Assisted Suicide

"Should Doctors assist their patient's death?  The doctors' obligation is to provide every possible support during the process of dying.  Do doctors have the right to hasten the process, when requested to do so?  There has been a great deal of discussion over this topic for the past few years."

For many years now, assisted suicide has been a debated topic of who believes in it and who does not.  The Christian faith disagrees in the act of assisted suicide.  "This religion teaches redemptive suffering. God sends suffering as a means of washing away people's sins and saving their souls.  It is believed that people can be blessed if they endure their misery."

Islam has a similar belief of the Christian faith.  They believe assisted suicide is an account of murder.  In some countries, the patient who committed suicide, and the physician, or doctor that assisted the patient, should both go to hell.  "We

      

don't own ourselves, we are entrusted to God and the taking of life is the right of the one who give it."

There are also many cultures that believe in this act of dying.  Certain cultures believe that they have the right to end a person's life, only if the person is suffering with an illness that will only get worse.  "In China and some parts of India, it is an ancient custom to drown newborn girls if they think they will live a useless life."  

The Dutch believe in the act of assisted suicide as many other religions.  They believe that it is easier to end a life so the family and the other people will not have to go through all the suffering and pain.

Many Physicians today believe that assisted suicide is the answer to end all the pain and suffering in the world.  Dr. Peter Admirral is a physician that is known for ending more than one hundred lives in less than thirty years.  "The emotion is what you prescribed or what you have injected will cause the patient to die.  Its so opposite to normal feelings of a doctor that you have to go through a period of resisting this.  Although you must remember the patient is you friend."

Another Physician that is highly noted for assisted suicide is Dr. Jack Kevorkian.  He believes that he is a hero to all of

his patients.  "If it wasn't for me, life would seem like it would never end to all of my patients that are suffering from

illness."   "I have never actually caused a death, but I help people exercise their last civil right.  I think physicians who

oppose assisted suicides are similar to Nazi doctors, people who torture and experiment on Holocaust victims.  Actually, it is the same as torture, to watch someone suffer when you can do something to end that suffering."

"People from the age of 45 to the age 64 make up the largest percentage of assisted suicide cases in the US.  The people that make up most of the percentage are people who are chronically ill with cancer or other forms of deadly disease.  People with AIDS are twelve times likely to choose euthanasia or assisted suicide as the rest of the population." 

"Twenty-one year old Karen Quinland was at a friend's house celebrating a birthday.  Before the birthday party, she had gone on a diet and had eaten very little.  She had also been suspected of taking tranquilizers or other kinds of drugs.  Before the party, Karen suspects of consuming a few alcoholic beverages.  Her friends said that she had then started to act kind of strange.  They decided to take her to one of the rooms in the

                                                

house and lay her on the bed.  About an hour later, her friends went upstairs and checked on her, they then found out that she was in a coma and they could not wake her.  They called a ambulance immediately."

After the ambulance made back to the hospital,  Karen Quinland went into breathing deficiency. Karen's doctor got the parents consent to put her on a respirator.  After a couple of days on the respirator, Karen's mom decided that Karen would probably want to end her life and would not want to suffer any more.  According to the law, taking her off of the respirator would be an act of assisted suicide.  The person whom does this would face accounts of murder and would likely be put in prison or if lucky, prosecution.  After many court cases and arguments, the Supreme court allowed the doctor to take Karen off life support.  Most people the would argue that Karen Quinland's privacy and her right to make decisions was infringed.  According to the law, her parent had the right to make the decision for her since she was unable.

Janet Adkins, a member of the Hemlock Society, believes highly in self deliverance. Self deliverance is being able to choose her own manner of death.  She suggested the idea of assisted suicide to Dr. Kevorkian.  The Hemlock Society that

                        

Adkins was a member of did not support Dr. Jack Kevorkian.  Most of the people that Kevorkian deals with are not in the absence of

terminal illness.  A lot of the suicide victims are in a tragic part of there lifetime such as when one of their family members just passed away or they might have just got a divorce.  They think that they cannot live any longer and want Kevorkian to put them to sleep.  That is abusing assisted suicide, it should only be used in case of a terrible illness which cannot be reversed.

What about babies?  If a baby was born with a major birth deficiency and was not likely to live, should the parents have the right to put the baby to sleep?  Is that Murder?  "Some Physicians argue that attempting to keep an infant alive under such conditions is useless and only brought hardship and pain to the families."

"After many hearings with medical groups and advocates for handicapped, Congress passes legislation in 1984 that allowed exemptions for treating severely damaged infants.  Doctors are no longer required to treat an infant in a irreversible coma or to provide treatment that would only prolong dying."

"Baby Doe is a boy that was born in a hospital in Bloomington, Indiana in 1982.  He was born with a deficiency called down syndrome, this syndrome causes a form of mental

retardation recognized at the facial characteristics.  The baby's esophagus also was malformed, anything given by mouth would end up in the baby's lungs causing suffocation. Two pediatricians at

the hospital recommended that the baby should be transported to a hospital in nearby Indianapolis, the surgery would correct the babies esophagus.  Two other doctors said that the surgery might   not be successful and of course would have no effect on the baby's mental retardation.  They also said that the baby should stay in the Bloomington Hospital and be kept comfortable until death occurred.

As required by law, parents have to consent to any form of medical treatment for their child.  The parents then decided to keep the baby at the Bloomington Hospital.  Since other doctors disagreed with this idea, they called an emergency hearing.  The Judge then decided that Baby Doe's parents had the right to make an informed decision about the course of treatment for their child as recommended by their doctor.  Many disagreements came across the press after the baby had died."   Many Right-to-life activists and handicapped people and their advocates proclaimed that the baby should have been saved.

Assisted suicide is a blessing to many people in the World.  Some say that assisted suicide has thankfully ended the pain and

suffering of their loved ones.  A lot of people also take advantage of this, mostly as a way to run away from their problems and fears of everyday life.  Assisted suicide is only a relief to pain and suffering. The only way you or your family member should consider this is if they are terminally ill or are expecting to have a slow painful death.