Recently in the news, we have heard that the Governor of California, Jerry Brown, has passed a bill that allows for the government to assist people in committing suicide. After struggling with talking to opponent of the bill, mainly the Catholic Church, he decided it was the right thing to do to pass it. He decided to pass it after he though of how he would not want to struggle near the ending of his life and would want to go peacefully.This California law will permit physicians to provide lethal prescriptions to mentally competent adults. The law will take effect 90 days after the Legislature adjourns its special session on healthcare, which may not be until next year — January at the earliest, November at the latest. The new law is modeled after one that went into effect in 1997 in Oregon, where last year 105 people took their lives with drugs prescribed for that purpose. There was a contentious debate over the End of Life Option Act, which divided physicians, ethicists, religious leaders and the Democratic majority in the Legislature. They did not believe that it was morally correct to help kill someone. They saw it as a sort of murder.
http://www.latimes.com/local/political/la-me-pc-gov-brown-end-of-life-bill-20151005-story.html
http://www.latimes.com/local/political/la-me-pc-gov-brown-end-of-life-bill-20151005-story.html
Question: Should this be legal? Do you think it is morally correct to assist someone in wanting to kill themselves? Should Jerry Brown have waited longer to pass this law?
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ReplyDeleteFrom a moral standpoint, it's as a whole less moral to oppose right-to-die legislation than to support it. For the most part, the provisions made legal by this act allow those suffering through painful, fatal conditions to end their lives in more peace and on their own terms versus being subjected to long, drawn out pain. Governor Brown's action is certainly a step forwards for California.
ReplyDeleteWhile it may be morally wrong to "help kill someone," it is just as equally wrong to perpetrate someone's pain, while simultaneously depriving them of their constitutional freedom. Overall I think it should be legal and Jerry Brown was right to pass the law. Opposers should realize that this does not imply that all patients are going to ask for assisted suicide. Rather than being seen as an expectation or a requirement, this law should be viewed solely as a chance to make a choice as an individual and have this as an option in one's own personal circumstances.
ReplyDeleteIt all depends on the situation. If a doctor is prescribing someone a drug that will result in death but ultimately cease any pain that person is in, then it seems morally correct. However, if doctors abuse this law and start prescribing suicide drugs to anyone who asks, then California will run into a problem. All in all, it should be legal and Governor Brown was right to pass the law. In the end, it comes down to a personal choice and if someone is in so much pain that they don't even want to live, they should be given a solution.
ReplyDeleteIt all depends on the situation. If a doctor is prescribing someone a drug that will result in death but ultimately cease any pain that person is in, then it seems morally correct. However, if doctors abuse this law and start prescribing suicide drugs to anyone who asks, then California will run into a problem. All in all, it should be legal and Governor Brown was right to pass the law. In the end, it comes down to a personal choice and if someone is in so much pain that they don't even want to live, they should be given a solution.
ReplyDeleteI think that this law is fair, as long as it is not abused. It is morally better to end someone's suffering than to prolong it. However, doctors have to be careful to not prescribe lethal drugs to people who are suicidal. Depression and thoughts of suicide can be treated and fixed. However, someone with an untreatable disease or illness who is experiencing crippling effects that basically cause them to have no life have the right to move on to a better place.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, doctor-assisted suicide should be legal. If a person knows for a fact they are going to die, why should they have to suffer through all the pain that comes with their condition? Morally, it may seem like doctors should not purposely prescribe drugs that kill their patients, but in reality, if the person knows they want to do it and they are mentally stable, it is more moral for the doctor to act in the interests of the patients.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with both Lucy and Michael because the individuals who are asking for physician assisted suicide are fully aware of their actions. In my opinion, it is morally correct for physicians to prescribe these drugs because the patients knowingly are asking for help in ending their suffering.
ReplyDeleteOutlawing assisted suicide is a violation of individual's rights and liberties. Although there are obviously moral implications to the practice, people should have the right to take their own lives in a safe and controlled environment if mentally competent and able. However, it may be another situation altogether for the doctors and physicians involved. These professionals should not be forced to assist patients in taking their lives, rather they should have the option to opt out the procedure.
ReplyDeleteWhile it is morally wrong to kill people via perscription drug it also is not satisfactory to allow people to continue too suffer. Since there is no cure to depression this medication can be useful if doctors do not abuse their power. I believe the individual should be in charge of this choice, however it should not be taken lightly.
ReplyDeleteIf an adult is terminally ill and is suffereing serious pain, then why should they live in misery? Under these conditions, I believe that the law is just. If someone is not in pain, or seriously ill, then I do not find it useful. If the person is giving consent, then it isn't murder. Since Oregon has this law, I think it was fine that Jerry Brown pasted the law.
ReplyDeleteI believe it is the individuals decision to do as they please. If they no longer want to live on this earth, then they should have the ability to have someone assist them in suicide. I think it is morally correct to assist someone in suicide if they are in bad pain or are already dying. I don't think it really matters when Jerry Brown passes the law, the bottom line is that it is the individuals choice to do as they please and it should be legal to seek someone's help in the process of peacefully ending one's life.
ReplyDeleteI think that Jerry Brown was righteous in passing the bill. It seems like a lot of the arguments regarding this issue approach it "from a moral standpoint" but honestly, there is no such thing as a "moral standpoint." Everyone has their own sense of morality and no one has the power to define what morality means. If it's harder for someone to continue living than it is for them to die...just let em die bro. Death isn't a bad thing. It happens to everyone.
ReplyDeleteI think assisted suicide is okay in certain circumstances. To say the government is allowed to assist suicide is too general. If a person is terminally ill or living in constant discomfort, they should be allowed to end their life in a safe way. However, the line where this is drawn is somewhat unclear. It is hard to determine the type of pain a person is experiencing and if it is severe enough to want to end a life. There will likely be lots of controversy over this subject.
ReplyDeleteI think assisted suicide is okay in certain circumstances. To say the government is allowed to assist suicide is too general. If a person is terminally ill or living in constant discomfort, they should be allowed to end their life in a safe way. However, the line where this is drawn is somewhat unclear. It is hard to determine the type of pain a person is experiencing and if it is severe enough to want to end a life. There will likely be lots of controversy over this subject.
ReplyDeleteFrom a moral standing point I don't support suicide, it's unnatural, and patience who are in "excruciating pain" and ask for assisted suicide are not in their right state of mind due to physical pain which clouds their judgement and decision making therefore helping them die could be what they think they want temporarily but if they die they could never go back on that decision
ReplyDeleteI think that this should be legal for, as the blog states, "mentally capable adults." This would not permit prescribing lethal drugs to individuals who are depressed or want to die for emotional reasons that may improve later in life. Rather, it would be for people who are fatally ill and do not wish to suffer in their last days of life and would rather "go peacefully." This law had to be implemented at some time, and because people strongly wish to have this right, Brown had the justification to implement this law.
ReplyDeleteThe idea of ending a person's life, even your own, has always been a very sensitive topic around the world. With the passing of this bill more and more debates will come to surface about the morality of "Death with Dignity" and the concept of physician assisted suicide as murder. From a moral standpoint it can be seen as a lesser of two evils considering the patient wanted to end their own life, however even morally you know that suicide isn't the way to go. Whether or not the bill should have been passed or not is not necessarily more of a legal issue than it is a moral issue, however giving the people more choice isn't always the way to go. The reason doctors are doctors is because they should know what the right thing to do is when the time comes but putting the choice in the patient's hands, a patient who is going through pain and suffering, wouldn't be the best idea. If he had waited it wouldn't have changed the gravity of the situation for suicide will always be up there when it comes the issues we face today.
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