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Euthenasia

Discussion Questions
  • ​Is it one's own choice whether to undergo physician-assisted suicide?

  • Who should decide when it comes to euthanasia?

  • Is it ethical for doctors to perform euthanasia or physician-assisted suicide?

  • Are there scenarios in while euthanasia or physician-assisted suicide is or is not justified?

Research

Testimony A

“There is not a cell in my body that is suicidal or that wants to die. I want to live. I wish there was a cure for my disease but there’s not… My glioblastoma is going to kill me, and that’s out of my control. I’ve discussed with many experts how I would die from it, and it’s a terrible, terrible way to die. Being able to choose to go with dignity is less terrifying… Right now it’s a choice that’s only available to some Americans, which is really unethical… The amount of sacrifice and change my family had to go through in order to get me legal access to Death with Dignity–changing our residency [from California to Oregon], establishing a team of doctors, having a place to live–was profound… I believe this choice is ethical, and what makes it ethical is it is a choice” (1). 
-Brittany Maynard, a 29-year-old with stage 4 Glioblastoma multiforme

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Testimony B

"[P]ermitting physicians to engage in euthanasia would ultimately cause more harm than good. Euthanasia is fundamentally incompatible with the physician’s role as healer, would be difficult or impossible to control, and would pose serious societal risks. Euthanasia could readily be extended to incompetent patients and other vulnerable populations.
The involvement of physicians in euthanasia heightens the significance of its ethical prohibition. The physician who performs euthanasia assumes unique responsibility for the act of ending the patient’s life" (2). 
-American Medical Association

Works Cited

Nicole Weisensee Egan, “Terminally Ill 29-Year-Old Woman: Why I’m Choosing to Die on My Own Terms,” www.people.com, Oct. 6, 2014
Letter written on behalf of the AMA by then AMA General Counsel Kirk Johnson to then Michigan Attorney General Frank Kelley, Oct. 10, 1995, “Our Mission,” AMA website (accessed Apr. 26, 2010)
“Should Euthanasia or Physician-Assisted Suicide Be Legal? - Euthanasia - ProCon.org.” Euthanasia, 2 Apr. 2020, euthanasia.procon.org/questions/should-euthanasia-or-physician-assisted-suicide-be-legal/.

©2022 by Olivia Chiang

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