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.

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