The Medical And Legal Fields About Assisted Suicide

Maggie O’Grady Theresa Mix Honors Comp. 1 10 November 2015 Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of a Means to an End There are a multitude of interpretations within both the medical and legal fields about assisted suicide. The benefits of assisted suicide for a terminally ill individual are notably momentous. However, the argument is not extricated from opposition concerned with the obligations of the medical community. It is paramount to have an even-handed perception of the issue and present each side but recognize that the rights of the individual in arbitrating the specific route of his or her death, specifically in lethal cases where physical agony is a vital concern. Additionally, having admittance to physician-assisted suicide grants†¦show more content†¦Every capable human being is granted the right of determining the fashion in which to live their life. This fundamental right should naturally be extended towards individuals deteriorating at the hands of their terminal conditions and allow them control over the timing and manner of death they wish to face. It is an essential human prerogative to have management over one’s personal welfare. As a matter of fact, it is crucial towards the means of sustaining and upholding our human rights; our rights to determine our own direction, state of being, and eventual fate. If autonomy is a highly valued principle, it is logical that patients should have the right to participate in all end-of-life decisions (Fraser 16). A democratic society that honors justice and liberty should acknowledge and permit divergent opinions and allow dying people a degree of freedom in when and how it comes to an end (Fraser 18). The lives of terminally ill patients are recurrently demoted to perpetual hospital visits and countless hours of treatments and surgeries. According to Oregon’s Department of Human Resources, 79% of persons who chose physician-assisted suicide did not wait until they were bedridden to take their lethal medication, thus providing further evidence that controlling the manner and time of death were important issues to these patients (Department). How to Die in Oregon is a documentary that examines real life reverberations