Assisted Suicide
Essay by kacmadkev • November 18, 2015 • Essay • 325 Words (2 Pages) • 1,193 Views
Tracie Thibodeaux
March 30, 2015
Jack Kevorkian became a pathologist who assisted people suffering from acute medical conditions in ending their lives. After years of conflict with the court system over the legality of his actions, he spent eight years in prison after a 1999 conviction. Kevorkian's actions spurred national debate on the ethics of euthanasia and hospice care. Kevorkian was prosecuted a total of four times in Michigan for assisted suicides -- he was acquitted in three of the cases, and a mistrial was declared in the fourth. Kevorkian was disappointed, telling reporters that he wanted to be imprisoned in order to shed light on the hypocrisy and corruption of society.
Oregon was the first state to legalize assisted suicide for terminally ill patients. The requirements are that you have to be 18 years of age or older, a resident of Oregon, capable of making and communicating health care decisions for him/herself, and diagnosed with a terminal illness that will lead to death within six months . Physician protocol is that the attending physician must be licensed in the same state as the patient, the physician's diagnosis must include a terminal illness, with six months or less to live, the diagnosis must be certified by a consulting physician, who must also certify that the patient is mentally competent to make and communicate health care decisions, If either physician determines that the patient's judgment is impaired, the patient must be referred for a psychological examination, the attending physician must inform the patient of alternatives, including palliative care, hospice and pain management options, and the attending physician must request that the patient notify their next-of-kin of the prescription request.
3 other states that have joined in the legalization of assisted suicide are Montana on December 31, 2009, through Montana Supreme court in Baxter vs. Montana, Vermont on May 20, 2013, through the Act 39 (Bill S.77 “End of Life Choices” and Washington on November 4, 2008, through Initiative 1000.
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