Doctor-Assisted Suicide Essay -- Euthanasia Essays

Doctor-Assisted SuicideSuicide is the act or instance of taking ones own life voluntarily and intentionally especially if that individual is of sound mind. Euthanasia is the act or practice of killing individuals who are hopelessly sick or injured for reasons of mercy. Doctor-assisted suicide is a term employ to describe the act of a doctor or physician providing direct or indirect means of assisting someone in taking their own life. in that respect are 2 types of euthanasia. Passive euthanasia is withholding life-sustaining treatment either before or after it has been initiated. Active euthanasia is taking step to end your life, as in suicide, handling the action yourself (Humphry 20). It is an explicit act such as writing a lethal prescription or a directly injecting a lethal dose. Approximately 30,000 Americans kill themselves every year. This means that the regularise of suicide is about 11.0 per 100,000 people. This rate is erect the average, and it varies greatly among se xes and races. The suicide rate for males is 19.8, but the rate for females is 3.8. This difference in rates appears deceptive because females are 3 times more likely to attempt suicide than males. Males are just more effective in their methods. White Americans have a higher rate of suicide than any other ethnic group. It is believed that homosexuals have a a lot greater rate than heterosexuals, but this is difficult to research because many homosexuals hide their sexual orientation from fear of persecution. The terminally ill are most about associated with the doctor-assisted suicide issue. Many in this group argue that once all medical care has failed, then one has the right to hasten death to bar pain and suffering. If a person is going to inevitably die from a painful disease, then that person should have the right to decide when, where, and how death comes. on that point are many ways for one to commit suicide. The 2 major types are self-inflicted and assisted. Despite the p opular issue of legalizing doctor-assisted suicide, most suicides remain self-inflicted. Zeinert describes the statisticsAccording to the internal Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), the majority of those who commit suicide do so by shooting themselves. In fact, the latest statistics available from the NCHS show that 59 portion of all suicides were committed ... ...ks CitedCohen, Adam. Showdown for Doctor Death. Time 7 Dec. 1998. 2 Nov. 2001 <http//www.time.com/time/magazine/1998/dom/981207/nation.showdown_for_doc2a.html>.Greenhouse, Linda. Justices Uphold Laws Banning Assisted Suicide. The New York Times on the Web 27 June 1997. 30 Oct. 2001 <http//www.nytimes.com/books/97/07/20/reviews/scotus-suicide.html>.High Court Rejects Constitutional Right To Doctor-Assisted Suicide. American Civil Liberties Union News 26 June 1997. 30 Oct. 2001 <http//www.aclu.org/news/n062697g.html>.Humphry, Derek. Final Exit The Practicalities of Self-Deliverance andAssisted Suicide for th e Dying. Eugene The Hemlock Society, 1991.Katz, Stephen R. Doctor Assisted Suicide-a Bad Oxymoron and a Bad Idea. Connecticut Post 27 Apr. 1998. 30 Oct. 2001 <http//pages.prodigy.com/DOCTORINFORM/suicide.html>.Torr, James, ed. Euthanasia Opposing Viewpoints. San Diego Greenhaven P, 2000.Uhlmann, Michael, ed. Last Rights? Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia Debated. Grand Rapids William B. Eerdmans, 1998.Zeinert, Karen. Suicide Tragic Choice. Berkeley Heights Enslow Publishers, 1999.