2-3 Final Project Milestone – Proposal of Reclassification Project Southern New Hampshire University SOC 326: Sociology of Deviant Behavior 03:46:08 GMT -05:00 Letting the Terminally Ill Die on their Own Terms Physician assisted suicide, otherwise known as physician assisted death, has...
2-3 Final Project Milestone – Proposal of Reclassification Project
Southern New Hampshire University
SOC 326: Sociology of Deviant Behavior
03:46:08 GMT -05:00
, Letting the Terminally Ill Die on their Own Terms
Physician assisted suicide, otherwise known as physician assisted death, has a rocky
history. Having been performed since 1947, it is a somewhat controversial subject. The earliest
documented account of assisted suicide was in 1958, when Lael Wertenbaker disclosed how
she helped her husband commit suicide when he was diagnosed with terminal cancer (Tetrault,
2021), and Jack Kevorkian, also known as “Dr. Death”, assisted in the euthanizing of over 150
patients in the 1990s (Quill & Sussman, 2023). Both of these cases aided in bringing forth and
raising the awareness of physician assisted death, or PAD.
There have been many arguments throughout the years over whether PAD is the right
thing to do when a loved one is terminally ill. Supporters of this method argue that PAD gives
terminal patients more autonomy over their situation, that it is completely safe, and that it is used
to end the prolonged suffering of the patient (Dugdale et al, 2019). Those who argue against
PAD claim that it causes unintentional harm through suicide rates spiking after a high-profile
PAD case, that it is a slippery slope in that anybody can request suicide by physician’s aid, and
that it
is an underlying effect of depression (Dugdale et al, 2019). Other arguments are that PAD puts
the weak and vulnerable in a dangerous position, corrupts the doctor-patient relationship and the
practice of medicine, compromises both the family and intergenerational commitments, and
values the law over human equality and dignity (Anderson, 2015).
(Thesis Statement) For this paper, I will be explaining why PAD should be reclassified
as non-deviant by arguing that it ends the prolonged suffering that terminally ill patients have to
endure, that it is actually a compassionate move for families to make if they do not want their
loved one to suffer anymore, and that the patients should have the right to ultimately decide to
end their suffering on their own terms and not their family’s terms.
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