Abstract
This paper analyzes the controversies and issues surrounding euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide. Part II discusses arguments in opposition to euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide. In Part III arguments in support of euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide are presented. Lastly, this paper concludes by recommending that euthanasia should be offered to terminally ill patients in order to avoid much unnecessary suffering.

From the Paper
"Four ways exist to legally terminate life in the United States and other nations: abortion, capital punishment, suicide, and war. In addition, all 50 states have legalized living wills, and some states allow the termination of life support without the existence of a living will if certain parts of the brain are dead. Euthanasia, commonly known as mercy killing or physician-assisted suicide, remains illegal in all but a few countries and states like Germany, Netherlands, Oregon, and Switzerland. However, fundamental shifts are occurring that reflect a recognition that we have overestimated our right to kill in a military setting, and underestimated it in some medical and private settings."

Tags:death, compassion, suicide, terminal, ill, medicine

Abstract
The paper argues against the practice of assisted suicide, which is now quite common in the United States. The paper discusses the issue from ethical as well as legal perspective and explains why the Court should never sanction this practice.

From the Paper
"Assisted suicide is one of those burning issues, which give rise to ethical quandaries, not to mention extreme public fury. People are of the view that while we do have a right to live, we certainly do not have a right to bring an end to our own lives because the principle of dignity of human life doesn't permit such an action. However over the years, many complex cases in this connection have surfaced, some of which even reached the Supreme Court. It is important to understand that law in many states prohibits physician-assisted suicide even though this practice prevails in many hospitals nationwide. What a physician decides with his patient in the privacy of his clinic is something solely connected with the doctor's moral and ethical principles, however we need to bear in mind that court in many cases has reiterated its stand on the issue by strongly opposing all forms of physician-assisted suicide for terminally ill patients."

Tags:patient, terminally, ill, doctor, medicine, court, law, legal, physician, euthanasia, ethic

Abstract
This paper discusses the pros and cons of euthanasia or assisted-suicide. The author discusses the case of Dr. Jack Kevorkian and looks at the impacts of his death.

From the Paper
"Euthanasia is the act of putting someone to death for his or her own benefit. This is why it is also called "mercy killing." The general idea is that a doctor would decide that a patient is suffering enough in their current condition that death is the most desirable option. Needless to say, this practice is not widely accepted. Nor is it legal in a majority of countries. There are essentially three viewpoints one can have; you are either for it or against it, or you agree with a modified version of it."

Tags:dutch, kevorkian, opinion, political, science

Abstract
This essay defines the moral issue of euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide and engages in a spirited discussion of why euthanasia is a huge mistake for our society, focusing on the threat to women, minorities, and the disabled in America that physician-assisted suicide presents.

From the Paper
"They include an incompatibility with the moral and professional commitment of physicians, a weakening of society's desire to provide optimal care for the terminally ill, increased societal pressure on sick patients to request assisted suicide, and most importantly, possible abuses and extensions of euthanasia which may lead down the "slippery slope" to Nazism and selective genocide."

Tags:ethics, euthanasia, medicine, philosophy, suicide

Abstract
This paper argues that voluntary euthanasia preserves dignity. Examined in this paper are such ideas as the right to die, the ethical parameters of euthanasia, the quality of life perspective and a place for euthanasia within varied perspectives. The author argues that one of the greatest ways to preserve another person's dignity is through an act of mercy. Voluntary euthanasia is an act of mercy, which therefore, preserves dignity with the bestowment of final compassion.

From the Paper
"A step in awareness is the enactment of careful laws that permit forms of voluntary euthanasia. In the United States, the state of Oregon's Death With Dignity Act, allowing "limited physician-assisted suicide," is an example of a start for public understanding. In ideal cases of merciful euthanasia, a person makes a painstaking, well thought-out decision. Voluntary euthanasia is rarely carried out at the first knowledge of impending death, especially if medical help is available to treat the terminal disease. Voluntary euthanasia is an act of mercy, and therefore, preserves dignity with the bestowment of final compassion. "

Tags:die, dignity, ethical, euthanasia, life, parameters, perspective, quality, right, voluntary

Abstract
An argumentative paper about euthanasia, both passive and active.

From the Paper
"With constant advancement in medical technology, loved ones will be held more and more responsible for the life or death decisions of family members. Many fear the unknown realm that lies beyond this life more than their mental and physical pain, and want to live at all costs. Others, though, should they be faced with living in a vegetative state or dying, hope their families allow them to die. They believe euthanasia is acceptable in cases of terminally ill patients whose lives are simply being maintained with no hope of ever speaking or thinking again. Active euthanasia, which is in certain cases more humane than passive euthanasia, should be legalized to help aid the endless suffering of thousands of terminally ill patients who have no chance of living a quality life. "

Tags:kill, death, suffer, sick, ill, torture, die, family, choose, active, passive

Abstract
This paper offers a recommendation on a biomedical ethics' case concerning passive voluntary euthanasia where the patient's family and health care providers are divided on how to proceed.

From the paper:

"In Case # 6, the dilemma facing the health care provider is whether or not to continue life preserving measures while considering an advance directive (living will), family wishes and disagreement between the Health Care Team on the matter. The patient in this case is a 27-year old male who was left with multiple rib fractures, a pelvic fracture as well as basal skull fractures after a serious motor vehicle accident. The patient?s wife and daughter died as a result. This patient also suffered a brainstem hemorrhage and mild cerebral edema. He is expected to recover from his fractures, though it is not likely he will recover from the head injury, which has left him with no voluntary movement other than vertical movements of his eyes."

Tags:biomedical, care, ethics, euthanasia, health, nursing, philosophy

Abstract
An examination of the issues and reasons which formed the decision in the Canadian cases of Sue Rodriguez and Robert Latimer. This paper examines the decision of the court in relation to the law, as well as the effects of the decision on disabled persons in Canada.

From the paper:

"The cases of Rodriguez and Latimer were landmark decisions, which set precedents over the practice of euthanasia in Canada. It is likely that these two decisions will be the cornerstones of future challenges to the laws which are currently in place prohibiting this practice. While both of these cases dealt with instances of euthanasia, the circumstances behind the cases were very different. Both have given rise to debate within Canadian society about the freedom each individual has over when and how we will die. Do we have the right to choose? Do others have the right to choose for us if we are not capable ourselves? The moral and ethical dimensions within these questions, difficult as they are, are even more complicated when the same questions are raised in relation to the criminal law. Both Rodriguez and Latimer were highly divisive cases which inflamed the emotions of those who support euthanasia, and those who oppose."

Tags:assisted, british, canada, columbia, court, criminology, die, disabled, euthanasia, latimer, law, people, right, rights, robert, rodriguez, sue, suicide, supreme

Abstract
This paper analyzes the concept of a "good death" from the perspectives of nurses, physicians, dying patients, and the families involved. A brief historical overview of the "good death" concept is followed by a detailed analysis of various proposed definitions of the term "good death". This is followed by an analysis of the antecedents and consequences of good death and what applies to the concept. The paper then presents three illustrative cases: a model case, a borderline case, and a contrary case, and concludes with comments on the implications of the concept of good death for nurses and nursing practice.

Outline:
Introduction
Definition of Terms
Alternate and Related Terms and Associated Concepts
Uses of the Concept
Defining Attributes or Components of Good Death
Antecedents of Good Death
Consequences of Good Death
Empirical Referents
Three Illustrative Cases
-A Model Case
-A Borderline Case
-A Contrary Case
Conclusion

From the Paper
"It is obvious from the various definitions of the term "good death" that the concept is highly individual, dynamic, and heterogeneous, and varies widely from person to person and culture to culture (Hopkinson, & Hallett, 2002, p. 532; Kehl, 2006, pp. 280-281, 284; Hatori et al., 2006, p. 168; Vig et al., 2002, p. 1546, Masson, 2002, p. 198; Pierson, Curtis, & Patrick, 2002; Schwartz, Mazor, Rogers, Ma, & Reed, 2003). The concept is used in several ways to apply to different but related ideas. In some cases it is used to describe the experience of the dying patient, with a focus on quality of life, respecting wishes, dying with dignity, being free of pain and fear, and having family members around (Hattori, et al., 2006; Hughes, Schumacher, Jacobs-Lawson, & Arnold, 2008; Masson, 2002; Pierson et al., 2002; Vig et al., 2002 ). In other cases it is used to describe the kind of care that should be given to the dying from the healthcare professional's point of view with the emphasis on more practical matters such as who is involved in decision-making, advance directives, use of life-support systems, etc. (Beckstrand, Clark Callister, & Kirchhoff, 2006; Gibson, Gutmanis, Clarke, Wiltshire, Feron, & Gorman, 2008; Haras, 2008; Hopkinson, & Hallett, 2002; Proulx, & Jacelon, 2004). Ideally, the concept should be used to encompass both aspects in one integrated whole."

Tags:dying, hospice care, caregivers, pain management

Abstract
This paper discusses the issue of euthanasia and attempts to define whether euthanasia should be considered morally wrong or right. In order to give an answer to this question and as part of con and pro arguments several cases of voluntary and involuntary euthanasia are discussed in this paper. The case of Robert Latimer occupies a central place in this discussion and ultimately brings into the debate several moral principles-- benefit, sanctity of human life and autonomy.

From the Paper
"Robert Latimer s trial was described in the press as Trial by popularity and as newspapers' headlines stated despite his second murder conviction, Latimer retains legal and public support regardless of the fact that he caused death of his 12 year old disabled daughter by carbon monoxide. Support and sympathy for Latimer has poured in from all parts of Canada bringing with it the question of the moral rightness of what Tracy s father did."

Tags:human, life, moral, principles, robert, rodrigez, sanctity, sue, tracy