Rights to Die

RIGHTS TO DIE 4

Rights to Die

Student Name and Number

Institution Affiliation

Course Name and Number

Instructor’s Name

Assignment Due Date

The World Medical Journal by Goligher et al. (2019) delineates that the World Medical Association (WMA), which is the international voice community of medical personnel, has at all times strongly opposed euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide (E&PAS) and regards them as unethical practices and incompatible to the objectives of the healthcare and responsibilities of the physician. Goligher et al. (2019) found that the fact that euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide have been legalized in various jurisdictions and that some societal members firmly support these practices lacks bearing on the ethical questions since what is legal cannot be necessarily ethical. The WMA must be consistent with this principle concerning euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide. E&PAS devalues the patient's life and is compassionate, suggesting that their life is not worth living and their existence is of no value (Goligher et al., 2019). The basic tasks and considerations of the physicians are at all times bear in their minds the obligation to respect the life of individuals and the well-being and health of the patients. Thus, E&PAS must be opposed as it distorts the beliefs of respecting the patient (WMAG Assembly, 2020). On the other hand, E&PAS claims to assist the suffering persons while, on the contrary, it eliminates them. Provided the impact of WMA and the profound moral obligations at stake, physicians should not take neutrality as an option. The WMA policy should continue to stand as a clarity beacon to the globe, upbringing support to the physicians and comfort to the patients globally. Further, it should not be forced into promoting E&PAS by making it pose neutral.

On the other hand, Calabrò et al. (2016) depict that managing a person with chronic consciousness issues upheaves ethical questions regarding the efficiency of maintaining life-sustaining medications and end-of-life decisions for patients incapable of making their own decisions. According to Calabrò et al. (2016), for several decades, the position advancing the sanctity of individual life, that is, a life which is inviolable in any instance, has resulted in maintaining life-sustaining medicaments incorporating artificial hydration and nutrition in patients with issues of unconsciousness enabling them to live for as long as they can. Seldom have a place that encourages dignity of individual life; every person has the right to a dignified death. Calabrò et al. (2016) found that the decision to intersperse life-sustaining therapies such as artificial hydration and nutrition must be directed by relevant information on how the patient wants and wants to be treated (Kayacan, 2022). This will help keep the principles of patient-centred medicine and conciliate the responsibility of respecting the sanctity and dignity of life and the right to death.

References

Calabrò, R. S., Naro, A., De Luca, R., Russo, M., Caccamo, L., Manuli, A., … Bramanti, P. (2016). The Right To Die In Chronic Disorders Of Consciousness: Can We Avoid The Slippery Slope Argument? Innovations in Clinical Neuroscience, 13(11–12), 12–24.

Goligher, E. C., Cigolini, M., Cormier, A., Donnelly, S., Ferrier, C., Gorshkov-Cantacuzène, V. A., … Quinlan, J. (2019). Euthanasia And Physician-Assisted Suicide Are Unethical Acts. World Medical Journal, 65(1), 34–37.

Kayacan, D. N. (2022). The Right to Die in Practice. In The Right to Die with Dignity (pp. 11-164). Springer, Cham.

WMAG Assembly, (2020), https://www.wma.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/wmj_1_2019_WEB.pdf