for a long time until they die? If they think that


they would rather die with dignity, then euthanasia should be allowed. Another


thing is, what if they don?t have a medical care plan for such treatment??. That


was from a mock argument that shows why euthanasia is such a controversial


issue.


H. Pro and Con Statistics


1. 57 % pro


38 % con


2. 53.7 % pro


38.3 % con


8.0 % don?t know


I. Legalization of Physician-Assisted Suicide:


1. has been attempted before but I have found no record of this at all


J. Tools used in the process are:


1. Dr. Jack Kevorkian?s ?Suicide Machine?, self-administered carbon


monoxide mask, and a plastic bag


2. chemicals used in the ?Suicide Machine? such as sleep-inducing sedatives,


salines, and lethal drugs and in the face mask suffocation, carbon monoxide


K. The amount of people killed by Physician-Assisted Suicide is:


1. in the Netherlands


a. 400 of the cases were physician-assisted


b. 2300 of the cases were when doctors killed upon request


c. 1040 of the cases doctors had actively killed without the patients


knowledge or consent ( murder)


d. 4941 of the cases doctors had injected lethal doses of morphine without


the patients explicit consent


III. Conclusion


A. Physician-Assisted Suicide must be legalized for humane purposes because too


many people die in pain


B. So, let?s make it so Physician-Assisted Suicide can become legal to end


suffering from painful illnesses.


? Whose life is it, anyway?? (Robinson 1). These were the words of Sue Rodrigues, a


high-profile resident of British Columbia, Canada. She was terminally-ill and suffered from


ALS also known as Lou Gehrig?s Disease. She was helped to commit suicide by a physician


even though it was in violation of Canadian Law. Did you know that most people in North


America die what can be called a bad death? This was proved by a study in the following.


? More often than not, patients died in pain, their desires concerning treatment neglected, after


spending 10 days or more in the intensive care unit.?(Robinson 2). Should society let people


suffer so painfully? My answer is no. I believe that if we legalized physician-assisted suicide it


will allow the terminally-ill to die without suffering or, as you might wish to call it, a death with


dignity.


Physician-Assisted Suicide is a form of euthanasia in which a doctor gives a person


access to a method to kill him or herself. In the process, the doctor would give the patient


materials to carry out one of the three different methods to die through physician-assisted


suicide. The first of the three methods was created by Dr. Jack Kevorkian, a Michigan physician


who was found guilty of 2nd degree murder in a mercy killing in 1998 where he injected


controlled substances into an ALS, or Lou Gehrig?s Disease, patient. It is known as ?The


Suicide Machine?. In this method, the patient must first activate the process by pushing a


button. Then, three solutions are injected in this order: First, a harmless saline, following that,


is a sleep-inducing sedative, and finally, a lethal drug. In the second method, a face mask is


placed over the patient?s mouth and carbon monoxide is applied, thus poisoning the patient. The


third method is the plastic bag suffocation in which a plastic bag is sealed over the patient?s face


which causes him or her

to suffocate. In these processes, certain tools and chemicals are used,


such as Kevorkian?s ?Suicide Machine?, self-administered carbon monoxide masks, and plastic


bags, and chemicals such as sleep-inducing sedatives, salines, lethal drugs, and in the face mask


suffocation, carbon monoxide.


It is necessary for Physician-Assisted Suicide to be legal for many reasons. It would


allow those who do not want to live, a peaceful, honorable way to die. If legalized, it would not


only be for the terminally ill, but also for the chronically ill, elderly, depressed, or disabled


people who would have a reason to want to die. ?According to a poll conducted by CNN & USA


Today in June of 1997, 57 % of those polled were in favor of the legalization of physician


-assisted suicide, and a mere 35 % were opposed.? (Robinson 9). ?A second poll, conducted by


the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition in British Columbia, Canada, 53.7 % of those polled were in


favor, 38.3 % were opposed, and the 8.0 % left, didn?t know or refused to answer.? (Euthanasia


Prevention Coalition 1). This shows that more than half of both the populations of the United


States and Canada were in favor of the legalization of physician-assisted suicide. The


legalization of physician-assisted suicide has been attempted before, but no written documentary


of this has been recovered by me. Although not all of these attempts were successful, some


where. ?Physician-Assisted Suicide is legal in Columbia, Japan, the Netherlands, and the state


of Oregon? (Robinson 4). As of March of 1999, Oregon is the only US state where any form of


euthanasia is legal. This is because of Oregon?s ? Death with Dignity Act ? which became


effective on October 27, 1997.


There are three reasons why physician-assisted suicide should be legal. First of all, it is a


question of dignity, of whether or not the patient who wishes to die has the quality or state of


being worthy of esteem or respect. Secondly, it is the solution for a person that will die soon and


probably more painfully also. Lastly, it is the choice of the patient and not anyone else, so they


won?t be forced into it by anyone. The following excerpt is of a mock argument between


someone who is in favor of the legalization of physician-assisted suicide and someone who is


against it. It states reasons why physician-assisted suicide should be legalized.


?Jack : Well have you ever thought about the fact that some people don?t want that [their pain


managed in hospices]? What if they don?t want to be drugged so much that they are unconscious


for a long time until they die? If they think that they would rather die with dignity, then


physician-assisted suicide/euthanasia should be allowed. Another thing is, what if they don?t


have a medical care plan for such treatment?? (Legalizing Euthanasia 1). This excerpt proves


why the legalization of physician-assisted suicide is such a controversial issue.


In the same mock argument as before, another excerpt shows why euthanasia/physician-


assisted suicide aren?t legal. In this excerpt, Jill, who is opposed to the legalization of physician-


assisted suicide, gives reasons why euthanasia/physician-assisted suicide are still illegal. ?Jill :


Well, their [those opposed] argument is backed up…I mean, in Holland, 63 % of all deaths with


the withdrawing of life support were executed without consent,?(Legalizing Euthanasia 1). She


says this refering to the legalization of active euthanasia in Oregon. She believes that it will


evolve into involuntary euthanasia. A secondary reason why physician-assisted suicide isn?t legal


is because some religions believe that it is anti-religious. Athough some religions do not believe


it is anti-religious, it is still a hindrance in the legalization of physician-assisted suicide.


Each year, tens of thousands of people die from physician-assisted suicide and


euthanasia. The following data is from the 1991 Remmelink Report, the first, official


government study of the practice of euthanasia in the Netherlands. ?In 400 of the cases, the


deaths were physician-assisted. In 2,300 of the cases, doctors killed upon request. In 1,040 of


the cases, doctors had actively killed without the patients knowledge or consent (murder).


In 4,941 of the cases, doctors had injected lethal doses of morphine without the patients explicit


consent.? (The Remmelink Report 1). This data is evidence of the amount of cases per year.


This shows how popular deaths caused by euthanasia are.


At this point, even though physician-assisted suicide is still illegal almost everywhere, it


still is proved to be ethical through the polls conducted and other information found. I still


believe that physician-assisted suicide should be legalized for humane purposes because of the


many reasons stated throughout my research paper. So, let?s make it so that physician-assisted


suicide can become legal to end at least a portion of the suffering from painful illnesses.


Bachman, Jerald G. ?Attitudes of Michigan Physicians & the Public Toward Legalizing


Physician-Assisted Suicide & Voluntary Euthanasia. ?The New England Journal of


Medicine.? 1 Feb. 1996 .


Death. World Book Multimedia Encyclopedia. Vers. 1997.


El-Haggan, Rasha. Home Page. 1997


Euthanasia. World Book Multimedia Encyclopedia. Vers. 1997.


Euthanasia Prevention Coalition. ?1997 BC Euthanasia Poll.? .


Gay, Kathlyn. The Right To Die. Brookfield, Connecticut: The Millbrook Press, 1993.


International Anti-Euthanasia Task Force. Home Page. 2 Mar. 2000


.


?Legalization of Euthanasia.? .


Legalizing Euthanasia. .


Place, Michael E. ?Why We Should Not Legalize Euthanasia.? Health Progress. March 1993


.


Raymond, Marie-Eve. Home Page. 5 May 1998


.


Remmelink Report, The. 1990-1991. .


Robinson, Bruce A. ReligiousTolerance.org Home Page.1 Jan. 2000


.


?Saga of Dr. Jack, The.? About.com. 21 Mar. 2000


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?Self-Deliverance: New Technology.? ERGO! . 1 Dec. 1999.


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Simon, Melissa. Home Page .


Walker, Richard. A Right To Die?. New York, New York: Franklin Watts, 1996.


Weiss, Ann E. Bioethics: Dilemmas in Modern Medicine. Hillside, NJ: Enslow Publishers, Inc.


?When Death is Our Physician.? Ultimate, Pro-Life Resource List. Dec. 1999


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Yount, Lisa. Issues in Biomedical Ethics. San Diego, California: Lucent

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