Human suicide is a very controversial topic to say the least. It primarily depends on human sympathy or the impulse toward mercy. It is the desire to ease what seems like pointless pain and suffering. Why shouldn’t the terminally ill meet death on their own terms? Shouldn’t these people who already have the fate of death be able to leave this world with dignity, or should they stay on this world and suffer the pains of death. When people think of assisted death they usually go straight to the infamous Dr. Kevorkian also known as Dr. Death. Dr. Kevorkian is famous for assisting suicide to over 130 people. Some of those people terminally ill but over 60% not, Kevorkian was tried repeatedly and convicted of second degree murder. Some feel that Dr. Kevorkian is humanitarianism rather than a criminal because his clients asked to die, “that may be the free choice that separates assisted suicide form murder” his defenders would insist. This would mean that assisted suicide depends more on our respect for people own will to die rather than the law. This goes back to the main question of do the terminally ill really occupy a completely different moral category from the rest? Is a cancer patients suffering more unbearable then the agony of someone living with multiple sclerosis, quadriplegia or manic depression. Or even the unbearable agony of parent who has lost their only child? Dr. Kevorkian spent his entire career following these practices, that if someone has the choice to die, he would honor their wishes. After his release from jail in 2007 Kevorkian went on to do interviews with 60 minutes, 50,000 speaking arrangements, and a hagiographic HBO biopic starring Al Pacino. Only 3 states currently allow this form of physician assisted suicide, the Supreme Court in a unanimous 1997 decision declined to invent a constitutional right to die. In Switzerland however the case is different Dr. Minelli currently charges 6,000 dollars for his services. Unlike Kervorkian however Minelli is free to kill the suicidal without fear of prosecution. In the last 15 years he has killed more than 1,000 people who have chosen to exit this world under his supervision. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/06/opinion/06douthat.html?ref=assistedsuicide
Questions
1. Where should the line be drawn between murder and physician assisted suicide?
2. Do you think Dr. Kevorkian was a murderer or a doctor that cared for his patients requests?
3. Do you believe there should be a right to assisted suicide? And what should the requirements be for this to happen?
4. Would you support your state in offering physician assisted suicide?
Excellent article...Welcome to the Monkey House. After having read the title of the New York Times op-ed, “Dr. Kevorkian’s Victims,” I expected to spend the following few minutes reading a written assault on his gruesome and unethical practices that breached the sanctity of life. Surprisingly, however, it remained, for the most part, neutral throughout. Although it did occasionally portray Kevorkian as a half celebrity with seriously questionable beliefs, who, at times, capitalized off his infamy, it was successful at giving the other side of his story as well. It told of an impassioned doctor, one who wished to uphold man’s freedom to choose, to extend and complete his right to live with his right to die.
ReplyDeleteWhile this article does take special note of Kevorkian’s contributions to raising the social consciousness of physician assisted suicide, especially amongst those who are terminally ill, I believe it’s primary goal was to get readers to think critically about where the moral line is drawn (if at all) amongst those who wish to die who are not medically diagnosed with an incurable affliction, but instead suffer from a subjective, yet by no means, less real pain. With an ever intellectually aware and aging population, a literal graying of humanity, these are issues that this country, along with the rest of the world, will have to face in the coming years. The Supreme Court got a preview of what’s to come when they ruled against Kevorkian’s own rational, but it is likely that it will be our generation that will be tasked with either supporting the preservation of life, or, demanding death. Where do you stand?
Before we come to a final decision, let us first set out to continue the moralistic thought processes presented by the article. The author emphasized that if at some point, at any level, physician assisted suicide is deemed acceptable both “legally and ethically...it can only be because an [inalienable, human] right [exists].” Therefore, if a right does exists, than we must concede that it is present in all men, and so is not reserved only for those who are medically diagnosed as terminally ill. Thus, there are no requirements. Any attempt to create requisites for suicide would be nothing short of technicalities and lofty legal semantics. If the laws of man impede this right to take ones own life alone (which, ultimately, it could never), then it is an infringement upon ones own freedom as a human being.
ReplyDeleteThis, however, is where many of the issues now arise, some of which Katie had made note. Particularly, at what point does it become the States responsibility to provide suicide services, if at all? It is easier to grasp the desire to end ones own life if one is afflicted with an incurable physically or mentally degenerative disease. Yet complications present themselves for those who are psychologically impaired, wrestling with a treatable mental disorder, or even those who are suffer from a minimal and so temporary physical handicapped.
With such a variety of cases, it would be wise for the State to consider offering an inexpensive and viable means of self-suicide if the person has come to the point to be so compelled to do so and follow through. Yet, as with all State services, there should be a system that critiques the severity or need of the individual requesting the service. Once a specialist has determined the cause for suicide, suitable treatment methods should be offered in an attempt to give the patient another chance before the individual can fulfill that his fate knowing full well his hour. It is the purpose of the State to provide protection for its citizens without infringing upon their rights. Therefore, if suicide does at some point become socially condoned, it must entail a qualified outreach program, and guarded against from degenerating into Vonnegut’s dystopian vision of government that not only endorses, but also encourages the death of its own people.
1. Where should the line be drawn between murder and physician assisted suicide?
ReplyDeleteIs there a line between the two? How can we be sure that the person who just died truly wanted this assisted suicide? How can we be sure they were in the right state of mind the make such a permanent decision. Death is a terrible terrible thing, and i don't think speeding up the process is the appropriate thing to do. At the same time I don't want those suffering to suffer, but if we create certain specifications to qualify for assisted suicide what is going to stop those who don't meet those requirements from trying to abuse the system?
2. Do you think Dr. Kevorkian was a murderer or a doctor that cared for his patients requests?
I think Dr. Kevorkian was a doctor who did what he believed, helping sick patients. He just helped all patients both physically and mentally sick. It goes back to what the article points out, how do you justify one type of sickness over the other? How can you call him a murderer for one and a caring doctor for the other. And why if mentally sick people want to die need assistance? If they can't do it themselves do they really want to die?
3. Do you believe there should be a right to assisted suicide? And what should the requirements be for this to happen?
No, assisted suicide is wrong. I believe that medicine has made it possible to numb the pain for those physically sick to the point where they pass away with dignity and respect, and most importantly naturally and not one other terms. In regards to those mentally sick looking for a way out, if they are looking for assisted suicide they should be sent to a doctor to help them become able to see the good in life again or kill themselves. I see that if they are going to have someone assist in their death, then they were still looking to be saved or helped.
4. Would you support your state in offering physician assisted suicide?
Absolutely NOT, my tax dollars are not going to killing people for the sake of it!
Unfortunately the link is not working for me but regardless I am feeling weird and uncomfortable to agree with the physicians. If a patient does not want to live any longer, who are we so say they should? Are we now forcing people to live in agony? I am a strong Christian with beliefs against suicide, but I am in no place to tell someone they must live on.
ReplyDeleteI firmly believe Dr. Kevorkian is a doctor who cared for his patients requests. It is not as if Kevorkian had patients come in and right away gave them poison that peacefully killed them. There is a process, are questions asked, preparation. The patients walking into Dr. Kevorkian’s office I would argue have had a strong passion for not living any longer.
I do not believe there should be a right to assisted suicide. It occurs now in small numbers and that’s they way it should be. If the United States allowed for assisted suicide in all 50 states, who knows how our country would function? If people do not want to live any longer, they will find their way to pursue that passion of loss of life.
No, I would not support my state of New Jersey in offering physician assisted suicide.
1.Where should the line be drawn between murder and physician assisted suicide?
ReplyDeleteThe line should be drawn murder and physician assisted suicide kind of sounds similar to me. I believe that there really isn’t a line. If someone wants to die then they will find a way to do so. If they do not want to bare the site of seeing another day on earth they will go to any extant to find a way to not be there. I personally do not like to think about suicide and murder because I do believe that people whom are ill can find a way to be saved.
2. Do you think Dr. Kevorkian was a murderer or a doctor that cared for his patients requests?
I do believe that Dr. Kevorkian is a doctor that had his patient interest in mind. He did want to make sure the needs of his patients were met. If they meant murder or suicide than that is what he would allow them to do.
3. Do you believe there should be a right to assisted suicide? And what should the requirements be for this to happen?
I do not believe there should be a right to assist suicide. If a person is that sick and ill in the head and they want to take their own lives then they can do so on their own. If someone were to assist in such an act I do believe that, that person would be charged of murder.
4. Would you support your state in offering physician assisted suicide?
No not at all. I think it is sickening to allow such a thing.
First off, very interesting article!! I personally don’t think there is a definite line that can be drawn between murder and physician assisted suicide. Especially since each patient is different the line fluctuates of course assisted suicide isn’t glamorous but do I think Dr. K is a murderer? No. I think in instance of helping the terminally ill reach a place of relaxation and peace is what his intentions were. But who’s to say he can assist an elderly person who is suffering from a health condition but it isn’t ok for him to assist someone younger just as sick. It’s a controversial issue because no one can speak on behalf of someone else and what they are going through and I feel that if you no longer want to fight to survive your request to give up shouldn’t be questioned. But then again under certain circumstances… I think requirements should include age and sickness because I feel like many people have been faced with hard battles and would much rather give up then fight through it not knowing what is on the other side. However, for someone who is much older and has been terminally ill and only lives because of medications or the assistance of machines I think those people should have the choice to live or not. Who wants to be alive and only suffering? I would support my state in offering physician assisted suicide but there would have to be criteria to be followed and coming upon what exactly is acceptable or not would be extremely difficult.
ReplyDelete1. Where should the line be drawn between murder and physician assisted suicide?
ReplyDeleteTo me, there is no line between murder and physician assisted suicide. Murder is murder. I do not believe that people have a 'right to death', rather death is simply a part of life. I believe that suicide is selfish, because it hurts those around you. Even terminally ill patients all have their time to pass on, and they are not responsible for choosing that date. I also think that a physician has no right in assisting with death, as they could simply be making profit and taking advantage of those who are not in the right state of mind. There is a reason why psychologists, psychiatrists, hospitals, and the power of medicine exist.
2. Do you think Dr. Kevorkian was a murderer or a doctor that cared for his patients requests?
I think murderer is a bit of a dramatic term to be using for Dr. Kevorkian, if anything he just seems a bit psychotic. I also wouldn't use the word 'care' for Kevorkian, he just is an unethical and an extremist. I will say that Dr. Kevorkian definitely honored his patient's requests, but he also provided resources for death to individuals who should not have access to this option.
3. Do you believe there should be a right to assisted suicide? And what should the requirements be for this to happen?
NO! That is absurd. I highly praise the work and progress in the medical industry. Thanks to technology and medicine, those who are sick or are in pain have many different options of relief; even if those options are simply temporary. The terminally ill can have their time to say goodbye to the life they once lived through treatments and medications that alleviate some of the feelings their body has. This is no longer the pilgrim days, we have ways to help the sick. Suicide is just an easy escape to the realities of our world.
4. Would you support your state in offering physician assisted suicide?
Absolutely not. I would move from that state if my tax dollars supported such an inhumane practice. The idea also directly goes against all of my personal beliefs. I am fairly religious, so I would never promote physician assisted suicide. I believe that God has a time for everyone, and eventually the sick will have their time too.
There has to be a line between these two crazy ideas of death. There is defiantly a difference between the two and I do not agree with either of them. I do understand it happens but I do not support either of the two ways to die.
ReplyDeleteDr. Kevorkian was clearly a doctor, and he really did care about his patients. There was no “murder” that he went through with. What he did was go through a long process and really made sure that these people were ready to go. I don’t agree with the way he did things, but he was caring of those patient’s needs. I have seen people suffer and it is an awful sight that nobody should go through, but that doesn’t mean that they need to die that way.
No, that is just a crazy thought and I don’t believe that will ever be accepted fully in the US. The world would have even more issues on its hands if this were to get popular and acceptable.
Not a chance.
1. I feel like there shouldn’t be a line. This is murder any way you look at it; someone is loosing his or her life. I feel like this should be be legal at all it shouldn’t matter if a doctor is assisting you or not its death of a human at the end of the day.
ReplyDelete2. I think he is a murder he shouldn’t be called a doctor at all. He is killing people because they don’t want to live no more. If he was a doctor he should be helping them though they’re hard time and make them believe that their life should end.
3. I feel like this shouldn’t be happening at all. People go through things like this because they are unhappy and are too afraid to ask for help so they take their life. But is someone has enough courage to go ask for help to kill them self’s than in my eyes its there cry for help. Not help to make it all possible to end their life help to change what’s going on.
4. NOT AT ALL
1. The line should be drawn at people who are not terminally ill. People with aggressive forms of cancer that learn of their disease and only have a few months to live or others who are severely suffering should be allowed the option in theory. Personally, I don’t think there is a line the whole idea is absurd to me that someone would willingly help kill someone.
ReplyDelete2. In his mind he was a person who helped people to go out on their own terms rather than in pain. I personally can’t fault the man because he was doing something that people asked him to do. There was a need that he satisfied for those people. Was it right? No but it’s something that was requested of him and he felt strongly enough about it to take the risk to do it. If he was in Switzerland we wouldn’t be having this conversation because it wouldn’t be looked at the same way.
3. I don’t think that there should be a right to assisted suicide. The way that modern medicine has progressed to the point that pain can be dealt with and people don’t have to suffer from pain. Also, a person’s last moments can be peaceful rather than some horrible moment seen back in the Civil War when medicine was primitive and even the 1960’s when pain medication were not what they are today. Now I know that pain is not the only thing that people suffer from but there are many procedures that are used to help anyone who is suffering to make the situation less gruesome.
4. I wouldn’t support my state in offering physician assisted suicide because I don’t support it and I don’t want to have my taxes go to paying for it just like everyone else. I don’t think that people should be able to go to a doctor to kill themselves it is inhumane.
I feel that if a patient is requesting to die that classifies something as being in their hands or in their control. The difference between murder and assisted suicide is that when you are murdered you have not asked to die, but rather this action is forced and out of your control.
ReplyDeleteI don't believe that people who help others who are willing to die are murderers. If someone is willing to die they should have the right to do so. We get to make arrangements and decisions regarding staying on life support or not and I feel that the decision to live or die should be in our own hands. We don't have the choice to be here, but we should have the choice of whether or not we want to stay here, especially if we're suffering. Some people do make that choice, but those who fail at these attempts are punished and labeled insane. Yes, maybe some are, but at the same time, maybe some of those people, whether they do or don't succeed, are sane enough to understand that they aren't going to live much longer and don't want to prolong the process. There will always be two sides to the coin. I, however, do not feel that Dr. Kevorkian is a cold blooded killer.
I do believe that people should have the choice of whether or not they want to live. If they don't have the freedom to, but really want to end their life, they will find a way to do so on their own.
I would support my state if they offered physician assisted suicide. I have worked in a medical practice that deals with extremely ill cancer patients who are only progressively getting worse. If they don't want to prolong their suffering then I feel they shouldn't have to.
This is an awesome article, I have never thought about suicide in this way and probably will think very different about it from hear on out.
ReplyDelete1. Where should the line be drawn between murder and physician assisted suicide?
The line should be drawn with the patients decision but on the flip side of it I would say it needs to be a well thought decision. In some cases the decision is a selfish one. Take for instance someone who isn't going through any type of pain and has a family that he or she needs to take care of. It would be selfish of them just to commit suiced and leave their family behind.
2. Do you think Dr. Kevorkian was a murderer or a doctor that cared for his patients requests?
I believe that he cared for his patients. He essentially did exactly what his patients wanted. He saw that they were suffering and he didn't want them to suffer any longer. People came to him and wanted to be put out of their misery and didn't want it to be painful so he did what they wanted.
3. Do you believe there should be a right to assisted suicide? And what should the requirements be for this to happen?
I don't believe there should be a right. If that person has the ability to make the decision for himself then that decision should be honored.
4. Would you support your state in offering physician assisted suicide?
I would not support my state if they decided to offer physician assisted suicide. I believe this would backfire because more and more people will abuse the right to take their own life.
The line between murder and physician assisted suicide will unfortunately never be drawn, well not accurately that is. Who is to say they are ready to leave this earth and neglect maybe their responsibilities such as children, family and friends. Suicide in general is a selfish act that should not be happening as often as it is. However on the other side if somebody is alone in this world, in extreme pain and tired of living assisted suicide might not be as bad as it sounds in reality.
ReplyDeleteIt is very surprising to me that a DR from Armenian heritage who are very religious would assist in self-suicide; however after reading a lot about this man I do not see his actions as an act of murder.
When it comes to that topic I am not really the right person to talk about it, because I contradict myself a lot. I believe that suicide is unacceptable but also believe everyone should be able to do as they please. In this case I can understand certain extreme cases but mostly i find it inhuman to take your own life without fighting.
I am not really from the States, but I would not like it if the states were "promoting" assisted suicide, since this could lead to an increase and to people giving up because they have an easy option. This is a definitive no for me and should be for everyone else.
1. Where should the line be drawn between murder and physician assisted suicide?
ReplyDeleteIt is difficult to comment on as most of us in the class can’t ever comprehend the agony of the terminally ill and understand how death can be seen as a means of maintaining dignity. The line between the two titles should be drawn at the willingness and mental health of the customer. If the mental health of the customer can be evaluated to dictate that physiologic trauma of the customer is not a factor in his or her willingness to die, and somehow prove the customer is giving full consent for a third party to carry out such a task than perhaps we could then define murderer from physician of assisted suicides.
2. Do you think Dr. Kevorkian was a murderer or a doctor that cared for his patients requests?
To be perfectly honest the data that was presented was that sixty percent of his patients were not terminally ill and this shows that his mercy was not in the realm of an objective medical conclusion but in more cases a solution to psychological distress. Dr. Kevorkian could have only truly cared about his patient’s requests if he experienced this kind of psychological trauma in his on psyche. And I feel like if assisting death is your job by choice than it wouldn’t surprise me that you have some psychological issues yourself, so perhaps Dr. Kevorkian was sincere in his mercy for his patients.
3. Do you believe there should be a right to assisted suicide? And what should the requirements be for this to happen?
I believe in extreme medical cases where pain and agony is beyond the patient’s abilities to cope or terminally ill cases this option or means to leave this earth should be available. I believe as I had said in previous questions, that the ability to assess a patient’s mental health and prove consent to such a service is essential to making the right to suicide justifiable.
4. Would you support your state in offering physician assisted suicide?
No I would not support offering physician assisted suicide in my state.