EUTHANASIA AND DOCTOR ASSISTED SUICIDE

“Mercy”? Killing

What is Euthanasia and how is it performed?

“The act of putting to death painlessly or allowing to die, as by withholding extreme medical measures, a person or animal suffering from an incurable, especially a painful, disease or condition.”

There are 3 separate shots used in the following order with the following results: Sodium thiopental: ultra-short action barbiturate, an anesthetic agent capable of rendering the offender unconscious in a few seconds, Pancuronium: non-depolarizing muscle relaxant, causes complete, fast and sustained paralysis of the skeletal striated muscles, Potassium chloride: stops the heart, and thus causes death by cardiac arrest

Issues with Euthanasia It’s emotionally stressful for a family to make the

conscious decision to end a life Most people who took the survey felt that in any

scenario, ending a life is morally “wrong” but there are circumstances (like someone being in a coma for several years) where it is justifiable to let someone die

“It was tough. But ultimately the safest, and kindest decision. We didn't want him to suffer through cancer, we preferred to have him put down while still somewhat happy”

More Issues with Euthanasia The technology and science behind this process

allows for Doctor Assisted Suicide, in which patients consciously elect to die

Question of humanity Do cases exist when it is justifiable to want to end

your own life? Most people who took the survey said that they

could understand someone wanting to die if they were always depressed because of physical or emotional hardships such as cancer, loss of a limb, death of a loved one, or being paralyzed

Still, most people who took the survey felt that, despite these hardships it is ethically wrong to take your own life, and it is no more humane to have a doctor assist you

Who Ya Gonna Call?

Dr. Jack Kevorkian (1928-2011) was Dr. Jack Kevorkian, the medical pathologist who willfully helped dozens of terminally ill people end their lives, becoming the central figure in a national drama surrounding assisted suicide

Conflict: Did he help them die with dignity? “In quixotically trying to conquer death doctors all too

frequently do no good for their patients’ “ease” but at the same time they do harm instead by prolonguing and even magnifying patients’ dis-ease.” ― Jack Kevorkian, Prescription: Medicide: The Goodness of Planned Death

More Kevorkian For instance: Kevorkian assisted Janet Adkins’ death in his

van in rural Oakland County on June 4, 1990 She had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. She

knew what the progression of the disease would do to her “This is something, pretty soon, it’s not going to be me

anymore” Mixed reactions: the patients and some of their families

were grateful while many members of the public perceived physician assisted suicide as an insane practice

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