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... ed, as against the Government, the right to be let alone-the most comprehensive of rights and the right most valued by civilized men. (Bradeis. ) The Bill of Rights protects an individual from the American Government. It embraces a theory that everyone has a right to pursue ones own vision of a good life. (Humber 54) This includes the right to make your own decisions regarding your own body. Without committing itself to the legality of the issue of PAS, the Supreme Court of the United States has recognized the right of privacy in individual choices.
However, some lower courts have addressed the issue of PAS head-on. The Massachusetts Supreme Court in Superintendent of Belchertown State School vs. Saikewicz ruled the guardian ad litem had the right to refuse medical treatment on the behalf of a retarded elderly leukemia patient. California's District Court in Bouvia vs.
Superior Court (Glenchur) gave a non-terminally ill quadriplegic the power to remove anasogatric feeding tube from their body, thus leaving the way to death. (Bouvia) Research reveals that courts have been proactive in many cases, deciding in favor of many privacy issues, without directly declaring an acceptance of active euthanasia. The state should take every reasonable precaution to avoid the unnecessary and regrettable loss of life, but it should never insist that a competent adult remain alive against his or her own will. (Humber 62) Society judges is people on their actions in their lifetime, and holds each adult responsible for same. Our behavior and performance on the stage of daily life, through our personal triumphs, achievements as well as our misfortunes and disappointments, reflects who we are and what we believe. Recognizing unique individualism during a persons lifetime should also be recognized in their death time. We are held responsible for our own lifes choices and decisions; why not the same standard in our death choices and decisions? This does not in anyway open the door to give its stamp of approval to the healthy individual who simply can no longer deal with the pressures of life and feels suicide is an option.
The great distinction between simple suicide and physician-assisted suicide sets the boundaries between the two. The physician-assisted suicide is a last resort, after every avenue of hope to save ones life has been pursued and death is eminent. It should be based on physical data rather than only emotional facts. PAS is not an aide to escape from lifes burdens, but rather an aide to escape from the intolerable pain and suffering prior to eminent deaths burdens.
It should only be considered as an option to meeting death with a dignity when no hope for any quality or comfort of life exists. PAS leaves no margin of error. Safeguards are essential in achieving 100 % of certainty. Clear documentation of each condition is required. (Humber 123 - 4) The physicians diagnosis must be approved by more than one qualified in its field. All avenues of care and comfort and hope must be exhausted.
The patients condition must be incurable. The request to die must be initiated by the patient more than once. A patient must be declared competent to choose PAS. Franklin Miller and John Fletcher recommend legalizing PAS for competent patients suffering from terminal illnesses who autonomously choose to end their lives. (Humber, Almeder and Kasting 75) With such criteria in place, relief from PAS is afforded to those who are inclined to partake without fear of legal ramifications to those who are left behind.
Several doctors have come into the limelight regarding the issue of euthanasia, PAS and respect for autonomy. Dr. Jack Kevorkian, a retired pathologist in Michigan, and Dr. Timothy Quill, an internist in New York, are two of the more prominent figures on the issue. The price to be paid for their assistance has been high.
Nigel Cox, a practicing physician in England, was convicted of attempted murder for lethally injecting Lillian Boyes, a seventy-year old women with rheumatoid arthritis not relieved by morphine or heroin, with potassium chloride. (Humber 110) Patricia Rosier sought the aid of her husband, a certified physician, in ending her long battle with cancer. He now faces the electric chair for his role in their death. Preservation of the quality of life is directly linked to the sanctity of death. Personal choice is the key factor that must overshadow this controversy. An intelligent well thought-out decision based on known factors of a given situation balanced against religious, ethical and personal moral beliefs by a competent patient should not be dismissed as unacceptable.
Choices in life determines our destiny, and choices in death determines how we meet our inevitable departure from this world. It is no less noble to do nothing but meet our hour of death with pain and suffering than to do something in assisting ones acceptance that death is near. Physician-assisted suicide should be looked at as an act of compassion in honoring ones last choice in their life. Bibliography: Bibliography 1. Beauchamp, Tom and James Childress, Principles of Biomedical Ethics. New York: Oxford University Press, 1983. 2.
Bouvia v. Supreme Court (Glenchur) 179 Cal. App. 3 d 1127, 225 Cal. Rptr. 297 (Ct. App. 1986) rev. Den (Cal.
June 5, 1986) 3. Gest, T. Changing the Rules on Dying. U. S.
News & World Report 9 July 1990: 22 - 24. 4. The Hemlock Society. (1988) 1987 Survey of California physician regarding voluntary active euthanasia for the terminally ill. Feb. 17. 5. Saikewicz. Superintendent of Belchertown State School vs. Saikewicz. 373 Mass. 728, 370 N.
E. 2 d 417 (1977) 6. Humber, James M. , and Robert F. Almeder, eds, Biomedical Ethics and the Law. New York: Plenum Press, 1976. 7. Weir, Robert. Ethical Issues in Death and Dying.
New York: Columbia University Press, 1977. 8. Humber, James M. , and Robert F. Almeder and Gregg A. Kasting, eds. Physician-Assisted Death. Totowa: Humana Press, 1994. 9.
Reidinger, P. (1988) Law poll. ABA Journal. June 1, 20. 10. Center for Health Ethics and Policy, University of Colorado. (1988) Withholding and withdrawing life sustaining treatment: A survey of opinion and experiences of Colorado physician. Graduate School of Public Affairs, Denver, CO,
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Research essay sample on Physician Assisted Suicide Ethics
