The Right to Die Case

The Right to Die

Marinda Thomas

PSYCH/600

8/02/2015

Mrs. Koenig

The Right to Die

If you aren’t familiar with the “Right to Die” topic, let me say this…it is the new law that went into effect a few years ago 2008 that now allows people with life threatening illness and the elderly the right to die with dignity versus suffering or losing their capabilities. One of the main states who recognizes this is Oregon. I’m sure you have heard about it in the media at some point. If not take a minute and familiarize yourself with it.

This “Right to Die” concept is not fully accepted and is viewed as physician assisted-suicide (PAS)         in Oregon and the highest resort are the elderly. This topic is still very controversial because of the fact one is taking their own life. Many people believe this is an abomination of the will of GOD. After the critiquing of factors there is no way to suggest that “PAS cannot be categorized simply by reference to race, gender or other socioeconomic status and that the impetus to seek PAS derives from factors, including emotional state, reactions to loss, personality type and situation and possibly to PAS contagion, all factors that apply across the social spectrum” (Finlay, 2010). This article mainly brought light to the vulnerability of this grouping of people who choose the “Right to Die” before suffering or losing their capabilities to function normally.

According to this next article by Quill the physician assisted-suicide is and always be a controversial topic. This goes against the Hippocratic Oath taken by physicians entering into medical practice. Many times over this has been looked passed in the scope of “(Don’t ask, Don’t Tell)”. This brings to mind Jack Kevorkian the doctor of the 1990’s who was in fact doing physician assisted-suicide. In that era it was definitely not something that was accepted as okay. He was stripped of his professional license but he was not prosecuted until he actually aided in the act of euthanasia, which subsequently landed him in jail for more than 8 years. This article goes on to discuss the many attempts to change laws in respect to physicians and the right to die process. This article also discusses the principle arguments to legalizing this sort of act. The article also goes into details of “last option”. “Last options” is the ability to hasten or refuse treatments that could help which leads to inevitable death due to the “last option”. This could be something so trivial as to upping meds which hastens the passing. All in which is still a form of assisted suicide.

This next article discuss the background of the Death with Dignity Act of Oregon and when it was born (1994). It discuss the initial latency of Oregon physicians and their choice not to participate in this act. Later on it concludes that the Oregon physicians are now more on board with the idea and are more willing to participate out of wanting to ease the pain and suffering of their sick patients who are suffering. In this article it discussed the methods and results of a survey given to physicians and what their personal view on this was. The results showed some were not on board for moral reasons where as others were on board at 67% thinking it should be legal to do this if requested.