Do you think doctors should help people suicide themselves?P.S. deatils on bottom?

Question

I was asked to do a research paper on this please any info would be useful(if you answer for against it then it will be better

Answer 1

Personally, I am for doctor assisted suicide in a controlled situation where a terminal person makes a lucid decision that they have suffered enough. I live in Oregon and it is allowed here.

Having turned 40, I'm old enough to see down the aging road and while I do not know if I would make that choice, I would like the freedom to make it. Some diseases and conditions progress to the point where the rest of a person's days are wracked with extreme pain - I know that I would rather 'go to sleep' than endure that or have my family watch me endure that. Having a physician's help to end suffering is better (to me) than people doing it on there own and messing it up and adding to their suffering (and their family's suffering).

Good luck on your research paper. I am sure that you can find alot of info on this by googling Oregon assisted suicide.

Answer 2

Wow this is a hot topic that is a real debate issue. On the one hand, there are some very sick people who have terminal illnesses and they are imminently going to die. The patient certainly feels doomed and may be facing horrific pain throughout the day every day. And life itself seems unbearable. For these people, it would seem almost humane to be able to help them escape an incurable and painful existence.

One REAL problem with this is where do you draw the line?? This may cause an epidemic amongst doctors and give them a "God Like" ego. Will they use this power in all the right instances?? Will they use it on the homeless who have no insurance and no family??

That is a scary scenario don't you think? Personally I think it should be allowable under the right circumstances..... but whose right is it to decide the right circumstance?

Answer 3

I did a research on that for a health class not long ago. I wasn't sure myself, but the more I researched, the more I concluded against it. The basis for it being that suicide is a symptom of depression, regardless of the health or age of the person. As in any depressive and suicidal behavior, the verbalization of the desire to die is usually a cry for help, is a way of finding out if the person matters to anyone else. And when you support the decision and facilitate the suicide, you're basically confirming the fear that the person does not matter, and the world is better off without them. I found examples of people who expressed desire to kill themselves, got treated for depression, and overcame the desire. Also found examples and studies about how terminally ill is rarely followed by depressive and suicidal behavior, but that all suicidal behavior is accompanied by depression. A strong argument for assisted suicide is the loss of quality of life and elevated pain levels in terminally ill people, but that should be addressed by better pain management, better communication between patients and doctors regarding how aggressive any treatment should be, more accessible hospice care and things like that. Every person should be entitled to quality of life as long life lasts, and to a closure to life in sane and humane conditions. I don't consider a depression to be sane nor humane closure to life.

Answer 4

If there is absolutely no hope for recovery, then yes. I believe that doctors should be able to assist in dying with dignity. It's one of the hardest decisions that could ever be faced, but it is necessary to address.

This question not only affects the political scene, but it affects medical oaths and personal morals & ethics. It also delves deeply into religious society, and that only scratches the surface.

Personally, from working in a hospital....I'd rather die with dignity than be kept alive by artificial means. I would rather be assisted in the transistion from life to death than be left alll alone to wade through the issues alone.

I would rather be deceased than left questioning and becoming nothing more than a buden for my family and friends. Right, wrong, or indiffenernt, this is my opinion. Give those without hope the choice to take charge of what little they have left to them.

Answer 5

I am for it as long as the patient is TERMINAL. My grandfather discovered he had cancer and the doctors were unable to get all of it. The doctor told us that he would die within the week. The pain was so great that he could still feel it through the morphine. My mother asked the doctor to give him more morphine to ease the pain but the doctor said that he might become ADDICTED to it! I wanted to punch his lights out! My grandfather had only a week to live and the doctor was worried about developing an addiction? Needless to say, my grandfather died a horrible death. It was one of the worst weeks of my life.

Euthanasia would have been merciful. We do it for our dogs and cats because we love them and don't want them to suffer, and yet we refuse to help HUMANS the same way? I don't get it.

Answer 6

I really think that depends on the situation. If they are suffering (like with major cancer) then thats up to the paicent. I know sometimes it would be better for a person to *be put to sleep by their choice* than to live, because that only causes them harm to make them live when they dont want to. It is in a way like murder because technically the Dr is killing the person but it is by their own will. I think a person should be able to make that decision if they want to, but only if they have a major disease or deformity.

Answer 7

Hmmmm...I see a lot of flip-flopping within answers on this one. People seem unsure. Is that the kind of research/answers you need for your paper? How about doing something novel (no pun intended); open a book to do your own research. Incidentally, I am for it. But then again I'm against it. Also, in certain cases I'm for it, but not really. Do you begin to get my meaning?

Answer 8

yes, and there is a difference between suicide and euthenasia. i think when a doctor does it , it is euthensia, No reason for people to live a year or more in pain when they are dying. A culture that is influenced by a hard view of Christianity, the majority religion, that thinks people need to suffer and it is right to let them . and also a strange idea that it is best to postpone death against the person's wishes. a peculiar but popular concept of god and the idea that it is wrong to take control of your body and decide for yourself issues like birth control, abortion, surgery, and euthenisia, I resent the Christian politicians who make laws according to their religion and have no respect for the point of view of other people and legislate their concept of morality for the rest of us.

Answer 9

no they shouldnt encourage suicide b/c there is no sane reason on the planet to want to kill urself...no matter how bad it is...but then again...its hard to tell...it kind of depends...but a doctor shouldnt encourage it at all...ppl should decide whether they want to commit suicide w/o influence by others b/c theres no turning back....

for example...if something happened that psychologically destroyed the person to a point where they cant become sane again then if the person wants to commit suicide then they should be able to but still the doctor shouldnt encourage it at all...the person has to make that decision on their own...

Answer 10

I think in certain cases where death is inevitable and or painful a person should have the right to end their live in their own way. I'm not one for suffering and we were all born with free will.