Essay Example on Assisted Suicide, Euthanasia: Controversy, Morality, Suffering

Assisted suicide and euthanasia refer to deliberate action taken to end the life of a terminally ill patient or an individual who cannot relieve them of their suffering (Nordvist, 2018). The actions are very controversial and may raise different moral views. After studying the website Not Dead Yet and reading the articles from Smart, and Marini and Stebnicki, I felt supportive to the idea that ending life should not be used as a way of relieving suffering from the website and Smart's book. My reaction was that there is a need to maintain life no matter the cost and the feelings of the patient in contrast to the articles from Marini & Stebnicki (2012).

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

I do not support assisted suicide or euthanasia for people with chronic illness and disability (CID). It is because these people have a right to life just like people without these conditions. According to the website Not Dead Yet, decisions to end the life of these people are made without considering their willingness to live. By doing this, the moral value to respect the life of another is broken. Besides, the action is against the law and is considered a crime. Also, some healthcare facilities can issue a nod to assisted suicide and yet they lack the facilities that could have been used to promote the well-being of their CID patients. They do this instead of offering the patient a variety of other options that can improve their well-being.

Furthermore, ending the life of a CID patient is against most religious beliefs as life is considered sacred. According to Smart (2016), disability is universal and every individual experience a disability at some point in their life. Therefore, society should cope with living with people who have chronic illness and disabilities. Moreover, the community should invest in providing these people with care so that they improve the quality of their lives.

People who have different views on this issue point out that the economic burden caused by CID patients is relieved when their life is taken (Tilden, 2012). However, this reason should not be used to end a person's life when he has the will to live. Moreover, some people may advocate for the patient's life to be stopped so that they benefit economically as beneficiaries of an insurance or from inheritance (Coleman, 2019).

When dealing with clients who feel that assisted suicide and euthanasia should be allowed, I would consider their perspective unique. Therefore, I would find their reasons for their viewpoint and harmonize them with my views. For this to be successful, there would be a compromise, and therefore I would serve them based on the best principle focusing on preserving life.

References

Smart, J. (2009). Disability, Society, and the Individual Austin, Texas: Pro-ED, p. 155-160 (Assisted Suicide).

Coduti, S. Z. (2012). Eugenics, Euthanasia, and Physician-Assisted Suicide. In I. M. Stebnicki, The Psychological and Social Impact of Illness and Disability. New York: Springer Publishing Company.

Coleman, D. (2019, 4 30). Not Dead Yet: The Resistance. Retrieved from Not Dead Yet: https://notdeadyet.org/

Tilden, S. W. (2012). Family Decision Making in Foregoing Life-Extending Treatments. In I. M. Stebnicki, the Physiological and Social Impact of Illness and Disability. New York: Springer Publishing Company.

Nordqvist, C. (2018). What are Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide. Medical News Today.