Moral and Legal Issues Surrounding Terminal Sedation and Physician Assisted Suicide
Abstract
Assisted suicide has been an issue for terminally ill patients for many years. This is because patients who suffer from terminal illnesses are forced to make difficult choices at the end of their lives. Currently, a terminally ill patient has three options in dealing with the extreme physical pain of his or her illness. First, he or she can choose being heavily medicated, which alleviates pain but significantly reduces awareness. Second, the patient can choose to forego, or greatly reduce the dosage, of the pain medication in order to stay alert to their surroundings. The final option most terminally ill patients have to deal with extreme pain is to end their life. Most patients who choose this option are forced to end their life on their own, without the assistance or advice of a physician, and, more often than not, before they are ready to die. This heartbreaking situation occurs because in all but one state, physician-assisted suicide is illegal. Recent Supreme Court decisions have upheld the ban on physician-assisted suicide in the other 49 states. In this paper, I will examine specific Supreme Court cases of physician assisted suicide, analyze why physician assisted suicide is traditionally treated as legally and morally impermissible, and give reasons why physician assisted suicide should be a legal and morally acceptable alternative for terminally ill patients.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 23, 2002
- Accession Number
- ADA406824
Entities
People
- Constance R. Bradley
Organizations
- University of Colorado Boulder