Preview

How To Die In Oregon Summary

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
731 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
How To Die In Oregon Summary
An ethical response to “ How to Die in Oregon” Many people all over the world are suffering from diseases. Diseases such as multiple sclerosis, cancer, parkinson's disease, heart disease and many others. Suffering from diseases not only effects the person suffering but the families and even our health care system. Suffering at the end of our lives has become an acceptable part of life in many parts of the world. This documentary, How to die in Oregon, explores: the issue and the laws of the right to choose when to die, the three main drugs used for this procedure, how medicare will pay for this drug before they will chemotherapy- something that may prolong life, the number of people who have used this drug,and the fact that they can get this drug even if they do not plan to use it. This paper will use the information from this documentary as the basis of an ethical examination of the laws in place for the one's who suffer. First, I will briefly …show more content…
This is an issue that goes against my own personal religious morals. God has given us life and we do not have the right to end our own lives. I personally feel it is a sin against God. The bible supports my belief with the Ten Commandments, Though shall not kill. This bible verse doesn't specify who you cannot kill. It says do not. Killing oneself goes against the ten commandments. Suffering is a horrible thing but I believe many times suffering occurs for a reason. Perhaps, something someone else can learn from it. The bible also can be quoted as saying, Above all things, God wishes that we be in good health and be prosperous even as our souls prosper. God, indeed, doesn't want us to suffer but I still feel it is wrong to take the life that God has given

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Thus, these patients choose death over living with a non-curable disease. The “Death with Dignity Act” is very questionable: are the people using it being informed of all options by qualified doctors? Ilora Finlay feels that there is a false hope to this law. “We have seen the steady rise in Oregon’s death rate from physician-assisted suicide, currently between four and five times the number when the law was enacted.” (Finlay).…

    • 1133 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Rapid and dramatic developments in medicine and technology have given us the power to save more lives than was ever possible in the past. Medicine has put at our disposal the means to cure or to reduce the suffering of people afflicted with diseases that were once fatal or painful. At the same time, however, medical technology has given us the power to sustain the lives (or, some would say, prolong the deaths) of patients whose physical and mental capabilities cannot be restored, whose degenerating conditions cannot be reversed, and whose pain cannot be eliminated. As medicine struggles to pull more and more people away from the edge of death, the plea that tortured, deteriorated lives be mercifully ended grows louder and more frequent. Californians are now being asked to support an initiative, entitled the Humane and Dignified Death Act, that would allow a physician to end the life of a terminally ill patient upon the request of the patient, pursuant to properly executed legal documents. Under present law, suicide is not a crime, but assisting in suicide is. Whether or not we as a society should pass laws sanctioning "assisted suicide" has generated intense moral controversy.…

    • 877 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    There are two factors that have contributed to euthanasia’s distinction with how the world is today. They are both an increasing sense of self-determinism and medical revolution that have the potential of prolonging human life (Michigan, 2006). People think that just because there are things like hospice and medication that euthanasia shouldn’t even be an option. But what people don’t know is that even with the best medication and the patient being made completely comfortable, it is not the pain that causes people to ask for what people call a “hastened death”, but the humiliation and suffering that accompanies most terminal disorders.…

    • 2132 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Most people would agree that the right of a competent, terminally ill person to avoid any unnecessary excruciating pain seems as though it should be a basic human right. To have someone go through more suffering than absolutely necessary seems as though it would fall under the description of an inhumane act, and frankly an injustice against the basic human right of bodily autonomy and integrity. Due to these almost undeniable arguments, physician assisted suicide, in many cases, is seen as a basic human right that we need to be granted access to. Activists argue that it is simply an additional choice that we will be able to make, and that it will surely never be pushed onto anybody or used sinisterly (Maynard 2014). Although this claim is something that we cannot be entirely sure of, as I have continued to research the pros and cons behind physician assisted suicide, I have come to the conclusion that in many cases it truly does seem that the legalization of physician assisted suicide is the best option for everyone involved. It is a means to cease any unnecessary suffering that a person may be going though, and provides a sense of comfort for them during a time in their lives where they are not given many choices besides to deal with what they are going through and try to survive. Additionally, with many of the extreme medical advancements of the 20t century, our goals have been clouded by the quest to…

    • 1407 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Eventually we all pass away; no one wants to think about it but in the end we have to go one of two ways, either painfully and unexpected, or comforted and prepared. Although assisted suicide is an “easy way out” every other option available in caregiving is reviewed and attempted before doctor assisted suicide is even consider. Patients should hold the right to avoid excruciating pain and suffering by having a timely and dignified death. As addressed by multiple court reviews, a mentally competent, terminally individual has a protected liberty interest in choosing to end their own intolerable suffering by bringing about his or her own death.…

    • 569 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    There are many issues raised by life and death choices in healthcare. Advance directives are a set of directions you give about the healthcare you want if you ever lose the ability to make decisions for yourself. If you have a disease you can choose curative care which is directed at healing or curing the disease or palliative care which involves care that helps relieve the symptoms, but does not cure or treat then disease. When it becomes apparent that a patient is approaching the end of life, or that the patient no longer wants to prolong their life, a decision can be be made to withhold or withdraw treatment. Advance directive laws merely give doctors and others immunity if they follow it, the only reliable strategy is to discuss your values and wishes with your healthcare providers ahead of time to make sure they are clear about what you want. Although, a doctor can be held liable in a court of law for not following those orders. There is a limited amount of time in which a patient can make a medical malpractice claim. The statute of limitations for these claims may vary by each state.…

    • 1437 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Best Essays

    Supporters of assisted suicide believe that this act benefit terminally ill patients by relieving their suffering. This is probably one of the reasons why Netherlands court determined that a physician is allowed to prevent severe and irreversible suffering, even if it reduces patient’s life (Bosshard et al, 2002). The act of assisted suicide or active euthanasia is allowed in Netherlands, Switzerland and Oregon under different conditions and legislations. The situation can be seen differently in places, where by moral and legal discourse; assisted suicide is interpreted as the freedom or right of the individual as in Switzerland and some states of US. From the ethical perspective, patient’s choice of suicide represents an expression of self- determination and while exercising self- determination people take responsibility of their lives and for the kind of person they become. They have a right to refuse the life- sustaining treatment if they don’t want to suffer anymore and according to law, physicians must respect their decisions to forgo life- sustaining treatment that are capable of making their end of life decisions. By refusing life- sustaining treatment, terminally ill people know that they are going to die soon and in order to avoid suffering or pain they ask physicians for assistance to end their…

    • 2855 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Good Essays

    As a part of a medical field with economic and social implications, the idea of physician-assisted death will come in direct contact with forces such as costs reduction, personal prejudices, and limited access to care. For example, people with disabilities are often seen as individuals unable to live good, happy lives, and their impairment can be misdiagnosed as a terminal illness. Put simply, we all must be able to consult our physicians without the fear that their recommendations will be affected by quality-of-life…

    • 631 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    A hotly debated issue regarding the quality of life for terminally ill patients revolves around the morality and legal implications of euthanasia, or physician assisted suicide which is defined as the painless killing of a patient suffering from an incurable and painful disease, or in an irreversible coma. There are already a multitude of laws in place regulating physician assisted suicide in some states and countries, as well as laws preventing the practice. But despite these preventative laws physician assisted suicide remains an underground practice to relieve patient suffering. In lieu of the supposed moral issues associated with physician assisted suicide,…

    • 3211 Words
    • 13 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Physician Aid in Dying

    • 1448 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Bioethics is considered by some to be the decisions made by a person or group using logic and knowledge of right or wrong as it affects current biological issues. It is a growing concern in today’s world where people are caught in a balancing act of human nature and law to determine right and wrong regarding biological and medical issues concerning them. A bioethical issue that has been around for years is physician aid in death. Although this issue is said to give terminally ill patients the comfort and dignity of ending their lives on the terms they choose, some say that decisions are influenced by doctors and infringe upon human rights.…

    • 1448 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Physician Assisted Death

    • 2942 Words
    • 12 Pages

    Many of us have felt the pain of watching a loved one’s life slowly diminish in a hospital bed. Today, modern medicine and doctors can only go so far to care for terminally ill patients. Even with the knowledge of this country’s best medicine and most extraordinary doctors, many of the terminally ill suffer persistently; they become unhappy, and some are not able to fend for themselves in ways healthy individuals find to be easy and are able to do. The simple every day actions begin to be tremendous struggles such as eating, moving, and even communicating. In extreme cases, terminally ill patients may no longer find the will or strength to move forward. Physician-assisted death can be constructed to have reasonable laws, which still protect against its abuse and the value of human life, easing the patients suffering when nearing the end of their life. Physician-assisted death is ethical and is a compassionate response to unbearable suffering. Physicians should be required by law to help terminally ill patients, with no hope, which have a strong desire to end their lives.…

    • 2942 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    A terminally ill patient agreeing to physician-assisted suicide is fully aware of a doctor’s job to alleviate any pain possible. Thus, giving consent reveals a great deal of trust between the two. Additionally, opponents insist that terminal patients might be forced to choose assisted suicide due to their health situation. However, the choice of assisted suicide is made in the best interest of the patient and the competent patient can easily decline the offer if they do not wish to accept euthanasia. Therefore, it is evident that the right to assisted suicide is not forced upon any patient, rather an option for those who wish to die in dignity instead of living every day in pain and…

    • 959 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Some say that doctors main priority should be to help a patient and make sure they get better, not help them end their life. “They rightly seek to eliminate disease and alleviate pain and suffering. They may not, however, seek to eliminate the patient. Allowing doctors to assist in killing threatens to fundamentally corrupt the defining goal of the profession of medicine” (Anderson). While this article focuses on the cons of allowing PAS, it does not necessarily go against the idea of doctors helping their patients, because by allowing them this end of life option they are alleviating pain and suffering to their patients. And doctors are not allowed to offer PAS to any of their patients, so they are not forcing it upon them as an option, the patient must go to them and specifically request it in order to be administered the drugs. “Patients can refuse or doctors can withhold particular treatments that are useless or causing more harm than good. But in deciding that a treatment is useless, we must not decide that a patient is worthless” (Anderson). Patient happiness and health should always be a top priority, and sometimes that means stretching the limitations of the doctor code of conduct to get their patients what they really want, which could in some cases be…

    • 1126 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Meisel, A. Snyder, L. Quill, T. Seven Legal Barriers to End of Life Care. February 2010.…

    • 2792 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Brittney Maynard

    • 504 Words
    • 1 Page

    the Catholic Church in Rome remains that killing of a human being, even by an act of…

    • 504 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays