Ethical Issues in Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia

Running Head: HEALTHCARE
Healthcare
Name
Institution

HEALTHCARE 2
Healthcare
Introduction
The debate on legalizing euthanasia plus assisted suicide has a wide variety of
participants comprising physicians, scholars in ethics and health law, politicians, along with the
general public. Assisted suicide and euthanasia in medical context has become controversial in
regard to ethical issues that surround these concepts. These concepts in medical ethics entail the
practice of interfering or intervening in a natural procedure towards death. This entails speeding
the natural course of death among the terminally ill patients, when all treatments have become
ineffective or much too throbbing for the patient to tolerate (McCormack, Clifford & Conroy,
2012). The paper will examine the ethical issues in regard to support of assisted suicide and
euthanasia.
Arguments for Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia
The value of life is great but not infinite, which means taking away life is destined to
reduce the probable costs that are involved. Ethics in medical view holds that there is the need to
minimize costs that will affect the majority, especially the family and caregivers. Many
healthcare practitioners will prefer to prolong the life of many patients, but the costs to the
family and individual make them to prefer to assisted suicide and euthanasia (Attaran, 2015).
The suffering and pain that the patient experience necessitate the need to opt for assisted suicide
and euthanasia. Many physicians can choose assisted suicide and euthanasia, even if that could
result in patients dying sooner than they otherwise might. They are obligated to treat physical
suffering, even if there is a chance that intervention to relieve pain might shorten life. If they