Assisted Suicide And Euthanasia Is Not An Act Of Euthanasia

All Americans are guaranteed civil rights under the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Competent, terminally ill patients should have the right to choose to end their life hence, putting an end to their suffering. For this reason, physician assisted suicide and euthanasia are compassionate responses to a terminally ill patient’s unbearable suffering. By definition, assisted suicide is when someone provides an individual with the information, guidance, and means to take his or her own life with the intention that they will be used for this purpose. When it is a doctor who helps another person to kill themselves it is called physician assisted suicide. Euthanasia is the intentional killing by act or omission of a dependent human being for his or her alleged benefit. (The key word here is intentional. If death is not intended, it is not an act of euthanasia) (Euthanasia.com, 2015) A terminally ill patient should not be forced to stay alive and continue to live in unbearable pain. While some will argue that all pain is manageable, to continue to live life in a drug induced state is not a life of quality. This is where a patient’s right to die or legally commit suicide on his or her own accord or with the assistance of a licensed physician, comes into play. The acts of suicide and assisted suicide are not criminalized. Suicide in itself is a tragic, individual act however; the act of euthanasia is about letting one person, a facilitator for lack of terms, cause theShow MoreRelatedThe Act Of Euthanasia And Physician Assisted Suicide2744 Words   |  11 PagesThe Act of Euthanasia and Physician Assisted Suicide The argument can be made that euthanasia is a form of murder; which killing any human by murder is not ethical, but this can be combated. What about an individual’s autonomy? 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