Moral Issues Surrounding Assisted Suicide Essay

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Assisted Suicide

The ethical and moral issues surrounding assisted suicide are presented in this paper through interviews and research. Assisted suicide has always been a controversial subject and it continues to be controversial although there are people who believe it is moral, ethical, and should be made legal.

My Neighbor and Friend -- Ms. Rogers -- Interviewed February 4, 2015

Ms. Rogers is a 55-year-old Caucasian widow who lives in my neighborhood. She graciously agreed to be asked questions as to her views on assisted suicide, and so an interview was scheduled.

She was asked about her personal moral values and her religious beliefs regarding voluntary assisted suicide, and she said that she is a devout Christian and thus, she said that only God can give life, and only God can take it away. Her views are very much shared by many Christians and people of other faiths, so it was no surprise to learn that she basically opposes assisted suicide.

No matter what the justification, healthcare professionals have no business interfering with one's life, she said. Healthcare professionals are there to protect lives and promote good health, and if and when they participate in euthanasia, it should be considered murder, she insisted.

There is no doubt that Ms. Rogers has given a lot of thought to this topic because there was very little delay from the time I posed a question to the time she gave her response. She said that she was wholly against making assisted suicide legal. But she also said that although a patient near death has the perfect right to autonomy, and to determine that he or she would be better off ending life than continuing to suffer, a professional in the healthcare industry should not be part of the process of terminating that life.

Ms. Rogers went on to say that because nurses and physicians have taken an oath to do no harm, how could they morally, ethically go against that oath, she wondered? Instead of having one's life ended by assisted suicide, she said that when there is a terminal illness a patient should be receiving palliative care or hospice care, which includes measure such as morphine to reduce pain and suffering.

A nurse's job is to have compassion and to maintain his or her professional boundaries, Ms. Rogers said; those boundaries include helping the person to live and die in dignity, but death should not be brought on by assisted suicide.

A Healthcare Colleague -- Interviewed February 5, 2015

I interviewed a healthcare colleague who is also a friend and a neighbor, and she said she believes in the philosophy put forward by Wiccan Morality ("an" it harm none, do what ye will"). Basically she adheres to the philosophy that relieving the suffering of a frail person who is terminally ill is a good thing. We put animals to sleep that are suffering and cannot recover, and while humans are a very different species (to say the least), when I comes to our own mother or grandmother who is suffering, we should be able to help these sufferers to pass on peacefully.

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Especially if they are diagnosed with a horrific and debilitating disease.

She also makes a suggestion for people who are about to enter into the bonds of matrimony: as part of the papers that you have to file to be married, why not make it a requirement (with a case worker's approval) that if the couple falls into a terrible medical situation (or suffers from a terminal disease) then assisted suicide will be allowed.

She has been an RN for seven years, and recently was an FNP graduate. She said that while she supports voluntary assisted suicide it would be difficult for her to perform that task. Whether it was a family member or another patient not related to her, she said she wouldn't be able to carry out an assisted suicide. However, she did say that she agrees that hospice or another responsible healthcare service should be able to legally perform the task of assisted suicide.

Nikki O'Hare -- 35-year-old -- Interviewed February 3, 2015

This person just graduated as an FNP in December last year and believes that any person has the right to make the choice of euthanasia, but that she would prefer not to be part of an assisted suicide. She feels that hospice or a palliative healthcare professional should conduct this procedure. Would she support a law legalizing assisted suicide? Yes she would but she said there must be stipulations (like 4th stage cancer). In her hospital they use a fentanyl drip or morphine to keep the patient comfortable in a terminal situation. She doesn't agree that it's okay for any cancer patient to simply say, Oh, I have cancer now I want to die. There must be protocols that are followed.

Healthcare / Hospital Administrator -- Interviewed February 3, 2015

The administrator of a hospital was asked his opinion on human euthanasia and the Schiavo and Dax's case in particular. He said he believes our society doesn't deal well with the issues of death and dying. If the society had a better opportunity to more thoroughly review and discuss matters of death and dying, our culture would be more aware of all the facts and hence it would be more comfortable with assisted suicide. In other words, he feels the issue should be more out in the open and should be discussed and debated on the national stage. The Schiavo case (in which there was a controversy over whether to allow a patient to die who was in a coma) is not unique, he said; in fact his hospital deals with cases similar on a regular basis. If living wills were in place many of these controversies could be avoided, he stated. A dying person's wishes, stated clearly in a legal, notarized document, should be granted, he asserted.

Spiritual Leader -- Roman Catholic Priest -- Interviewed on February 4.

Father Frank Bussman was interviewed and he said, what if Jesus had asked to be euthanized rather than die on the Cross? Of course that would have defeated the purpose of God sending his son to earth. Christ's suffering was.....

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