Euthanasia And Physician Assisted Suicide - 1054 Words

Abstract: Euthanasia and physician assisted-suicide are terms used to describe the process in which a doctor of a sick or disabled individual engages in an activity which directly or indirectly leads to their death. This behavior is engaged by the healthcare provider based on their humanistic desire to end suffering and pain. This is an act that defies the oath each doctor is under and should not be treated lightly, and very strict rules and guidelines should be enforced if an individual decides to take this route with his or her life. Suicide is, by definition, an act you perform by yourself. If you ask a friend, family member or doctor to help you commit suicide, you immediately change the definition of suicide from a solitary act with†¦show more content†¦Legally, any doctor who writes out a prescription that he knows will be used for a suicide becomes an â€Å"accessory before the fact of homicide.† What this means is that the doctor is knowingly participating in a homicide because his actions will result in the death of another person. The same is true of a gun dealer who sells a pistol to someone he knows is about to commit suicide. The gun dealer is an accessory before the fact of homicide. The vast majority of terminally ill people have ample time and means to end their lives long before they become too incapacitated to need assistance from a doctor or anyone else. There are all kinds of internet websites and books in the public library about how to do it painlessly. Supporters of doctor-ass isted suicide know this, which is why they constantly point to a tiny minority of terminally ill people who are too sick to end their lives themselves. These people are most often within days of a natural death, and they have the right to refuse treatment and stop taking medicine at any time. By the way, physician-assisted suicide laws never apply to people too handicapped to commit suicide, such as Christopher Reeve or Terri Schiavo. (Anneser, Jox, Thurn, Domenico Borasio, 2016) These laws apply only to the terminally ill. Once such laws are in place, a physician can no longer tell a patient, â€Å"Where there’s life, there’s hope. We