Doctor-Assisted Suicide Essay -- Euthanasia Essays

Doctor- assist self-annihilationSuicide is the teleph iodine number or instance of taking ones own life voluntarily and intentionally especially if that someone is of sound mind. Euthanasia is the act or institutionalise of k troubleing individuals who argon hopelessly sick or injured for reasons of mercy. Doctor-assisted felo-de-se is a term used to describe the act of a doctor or physician providing direct or indirect means of assisting soul in taking their own life. There argon 2 types of euthanasia. supine euthanasia is withholding life-sustaining treatment either before or after it has been initiated. Active euthanasia is taking steps 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 straight off injecting a lethal dose. Approximately 30,000 Americans kill themselves every year. This means that the vagabond of suicide is about 11.0 per 100,000 people. This send is just the aver age, and it varies greatly among sexes 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 gain a higher rate of suicide than any other ethnic assembly. It is believed that homosexuals have a much greater rate than heterosexuals, but this is difficult to question because numerous homosexuals hide their sexual orientation from fear of persecution. The terminally ill are most closely 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 avoid 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.There are many ways for one to commit suicide. The 2 major types are self -inflicted and assisted. notwithstanding the popular issue of legalizing doctor-assisted suicide, most suicides remain self-inflicted. Zeinert describes the statisticsAccording to the National pith 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 percent 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 generation on the Web 27 June 1997. 30 Oct. 2001 <http//www.nytimes.com/books/97/07/20/reviews/scotus-suicide.html>. in high spirits Court Rejects Constitutional Right To Doctor-Assisted Suicide. American Civil Liberties Union intelligence 26 June 1997. 30 Oct. 2001 <http//www.aclu.org/news/n062697g.html>.Humphry, Derek. Fina l Exit The Practicalities of Self-Deliverance andAssisted Suicide for the Dying. Eugene The Hemlock Society, 1991.Katz, Stephen R. Doctor Assisted Suicide-a Bad Oxymoron and a Bad Idea. computerized tomography 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.