We didn't discuss these readings explicitly, although they've come up in other discussions about dying. What do you think about physician-assisted suicide? Should it be legal all over the U.S.? (It is legal in Washington and Oregon). Why or why not?
The US has a spotted history of law reform on voluntary euthanasia and physician-assisted dying. Since the 2008 Presidential election, there are now two states with Death with Dignity laws - Oregon and Washington.
Oregon was the first state to pass a Death With Dignity (DWD) Act which it did in 1994 after a Citizen Initiated Referendum. However, this law was not finally implemented until 27 October 1997. (In the intervening period, the Act was subject to legal challenge which prevented it being used; this is why the Northern Territory was the first place in the world to experience VE legislation.)
These Death With Dignity Acts allow people who are terminally and/or hopelessly ill to ask their doctors for lethal medication. Patients must make two verbal requests and one written request that is fully witnessed. Two doctors must agree on the patient’s ‘diagnosis, prognosis and the patient's capability’. The patient must administer the lethal medication themselves.
The Oregon and Washington laws explicitly prohibit euthanasia, which is defined as involving someone other than the patient administering the medication. The DWD legislation is reported on annually; in Oregon by the Department of Human Services.
I think that physician -assisted suicide should be: "The choosing to end intolerable suffering by bringing about his or her own death. A state's categorical ban on physician assistance to suicide -- as applied to competent, terminally ill patients who wish to avoid unendurable pain and hasten inevitable death -- substantially interferes with this protected liberty interest and cannot be sustained."
The history of the law's treatment of assisted suicide in this country has been and continues to be one of the rejection of nearly all efforts to permit it. That being the case, our decisions lead us to conclude that the asserted 'right' to assistance in committing suicide is not a fundamental liberty interest protected by the Due Process Clause.
However until we all can agree and construct a formula that will work across all 50 states this may be stalled for some time.
I find it difficult, as I would assume most do, to imagine what kind of thoughts would be going through my head if I knew I was going to die in the very near future. If you have been around someone while they are terminally ill, especially during the last few weeks of cancer, you have much more insight into this issue than I do. However, my mom has told me that during the last couple weeks my grandmother was in hospice she was essentially comatose. She may have been able to hear, but there was little response; her life as a functioning, conversing human being had ended, she was not much more than a diseased body gradually coming to an end. A year and a half ago my grandfather chose to stop dialysis and enter hospice. For a few days he was happier than he had been for a long time, he got to eat whatever he wanted and be surrounded by his family, but then his wishes were that no one but his three children and my grandmother enter the room. He did not want the rest of us to see him as the toxin accumulation wreaked havoc on his body. Because of these two experiences, although I was not there at the very end, my tendency is to say that physician assisted suicide should be legal. My reasoning is that there is a point where, not only are you not enjoying life, but you aren’t truly alive either. To be unconscious on a bed completely unaware of your surroundings, or in such terrible pain you can’t bear to even be in the presence of your family, seems like the point at which I would like to have the option of saying “I’m done.” Kant’s theory states that all suicide is inherently immoral due to respect for the rational being. In all other circumstances I would agree with that, but with certain illnesses (and the drugs used to control symptoms) I’m not sure you’re still rational.
There are issues with physicians stepping into such a role since their primary objective is to promote health and well being, not death. But when treatments have failed and no cure exists, then the doctor has used all weapons we have to fight off death and we might have to accept that the next best thing is to end the misery.
There are many discussions that will need to occur before a law is passed that include topics like waiting periods and multiple requests, age and the likelihood of a better treatment coming available, and if the family needs to be notified. The rights of those who choose hospice over suicide will need to be ensured, as well. I think the statistics from Oregon that only a few hundred have chosen suicide and many of those have had hospice care at the time helps calm the fear that people will start expecting suicide instead of hospice. There are issues, I do not deny that at all, but I think I would like the option to avoid the last few weeks or days.
I think physician-assisted suicide is a valid form of treatment that should be legal all over the US. A physician has an obligation to respect a patient’s autonomy (so long as they don’t hurt anyone else physically). Just as we have a right to life, we have a right to death. This does have its exceptions, however. I do not think physicians should supply the drugs for a patient to end their life unless that patient is either terminally ill or in extreme physical pain. Psychological depression should be taken care of with a referral to a psychiatrist. It is also necessary to make sure that these powerful drugs do not get into the wrong hands. Safeguards such as a waiting period before administering the drug, along with making it illegal to take the drug outside of a hospital under the supervision of a licensed doctor should be employed. The goal of a physician is to restore quality of life or otherwise reduce pain and suffering. If neither can be done, the best option is to end suffering by assisting in a patient’s wishes to quell the dying process. Experimental operations or heavy sedation are not always the right decisions in the patient’s best interest, just as letting an already sick patient die is similarly cruel and uncalled for. Assisting a patient in suicide is another form of reducing pain and suffering by shortening the amount of time the patient must experience these sensations.
I think physician assisted suicide is just another word for murder so the doctors don't go to jail for killing people. No, I don't think it should be legal in the U.S. or any country. doctors are trying play God. It is he that determines when life begins and ends and when a doctor murders his pt. he is determining when that person dies. God never gives us more than we can handle. If God thought these people needed to die he would cause that to happen. The doctors who kill their pts. should go to jail for murder. If the pt. wants to take their own life which is a crime as well, should do so on their own. Another thing since suicide is illegal this law to legalize assisted suicide would be contradicting the current law of suicide.
I agree with Barb, euthanasia is but another way to spell murder. Physician-assisted suicide (PAS) refers to a practice in which a physician provides a competent, terminally ill patient with a prescription for a lethal dose of medication, upon the patient's request, which the patient intends to use to end his or her own life. Physician aid-in-dying is legal in Oregon and Washington, where voter approved initiatives have legalized aid-in-dying under very specific circumstances. In other states, without specific legislative authority, or a court decision, physician aid-in-dying would most likely be considered illegal, and in many states is explicitly illegal.
I think this is a case that is a lot like the cases where people have to decide if they want to take people off life support or feeding tubes. It is sometimes harder for the families to let go because they don't want to lose a family member. When a patient is willing to end their life, they have come to terms with dying. I think this can be put on the same level as stopping treatment for a a lifethreatenting illness. If someone refuses treatment and they have a type of cancer that will spread to every part of their body, they will die if they don't accept the treatment. This is the same concept as accepting a lethal drug.
This is just a thought I had. When I read that Physician assisted suicide was giving patients enough drugs to end their life, it made me think of any other drug. If you give a patient an entire bottle of prescribed drugs, they could potentially take the bottle at once and end their life.
I personally lean towards legalizing physician-assisted suicide. I do not feel that it is any different from "allowing a patient" to die. They both respect patient autonomy and have the same outcome. Physician-assisted suicide would be painless and quicker than allowing to die by stopping treatment. When the physician allows the patient to die by stopping treatment, the patient is still receiving pain medication. The pain medication sedates the respiratory system, which essentially would kill the patient in larger amounts. Assisted suicide is just a larger amount and speeds up the process. I feel like it would also be easier for the family because it is faster and the process is not dragged out. The physician is suppossed to comfort the patient, but keeping the patient alive may not always be the most comforting thing for them. Only the patient knows where they stand with their pain, peace with dying, and how they feel about life. I feel their autonomy should be respected by the physician and the family. If the patient is unconscious, I feel the family should do what is in the patients best interest, not theirs. They should speak for the patient and do what they believe the patient would do. The family needs to realize that you can prolong life as long as you want, by the final decision is made by the underlying illness and their overall medical condition.
The US has a spotted history of law reform on voluntary euthanasia and physician-assisted dying. Since the 2008 Presidential election, there are now two states with Death with Dignity laws - Oregon and Washington.
ReplyDeleteOregon was the first state to pass a Death With Dignity (DWD) Act which it did in 1994 after a Citizen Initiated Referendum. However, this law was not finally implemented until 27 October 1997. (In the intervening period, the Act was subject to legal challenge which prevented it being used; this is why the Northern Territory was the first place in the world to experience VE legislation.)
These Death With Dignity Acts allow people who are terminally and/or hopelessly ill to ask their doctors for lethal medication. Patients must make two verbal requests and one written request that is fully witnessed. Two doctors must agree on the patient’s ‘diagnosis, prognosis and the patient's capability’. The patient must administer the lethal medication themselves.
The Oregon and Washington laws explicitly prohibit euthanasia, which is defined as involving someone other than the patient administering the medication. The DWD legislation is reported on annually; in Oregon by the Department of Human Services.
I think that physician -assisted suicide should be:
"The choosing to end intolerable suffering by bringing about his or her own death.
A state's categorical ban on physician assistance to suicide -- as applied to competent, terminally ill patients who wish to avoid unendurable pain and hasten inevitable death -- substantially interferes with this protected liberty interest and cannot be sustained."
The history of the law's treatment of assisted suicide in this country has been and continues to be one of the rejection of nearly all efforts to
permit it. That being the case, our decisions lead us to conclude that the asserted 'right' to assistance in committing suicide is not a fundamental liberty interest protected by the Due Process Clause.
However until we all can agree and construct a formula that will work across all 50 states this may be stalled for some time.
I find it difficult, as I would assume most do, to imagine what kind of thoughts would be going through my head if I knew I was going to die in the very near future. If you have been around someone while they are terminally ill, especially during the last few weeks of cancer, you have much more insight into this issue than I do. However, my mom has told me that during the last couple weeks my grandmother was in hospice she was essentially comatose. She may have been able to hear, but there was little response; her life as a functioning, conversing human being had ended, she was not much more than a diseased body gradually coming to an end. A year and a half ago my grandfather chose to stop dialysis and enter hospice. For a few days he was happier than he had been for a long time, he got to eat whatever he wanted and be surrounded by his family, but then his wishes were that no one but his three children and my grandmother enter the room. He did not want the rest of us to see him as the toxin accumulation wreaked havoc on his body.
ReplyDeleteBecause of these two experiences, although I was not there at the very end, my tendency is to say that physician assisted suicide should be legal. My reasoning is that there is a point where, not only are you not enjoying life, but you aren’t truly alive either. To be unconscious on a bed completely unaware of your surroundings, or in such terrible pain you can’t bear to even be in the presence of your family, seems like the point at which I would like to have the option of saying “I’m done.” Kant’s theory states that all suicide is inherently immoral due to respect for the rational being. In all other circumstances I would agree with that, but with certain illnesses (and the drugs used to control symptoms) I’m not sure you’re still rational.
There are issues with physicians stepping into such a role since their primary objective is to promote health and well being, not death. But when treatments have failed and no cure exists, then the doctor has used all weapons we have to fight off death and we might have to accept that the next best thing is to end the misery.
There are many discussions that will need to occur before a law is passed that include topics like waiting periods and multiple requests, age and the likelihood of a better treatment coming available, and if the family needs to be notified. The rights of those who choose hospice over suicide will need to be ensured, as well. I think the statistics from Oregon that only a few hundred have chosen suicide and many of those have had hospice care at the time helps calm the fear that people will start expecting suicide instead of hospice.
There are issues, I do not deny that at all, but I think I would like the option to avoid the last few weeks or days.
I think physician-assisted suicide is a valid form of treatment that should be legal all over the US. A physician has an obligation to respect a patient’s autonomy (so long as they don’t hurt anyone else physically). Just as we have a right to life, we have a right to death. This does have its exceptions, however. I do not think physicians should supply the drugs for a patient to end their life unless that patient is either terminally ill or in extreme physical pain. Psychological depression should be taken care of with a referral to a psychiatrist. It is also necessary to make sure that these powerful drugs do not get into the wrong hands. Safeguards such as a waiting period before administering the drug, along with making it illegal to take the drug outside of a hospital under the supervision of a licensed doctor should be employed.
ReplyDeleteThe goal of a physician is to restore quality of life or otherwise reduce pain and suffering. If neither can be done, the best option is to end suffering by assisting in a patient’s wishes to quell the dying process. Experimental operations or heavy sedation are not always the right decisions in the patient’s best interest, just as letting an already sick patient die is similarly cruel and uncalled for. Assisting a patient in suicide is another form of reducing pain and suffering by shortening the amount of time the patient must experience these sensations.
I think physician assisted suicide is just another word for murder so the doctors don't go to jail for killing people. No, I don't think it should be legal in the U.S. or any country. doctors are trying play God. It is he that determines when life begins and ends and when a doctor murders his pt. he is determining when that person dies. God never gives us more than we can handle. If God thought these people needed to die he would cause that to happen. The doctors who kill their pts. should go to jail for murder. If the pt. wants to take their own life which is a crime as well, should do so on their own. Another thing since suicide is illegal this law to legalize assisted suicide would be contradicting the current law of suicide.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Barb, euthanasia is but another way to spell murder. Physician-assisted suicide (PAS) refers to a practice in which a physician provides a competent, terminally ill patient with a prescription for a lethal dose of medication, upon the patient's request, which the patient intends to use to end his or her own life. Physician aid-in-dying is legal in Oregon and Washington, where voter approved initiatives have legalized aid-in-dying under very specific circumstances. In other states, without specific legislative authority, or a court decision, physician aid-in-dying would most likely be considered illegal, and in many states is explicitly illegal.
ReplyDeleteI think this is a case that is a lot like the cases where people have to decide if they want to take people off life support or feeding tubes. It is sometimes harder for the families to let go because they don't want to lose a family member. When a patient is willing to end their life, they have come to terms with dying. I think this can be put on the same level as stopping treatment for a a lifethreatenting illness. If someone refuses treatment and they have a type of cancer that will spread to every part of their body, they will die if they don't accept the treatment. This is the same concept as accepting a lethal drug.
ReplyDeleteThis is just a thought I had. When I read that Physician assisted suicide was giving patients enough drugs to end their life, it made me think of any other drug. If you give a patient an entire bottle of prescribed drugs, they could potentially take the bottle at once and end their life.
I personally lean towards legalizing physician-assisted suicide. I do not feel that it is any different from "allowing a patient" to die. They both respect patient autonomy and have the same outcome. Physician-assisted suicide would be painless and quicker than allowing to die by stopping treatment. When the physician allows the patient to die by stopping treatment, the patient is still receiving pain medication. The pain medication sedates the respiratory system, which essentially would kill the patient in larger amounts. Assisted suicide is just a larger amount and speeds up the process. I feel like it would also be easier for the family because it is faster and the process is not dragged out. The physician is suppossed to comfort the patient, but keeping the patient alive may not always be the most comforting thing for them. Only the patient knows where they stand with their pain, peace with dying, and how they feel about life. I feel their autonomy should be respected by the physician and the family.
ReplyDeleteIf the patient is unconscious, I feel the family should do what is in the patients best interest, not theirs. They should speak for the patient and do what they believe the patient would do. The family needs to realize that you can prolong life as long as you want, by the final decision is made by the underlying illness and their overall medical condition.
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