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Patient's Rights to Choose Death
[Name of the Writer]
[Name of the Institution]
Patient's Rights to Choose Death
Sandra Bem, Brittany Maynard, and Gil Pharaoh are three individuals that had to confront a difficult situation-whether to live or not to live. The diseases they were suffering from made their lives difficult. Sandra Bem suffered from Alzheimer, Brittany Maynard suffered from the worst form of cancer, while Gill Pharaoh due to seeing elderly suffer during her professional life wanted to end her life. Gill Pharaoh believed that elderly people are a burden on society. Therefore, she decided to end her life at a clinic based in Switzerland. On the other hand, Sandra Bem and Brittany Maynard wanted to get relief from the sufferings and irritation that accompanied their diseases. Despite drawing harsh criticism from human rights organizations, all these three women had full support from their families and loved ones.
Although a patient's right to choose death for themselves is not recognized by most countries and states within the United States, there are numerous issues and implications associated with the issue of assisted dying. The issue of assisted dying can easily be converted in provoking to suicide if proper procedures and rules are not followed. The state of Oregon has a law named the Death with Dignity Act (Oregon Death With Dignity Act Summary, 2018). This act enables people suffering from terminal illnesses to end their lives purposefully through the use of prescribed medication. Since many states in the US do not permit assisted dying, persons suffering from terminal illnesses more often than not seek to relocate to Oregon in order to exercise their right to choose death. The recent report of the Oregon Death with Dignity Act revealed that 249 people received prescriptions from the doctors for the purpose of assisted death (Oregon Death With Dignity Act Summary, 2018). The Act drew criticism from human rights groups suggesting that the right to choose death is in opposition to the right to life. However, the advocates of the Act disagree simply by saying this Act gives patients the opportunity to choose what is best for them while they are in pain. It must be noted that prescriptions are given only when two doctors confirm that the patient has less than 6 months to live and is in a state of sound mind.
References
Oregon Death With Dignity Act Summary . (2018). Oregon.gov. Retrieved 6 August 2019, from https://www.oregon.gov/oha/PH/PROVIDERPARTNERRESOURCES/EVALUATIONRESEARCH/DEATHWITHDIGNITYACT/Documents/year21.pdf
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