The Right To Die: Shouldn’t It Be For Me to Decide?
What would you do if you were faced with a terminally ill situation? If it were a loved one it could be true that your thoughts were differ from those thoughts on your own. That is said because it is human nature to be a bit selfish and want to hold on to those that we love and hold dear to us. Watching someone die is not glamorous, and it is nothing like they show on television. It is wicked, and it is cruel. A patient is given so much morphine just to be content; it would make a well person high for a month. Having watched both of my grandparents and my best friend all die slow painful deaths, all within a two year span changed my ...view middle of the document...
In other words, one is making the choice to pass away pain free and peacefully instead of being kept alive by machines, or being in a constant state of pain for a long or short period of time. Physician assisted suicide is exactly like it sounds. A patient wants to die, and a physician is there to make sure the patient is euthanized. According to MedicineNet, the term active euthanasia means an “active acceleration (good) of death either alone or with the aid of a physician (2010).†Pregnancy Pause defines passive euthanasia as being the deliberate withdrawal of treatment to cause the patients death.
“What is Quality of Life? Can it be defined? Quality of Life measurement is to measure the extent of which people’s “happiness requirements†are met – i.e. those requirements which are necessary (although not sufficient) condition of anyone’s happiness – those without which no member of the human race can be happy (McCall. Does that mean the quality of life can be measured by happiness alone? So, if you are not happy, then you are sad. And sadness would be a bad quality of life (Mahan, 2009).â€
A good quality of life should be one that is free from medications and machines in order to live. Here there would be a fine line between what could be tolerable in regards to medication and machines. For the purpose of assisted suicide, a good quality of life is one where one is living of their own free will, and not being kept alive by modern medicine and its machines. A machine blowing air into the lungs to sustain a life is considered a bad quality of life. If a patient has severe brain injury and they are going to be in a vegetative state coma, which also is not a good quality of life. Likewise for any machine being used to pump a heart, or work any of the human organs.
It a patient is choosing his or her own right to die, it needs to be handled with medical staff and family accordingly. Because this is a very ethical decision, not everyone is going to agree. Because Oregon is the only state that recognizes assisted suicide as being legal, it is possible that your wishes will not be put into effect as planned. If you choose to not be kept alive after a major medical trauma, the first thing one should do is make a Living Will to include your wishes and include a “Do Not Resuscitate†order. These are legal and binding documents. Once these are complete, it is best to go ahead and start on ones Last Will and Testament. Have a discussion regarding your wishes with your friends and family. Give certified copies of your papers to a lawyer who will be in charge of your estate, as well as your voice when needed. One can also appoint a head of the estate to take care of tasks, such as informing medical staff and providing legal paperwork. Be sure to give copies to all medical facilities you visit. The Five Wishes: Aging with Dignity document is also a legal and biding document that will state the priorities and values a person...