Sexodus

**Please not that i am neither for or against this topic!

**This is a essay for my class

**if u have the time please read and tell me what u think
(kinda correct it i guess lol)

**BTW this is due Oct 2, 2003
**and i will be back sept 28 to read your reviews and comments thanx


S ex
Phy101
09/25/03

The act of suicide should be illegal. Should terminally ill people have the right to control their own death? Would legalizing assisted suicide lead to euthanasia? Doctors should be prosecuted for assisting in the suicide of a terminally ill patient? Before a discussion of euthanasia can be fully understood, certain terms need to be defined. Euthanasia, translated from the Greek language, is interpreted as meaning, "good death", eu means good, while thanatos means death. Euthanasia now refers to the act of ending another persons' life, at their request. There is also a term called active involuntary euthanasia, also referred to as "mercy killing"; done against the patients' wishes. However Legalized or not the act of suicide will always be carried out.

Should terminally ill people have the right to control their own death? There are many ethical issues surrounding euthanasia. At the very heart of the debate is whether a person has the right to make the decisions about ending their own live. Many feel it is our basic of all rights to have the freedom of choice, and have the deciding voice in controlling our death. Many fear lack of control over their dying. Pain, confusion, dependency and hopelessness are some of the greatest fears of the terminally ill. Many may ask the question, whose body is it anyway, or when does it cease to be yours, and who makes decisions as to what should or can be done to your body? Some treatments or decisions are viewed as those of the individual, while others require expert decision making, as done by the physician. There is a practice in San Francisco, for those in the end stage of AIDS, to be helped to die with home made suicide machines, or drugs. This practice has remained virtually unchallenged by the legal authorities. While this is done for so called humane and loving reasons, why has there been no rally cry from the Right to Life Movement, for these individuals? Most proposals restrict access to adults. While this restriction may preclude otherwise compelling requests for assisted death, the vulnerability of children as a class points in favor of their being protected from abuse. A careful 1974 British study, which involved extensive interviews and examination of medical records, found that 93 percent of those studied who committed suicide were mentally ill at the time. A similar St. Louis study, published in 1984, found a mental disorder in 94 percent of those who committed suicide. There is a great body of psychological evidence that those who attempt suicide are normally ambivalent, that they usually attempt suicide for reasons other than a settled desire to die, and that they are predominantly the victims of mental disorder.

Would legalizing assisted suicide lead to euthanasia? The death revolution taking place in Holland through its toleration of euthanasia is a tragic warning to the world, a leading Dutch physician has warned. Dr. Karel Gunning is spearheading a world-wide fight against euthanasia. He said Holland had "crossed the border" of ethics into a territory where there are almost no limits on medical killing any more. "What Holland shows are that once you start making euthanasia possible, it becomes completely out of control", he said. Proponents often try to convince us that proper guidelines will protect society from abuses. However, an examination of the Dutch model will show otherwise. As Nat Hentoff reminds us the “Remmelink report on euthanasia in the Netherlands revealed that at least 1,040 people die every year from involuntary euthanasia.” Their physicians were so consumed with compassion that they decided not to disturb the patients by asking their opinion on the matter.” Once voluntary euthanasia is legalized in a single country or state, people from neighboring constituencies will take advantage of it. In this way no territory can act in isolation. The decisions we make have implications for other nations, not only for their citizens who choose 'euthanasia tourism' but also for future changes in their own laws. Any state considering a change in its laws in this regard has a responsibility not just to its own citizens but to the whole international community.

Doctors should be prosecuted for assisting in the suicide of a terminally ill patient! At the center of the issue is the distinction between killing and allowing one to die. A physical action, such as an injection to end a life, is to directly kill, by a physical means. While allowing someone to die from an incurable disease, is to permit the disease to be the cause of death, allowing nature to take its course. Given the likely economic impact of assisted suicide, these fears arguably are worth taking seriously. Emanuel and Battin estimate that legalizing physician-assisted suicide could save each year as much as $627 million in the United States. While, as they point out, this is less than .1 percent of total annual US health care spending, the savings for an individual health plan or provider institution could be substantial enough to cause them to exert pressure on patients, either directly or through patients' physicians or families. For the second time in two years, prosecutors in Michigan tried to convince a jury that Dr. Jack Kevorkian broke the law by helping people end their lives. The main issue of the trial was whether Kevorkian intended for them to die or set out only to relieve their pain. Michigan's assisted suicide said that a "person is not guilty of criminal assistance of suicide if that person was administering medications or procedures if the intent to relieve pain or discomfort and not to cause death," even if the medication or procedure "may hasten or increase the risk of death." The law went into effect in February 1993 and expired in November 1994. The prosecution tried to portray Kevorkian as a sinister man whose radical ideas included human experimentation. It also argued that carbon dioxide did not have any medical or therapeutic value. The jury acquitted Kevorkian on March 8, 1996. Thomas Youk's death by lethal injection, administered directly by Kevorkian and nationally televised on 60 Minutes, led to a second-degree murder conviction March 26.

Most people agree that human life in all its shapes and forms is sacred and that life has value. For some, this is a matter of faith, for others, a philosophical belief, but we disagree on what decisions respect that life, and what decisions dishonor it. When we discuss euthanasia, or ending one's life, we challenge some of our most personal value systems. This is a controversy that won't easily be resolved, as individuals and as a society we need to balance the interest of preserving human life, verses the desire to die with dignity. Voluntary means free of coercion or pressure, and some to the most vulnerable people would be subjected to subtle manipulation at the very least. The rising cost of medical care, and its possible burden, can trigger guilt unto the terminally ill's reasoning and decision making. What about those in uncontrollable pain? They are not getting adequate medical care and should be provided up-to-date means of pain control, not killed. Even Dr. Pieter Admiraal, a leader of the successful movement to legalize direct killing in the Netherlands, has publicly observed that pain is never an adequate justification for euthanasia in light of current medical techniques that can manage pain in virtually all circumstances. There are those in society who oppose euthanasia on the grounds that life is precious, and to end life is wrong under any circumstances. This position is not in favor of the legalization of voluntary euthanasia, and claim there are no compelling reasons to allow people this release, to do otherwise is inhumane.

J.R.V.A.

Hmmmmm....... I have alot to say about this, but I cant type that fast... Thank you for sharing.

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And as she plays,
her sweet song of laughter
floats through the air
and warms my heart

Church

I don't really see a point in making suicide illegal. There really is nothing you can do about it. If they're so intent on killing themselves, then they'll do it. And if they fail, well what is the law going to do about it? Kill them? Go ahead. Lock them up? Sure, then their lives will obviously be better then before. Free food, board, etc. I dunno, I don't see a point.

Sorry, I forgot to mention. It is a good essay though.

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Through counter-intelligence, it should be possible to pinpoint potential trouble makers, and neutralize them.

Jaron

Suicide's already illegal.

It's a criminal activity, so that the authorities (or civilians) can stop a crime in progress - not so the corpse can be convicted.

Can you imagine a policeman handcuffing a suicidee, and reading him his rights? :P

Reese

Good essay, Too bad I didn't get to comment on it before it was due.

I'm not going to argue though since this isn't Tilted Philosophy.

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“It is better to be rich and healthy than poor and sick” - Dave Barry