Legalizing and Regulating Euthanasia Would Permit Medical Professionals to Help Such Patients

Legalizing and regulating euthanasia would permit medical professionals to help such patients end their lives in a humane manner.

Theresa Hinkelman

COM/220

5/23/2012

Jack Covington

Let me start off here with a question or two. How do you want to die? Peacefully in your sleep pain free in a safe and humane, regulated an legal way or laying there in a hospital in pain an continue to suffer being kept alive against your will. We have say so over every part of our medical care even disconnecting tubes or artificial life support but not when it comes down to receiving help to end our lives in a humane manner.Just like psychological disorders stigmas are attached to euthanasia.Is it death with dignity a crime?

As stated on page 2 in the article An Argument in Support of Euthanasia or Physician-Assisted Suicide on article myriad.com by Nicole Smith the argument against the legality of euthanasia or physician-assisted suicide are often based on speculative theories that do not have the weight of scientific, statistical, or other data to back them up. On the other hand, there is a wealth of material, both opinion and otherwise, that indicates that there are a great many people who are suffering from pain caused from terminal conditions yet are forced to live out the rest of their lives in an undignified and unwanted way. The only way to live up to our constant promises of freedom in this country and the only way to offer those dying in ways that many of us cannot fathom unless we have seen it firsthand is to offer this one hope. Not to do so would in itself be inhumane.

According to the article The Positive Side of Assisted Suicide : An Argument in Favor of Allowing Physicians Euthanasia Capabilities also found on article myriad.com also by Nicole Smith.For patients who decide to remove life support systems, the suffocation process is excruciatingly slow and is far from a humane way to end one’s life. I know this for a fact from watching my own son die in a hospice center while hooked up to a morphine pump.

As stated in another article I read titled End of Life Care:An Ethical Overview by a team consisting of The Starr Foundation consisting of Brenda Paul, MS, MA, Research Assistant, Center for Bioethics; Dianne Bartels, PhD, MA, RN, Associate Director, Center for Bioethics;Ariel Abbot-Penny, Program Associate, Center for Bioethics;LesliRawles, BS, Research Assistant, Center for Bioethics; Amy Ward, DVM, Editor, Center for Bioethics for Center for BioethicsUniversity of Minnesota, While parents have legal rights to make decisions for their children, others argue that parents may sometimes not be objective when it comes to making treatment decisions for their child. The suggestion has been made that while parents should be consulted, they perhaps should not always have the final word about treatment decisions.123 most important, children should be able to participate in decisions about their own care. 124,125 At 14 years old my son understood what death was and the repercussions of removing the machines it was his decision.

Now we also have the question of who will be the one to help such patients end their lives in a humane manner. I think every doctors and nurses should have this in there training. I think as best state in the article "Assisted Dying and Nursing Practice." Image: Journal of Nursing Scholarship in the Winter 1999 issue when Schwarz, Judith Kennedy. While writting this article from a nurses point of view asks questions and makes statements like, When asked for this type of assistance all the bases have to be covered, has everything been done that can be done for this pt.? Has there been adequate symptom control like pain management? Has there been plenty of emotional support? Usually when dealing with a dying pt. certain issues arise like the fact of dignity over loss of functions, becoming dependent on someone else to care for them, or the increase of other uncontrollable symptoms.

Favoring legalization have thus far developed guidelines to Ensure that assisted dying remains an option used by patients only as a last resort In most cases that’s where Hospice gets involved when continued attempts to cure are not compassionate, wise, or medically sound. That’s when hospice, including In-home hospice care can be of great help. That is the time when all efforts should be directed to making the patient’s remaining time comfortable. Then, all Interventions should be directed to alleviating pain and other symptoms as well as to providing emotional and spiritual support for both the patient and the patient’s loved ones. I have seen this scenario in action to I lost my first patient in 2008 while being a home health aide. Nurses that care for the dying pts. Usually are the ones who hear the pts. Fears, plans, and the desire to be assisted with dying, According to the ANA it is illegal and contrary to the nursing code of ethics and professional guidelines to assist a pt. to dye There is a difference in professionally sanctioned end of life interventions from those that are not.

Nurses have a variety of views about their participation in assisted dying, and often justify their position by referring to their own clinical experiences. Experts in the Field of palliative care have noted that the experience of uncontrolled and persistent pain often causes patients with advanced disease to feel hopeless, become depressed, and thus be especially likely to have thoughts about suicide, or to request AID, experienced hospice nurses, often argued for those "very occasional patients" who, despite receiving skilled palliative care, prefer death to the life they are left with. “Some people want help ending their life and hospice fails them when it does not provide that choice" (p. 4). Volker which is an experienced oncology nurse stated that skilled palliative care must include the option of Compassionate relief of suffering via assisted suicide when the patient desires this intervention. Even the Patients’ Rights Council In 1994, the influential New England Journal of Medicine published an article recommending legalization that would permit assisted euthanasia not only for individuals who have terminal conditions but also for those with “incurable debilitating illnesses.” (23) In conclusion, as I see it we have two options here we can both legalize and regulate it or not and just let it continue in secrecy.

Annotated Bibliography

Article by Nicole Smith.An Argument in Support of Euthanasia or Physician-Assisted Suicide.

Article by Nicole Smith.The Positive Side of Assisted Suicide : An Argument in Favor of Allowing Physicians Euthanasia Capabilities:

ArticleMyriad.com is a site that has articles a wide range of topics related to the humanities including literature, history, film, arguments and just about any other topic you could possibly think of with a team of six writers. And Nicole smith is one of the six writers that is required to hold a Masters degree or higher in English or History.

End of Life Care: An Ethical Overview is an original publication by the

University of Minnesota’s Center for Bioethics. The Starr Foundation consisting of Brenda Paul, MS, MA, Research Assistant, Center for Bioethics; Dianne Bartels, PhD, MA, RN, Associate Director, Center for Bioethics; Ariel Abbot-Penny, Program Associate, Center for Bioethics;LesliRawles, BS, Research Assistant, Center for Bioethics; Amy Ward, DVM, Editor, Center for Bioethics. Part IV End of Life Issues: Special Topics 38: Children at the End of Life 46;

The University of Minnesota center for Bioethics is comprised of The Starr Foundation consisting of Brenda Paul, MS, MA, Research Assistant; Dianne Bartels, PhD, MA, RN, Associate Director; Ariel Abbot-Penny, Program Associate;LesliRawles, BS, Research Assistant; Amy Ward, DVM, Editor, that covers ethical issues related to death and dying they pay special attention to the benefits and drawbacks of certain areas like ending life through physician assistance or termination of treatment, they also look into options for preserving the individual autonomy of the patient, including the special situation of terminally ill children, and conducting medical research.

Schwarz, Judith Kennedy. "Assisted Dying and Nursing Practice."Image: Journal of Nursing Scholarship Winter 1999: 367. Academic OneFile.Web. 4 Dec. 2011.

This article is from a nurses point of view about physician-assisted dying Schwarz, Judith Kennedy touches base on this issue related to the social legal and political areas assessing the professions position of a nurses participation when it comes down to the nurse assisted dying