Physician-Assisted Suicide - an Utilitarian Perspective...

Physician-assisted suicide is â€Å"the voluntary termination of ones own life by administration of a lethal substance with the direct or indirect assistance of a physician. Physician-assisted suicide is the practice of providing a competent patient with a prescription for medication for the patient to use with the primary intention of ending his or her own life† (MedicineNet.com, 2004). Many times this ethical issue arises when a terminally-ill patient with and incurable illness, whom is given little time to live, usually less than six-months, has requested a physician’s assistance in terminating one’s life. This practice with the terminally ill is known as euthanasia. Physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia is a controversial topic†¦show more content†¦In this case, physician-assisted death is the action in question. Once foreseeable, outcomes are determined, utilitarians review the benefits and the consequences of a physician-assisted death for all the parties involved. Then, a course of action is selected that provides the most benefits and reduces the negative consequences. This approach is direct and logical. New issues and ethical questions have arisen as a result in technological advances in the field of medicine. One of these issues is quality of life for the individual. Is it better to keep a person hooked up to a life machine, if the person has no quality of life? That is there is no interaction with other humans and the person is only being kept alive because the machines are handling vital bodily functions. These advances add to moral dilemma of physician-assisted suicide and to the intense debate if the practice of physician-assisted death is ethical. Furthermore, there are direct and indirect physician-assisted suicide practices. Direct physician-assisted suicide practices include: administering a legal dose of drugs to end a life, withdrawing or withholding life sustaining treatments, and palliative se dation. Indirect physician-assisted suicides are a little bit different in that the physician may giveShow MoreRelatedWhat Is Black And White Anymore? Death With Dignity Laws994 Words   |  4 Pagesmentally competent, terminally ill adults to request a prescription medication from their physician for hastening their death. Commonly also described as physician-assisted suicide, Physician-assisted dying, aid in dying, or medical aid-in-dying. (death with dignity, n.d.) This includes clearly the establishment of the needed knowledge intentionally as well as knowingly to an individual so that he or she can commit suicide. This knowledge may involve counseling the person on the lethal drug doses in termsRead MoreThe Ethics Of Physician Assisted Suicide Essay1655 Words   |  7 Pagespersonal perception of a â€Å"good life† even if they are not hurting anyone else? The exceedingly divided dispute around the procedure of physician-assisted suicide (PAS) asks this very question. Although PAS is reasonably fresh to the sphere of moral matters it is often the main topic in many discussions about proper healthcare and palliative care. Physician-assisted suicide was initially permitted in the state of Oregon when the state passed its Death with Dignity Act in 1994 (Kotva, 2016). The Act requiresRead MoreAssisted Suicide And Voluntary Active Euthanasia Essay1270 Words   |  6 Pagesill look to that are familiarized by our society, physician assisted suicide and voluntary active euthanasia. Physician assisted suicide is when the patient is prescribed lethal medicine by the doctor to commit suicide. While, voluntary active euthanasia is when a physician takes an active role in the action of killing the patient. There is often debate on whether or not any of these actions should be legalized in all states. Physician assisted suicide is legal in Oregon, California, Montana, VermontRead MoreAssisted Suicide And Voluntary Active Euthanasia Essay1345 Words   |   6 Pageslook to that are familiarized by our society: physician assisted suicide and voluntary active euthanasia. Physician assisted suicide is when the patient is prescribed lethal medicine by the doctor to commit suicide. Meanwhile, voluntary active euthanasia is when a physician takes an active role in the act of killing the patient. There is often debate on whether or not any of these actions should be legalized in all states. Physician assisted suicide is legal in Oregon, California, Montana, VermontRead MoreEthical Dilemmas Of Utilitarianism And Deontology1368 Words   |  6 Pagesthrough Utilitarianism and Deontology Kant’s theory of deontology and Mill’s theory of utilitarianism provide starkly different approaches to assigning moral value to ethical dilemmas, two modern dilemmas being commercial surrogacy and physician-assisted suicide. This essay will expound upon the process of deciding moral value within each ethical theory and then apply this decision process to the two ethical dilemmas. Arguments will be posited in support or in opposition to the proposed ethicalRead MoreVoluntary Active Euthanasia Essay1010 Words   |  5 PagesWhat is morally permissible? Voluntary Active Euthanasia is a controversial subject, Does one have the right to end their own life? According to Peter Singer in â€Å"Voluntary Euthanasia: A utilitarian Perspective,† Voluntary Active Euthanasia is morally permissible under certain circumstances. If and only if certain requirements are met by certain parties can the process of voluntary active euthanasia be completed. Certain situations where Voluntary Active Euthanasia is morally permissible include;Read MorePhysician-Assisted Suicide and the Significance of the Kantian View2520 Words   |  10 Pagesï » ¿Physician-Assisted Suicide: Significance of the Kantian View Thanks to modern developments in medical technology, people in advanced countries today live longer and stay healthy until they are relatively older. The technology, however, also allows some people to hasten their death and make it relatively pain-free. As a result, many patients suffering from unbearable pain of certain incurable illnesses from time to time ask their physicians to help them commit suicide. Any physician who is askedRead MoreMoral Perspectives On Physician Assisted Suicide2738 Words   |  11 Pages Moral Perspectives on Physician-Assisted Suicide Maggie Conway Memorial University of Newfoundland Moral Perspectives on Physician-Assisted Suicide When your conscience says law is immoral, don t follow it - Jack Kevorkian Introduction Physician-assisted suicide, also known as voluntary active euthanasia, is easily one of the most prominent and controversial issues in media circulation today. Definitively, physician assisted suicide is as a physician’s knowingly providingRead MoreReligion and Bioethics: Physician Assisted Suicide, a Religious Perspective2205 Words   |  9 Pagesreligion in regards to Physician-Assisted Suicide/Euthanasia. Specifically, it made an obvious point of defining the distinction between killing and letting one die. In addition, it focused on the link between Faith and Reason, the development of tradition throughout history, modern statements on this ethical dilemma, and then drew conclusions based upon these analyses. These are all significant points to consider when attempting to determine the morality of physician-assisted suicide/euthanasia. InRead MoreEuthanasia And Physician Assisted Suicide2367 Words   |  10 Pagesirreversible loss of consciousness,† (Vaughn, 2010, p. 292). â€Å"Related to, but distinct from, active voluntary euthanasia is physician-assisted suicide-the killing of a person by the person’s own hand with the help of a physician,† (Vaughn, 2010, p. 293). In all states in America expect one it is illegal. There is a lot of controversy surrounding euthanasia and physician assisted suicide, from supporters of many different theories. Some believe that human life should be more about quality rather than quantity