People are required to make ethical decisions every day. These decisions can greatly impact their future. What is important to some people may have little or no value to others. A person with a Christian worldview would base their ethical dilemma decision on their beliefs and the instructions that God’s word provides. This paper will explain how Joni, who is living her life as a quadriplegic desires to terminate her life due to her condition and severe depression, but if she came to know the love, faith, and grace of Jesus Christ and placed her hope and values of life as seen in the Christian worldview, she will hopefully choose to not break one of the ten commandments and continue living her life in her weakened state to glorify God. …show more content…
Living her life as a quadriplegic has left her severely depressed, she feels as though her condition is a burden on her family, and as though her life is worthless. These feelings are affecting her quality of life and therefore she is considering legally terminating her life and wishes to be euthanized. The ethical dilemma is if she should be granted permission to legally terminate her life, or should she not be allowed to terminate her own life and continue living her life in her current condition. She could end her own life and leave behind a family that cares for her, or she could get counseling and medication to get her through her depression that may help her feel as if her life is still worth living. A secular worldview may perceive a person’s life being about the pursuit of happiness, where the Christian worldview sees life’s purpose as praising God and bringing honor and glory to …show more content…
They may only see it from the patient’s perspective and believe that she should do what is right for her if her quality of life has diminished and she now lives a life with little independence (Alters, 2008). She could decide on passive euthanasia, which is forgoing medical treatment that allows her body to naturally die, or she could utilize a physician to administer, or provide her with a lethal amount of drugs that will enable her to commit suicide (Alters, 2008). Either of these decisions for Joni would require assistance, the willingness of another person to help her end her life since she is unable to use her arms or hands due to her paralysis. Therefore, both of these people place their beliefs in the right-to-die, and then they view the body as destroyed by a disease that they perceive as no longer worth living (Humphrey, 2000). Other worldviews do not promise hope or an afterlife. The Christian worldview promises hope in Christ and an eternal dwelling place with God, without suffering and
Introduction People have moral and ethical values that assist them in making decisions about their healthcare on a daily basis. What if a person found out that they had a terminal illness and only had months to live? What if those few months would be filled with treatments, pain and suffering, tear filled family members, and high cost medical bills? Physician- assisted suicide remains a debated topic which causes physicians, nurses and those involved to take a look at what they value and what they are willing to do in order to carry out a patient’s wishes.
Analyse the importance of Christian ethical teachings in the life of Adherents worldwide. Christian ethical teachings are important to the life of Adherents worldwide. As a religion Christianity is fundamentally obligated to account for its Adherents actions and behaviour. Through a systematic understanding of what is ethically and morally correct Christianity has devised ethical guidelines from which Adherents could follow as a metaphorical moral compass.
There sometimes is a point that a human reaches in degeneration that modern medicines cannot aide or remedy. As described by Lewis Cohen, “Medication such as morphine can help the terminally ill manage pain, but it can’t ameliorate their agony at no longer being the same people that they were before the illness” (Cohen). The unbearable pain and loss of normalcy that accompanies those with terminal illnesses is what pushes them to consider assisted suicide. The mentality is seen simply as “if one is going to die anyway, then why not choose how and when.” Unfortunately, the choice of death for those with incurable circumstances has been twisted into other views and is being misinterpreted as a way for doctors to mercy kill their patients.
“Be smart, be strong, live honorably and with dignity, and just hold on” (Fray). Physician assisted suicide or better known as Death with Dignity isn’t your everyday topic or thought, but for the terminally ill it’s a constant want. The Death with Dignity isn’t something that all people or religions are in favor of and nor is the act passed in all states in the United States. Only three states in the U.S. today, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington offer their residents the option to have aid in dying as long as all the requirements are met. Death with Dignity doesn’t effect just the terminally ill person, but as well as family and friends around them creating many conflicting thoughts when opinion if Death with Dignity is truly moral and a choice
That is to say, why keep a person whose life is now full of suffering, with death right around the corner from being able to decide on a time of death if they choose to do so. The numbers from Oregon, since the implementation of “Death with Dignity,” reveals “752 patients have participated in physician-assisted death; 400 more people received prescriptions to end their lives but never took the medication.” Undoubtedly, the indication of these numbers is that patients are still in full control of their lives until the end, the sole authority in the most dire of circumstances. A reality advocates of PAS thinks critics are attempting to abolish. The aforementioned, Jack Kevorkian believed, “If you don 't have liberty and self-determination, you 've got nothing, . . . .
The possible legalization of euthanasia can cause a great disturbance in how people view life and death and the simplicity of how they would treat it. "There are many fairly severely handicapped people for whom a simple, affectionate life is possible." (Foot, p. 94) As demonstrated, the decision of terminating a person 's life is a very fragile and difficult one, emotionally and mentally. Nevertheless, it’s a choice we can make if it is passive euthanasia being expressed.
Patients who decide to end their lives but lack the proper resources for physician-assisted suicide will take drastic measures to end their lives. As described in a YouTube video The New York Times uploaded, “Jack Kevorkian and the Right to Die” many patients still find ways to end their lives, often more dreadful and burdensome. The video described how many patients choose to starve themselves to accelerate their time of death or relocate to a state where physician-assisted suicide is allowed. Despite the illegalization of physician-assisted suicide, patients determined to end their lives continue to find methods to go through with their desires. By not allowing people to have the proper means to end their lives, they turn to more drastic and painful measures to force death upon themselves.
There are real case incidents in which a 14 year old girl suffering from terminal cystic fibrosis is asking her country’s president for permission to end her life. She had self shot a video in which she says “I am tired of living this disease and she can authorize an injection through which I can sleep forever”. The girl's video has sparked a broader conversation about whether euthanasia should be legalized in the largely Catholic nation. According to me we should let euthanasia be legal as there is no significance in keeping them alive against their wish as we don’t know how much they are suffering. Another incident is where the woman moved to Oregon where euthanasia is legal to take advantage of Oregon’s death with Dignity Law.
Assisted suicide is a rather controversial issue in contemporary society. When a terminally ill patient formally requests to be euthanized by a board certified physician, an ethical dilemma arises. Can someone ethically end the life of another human being, even if the patient will die in less than six months? Unlike traditional suicide, euthanasia included multiple individuals including the patient, doctor, and witnesses, where each party involved has a set of legal responsibilities. In order to understand this quandary and eventually reach a conclusion, each party involved must have their responsibilities analyzed and the underlying guidelines of moral ethics must be investigated.
In this case, and many others worldwide, physician assisted suicide is morally permissible at all ages for anyone with a terminal illness with a prognosis of 6 months. This is supported by act based utilitarianism and the idea of maximizing pleasure and reducing pain and suffering on an individual circumstance. By allowing a terminal patient to die a less painful death, in control of the situation, and with dignity, the patient will have amplified
Benchmark Assignment: Ethical Dilemmas Ethics are a key component of one’s worldview, and they guide moral behavior. (Hiles & Smith, 2014) For some worldviews, ethics are a matter of personal interpretations. However, for those who have a Christian Worldview, what is determined as ethical has been set by God and are not up for personal interpretation. (Stefan, 2008)
Smith 19 Christianity is a religion based off of the belief in Jesus Christ and that He created the world and sent His son to die for us. He did many miracles and healed many people, HE died on the cross to forgive the sins of humans and give everyone the chance to go to heaven. Without Hum humans would spend the rest of eternity in hell. The Trinity is word that is used to describe God in three persons. The Trinity includes God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
In life, we are not guaranteed a long life or even a pain free life. The author talks about a very emotional decision that a young couple must make concerning their critically ill daughter and their journey of choosing to do everything possible to save her life but regrettable not being with her when she died. As the family and the medical team reflect on the life of Charlotte, the young little girl that died, many questions were asked. Did the medical team accurately assess the situation? Did they provide immediate lifesaving treatment?
The Right to Die has been taking effect in many states and is rapidly spreading around the world. Patients who have life threatening conditions usually choose to die quickly with the help of their physicians. Many people question this right because of its inhumane authority. Euthanasia or assisted suicide are done by physicians to end the lives of their patients only in Oregon, Washington, Vermont, Montana, New Mexico and soon California that have the Right to Die so that patients don’t have to live with depression, cancer and immobility would rather die quick in peace.
Ethics and Religion The human views on ethics are greatly influenced by certain beliefs, such as religion or philosophical ideas. Philosophy and religion are similar in this sense; they both are morally influential. However, if a person did not have such views, he/she is still capable of having good morals. Though religion is very impacting in many people’s ethical standings, and a majority of human morality is derived from some belief in religion or supported by philosophical reasoning, it is not the only way a person can be moral.