Assignment: Euthanasia and Physician Assisted Suicide Paper

Euthanasia & Physician Assisted Suicide (PAS)

After studying the course materials located on  page, answer the following:

1. Euthanasia
   • Medical / Generic definition
   • Bioethical definition.
2. Describe pain and suffering within context of faith
3. Physician Assisted Suicide / Death ( PAS / PAD)
   • Definition
   • Is it ethical?
   • Should we have the right to end our lives? Why yes or why not?
4. Better alternatives to PAS; compare and contrast each:
   • Hospice
   • Palliative care / Terminal sedation
5. Case studies. Brief summary of:
   • Hemlock Society
   • Jacob Kevorkian
   • Britanny Maynard
6. Read and summarize ERD paragraphs #: 59, 60, 61.

Euthanasia Physician Assisted Suicide / Death (PAS, PAD) Hospice Palliative care Terminal sedation Killing vs allowing to die Case studies EUTHANASIA: ORIGINALLY; EU – THANATOS (Gk) “TRUE, GOOD – DEATH” • HISTORICALLY: ACTIVE / PASSIVE EUTHANASIA • TODAY: “CAUSING DEATH SO AS TO ALLEVIATE SUFFERING” (ERD 60, 61) Medical definitions of active and passive euthanasia The practice of intentionally ending a life in order to relieve pain and suffering (MedicineNet) Medical Dictionary (online) deliberate ending of life of a person suffering from an incurable disease Today: include withholding extraordinary means or “heroic measures,” and thus allowing the patient to die Traditionally: positive or active euthanasia (deliberate ending of life and an action is taken to cause death in a person) negative or passive euthanasia (withholding of life-preserving procedures and treatments that would prolong the life of one who is incurably and terminally ill and could not survive without them) Today all euthanasia is generally understood to be active; forgoing life-sustaining treatment is replacing passive euthanasia. Generic Definition The act or practice of killing or permitting the death of hopelessly sick or injured individuals (such as persons or domestic animals) in a relatively painless way for reasons of mercy (Merriam-Webster Dictionary) BIOETHICAL DEFINITION OF EUTHANASIA (ERD 60, 61) 60.

Euthanasia is an action or omission that of itself or by intention causes death in order to alleviate suffering. Catholic health care institutions may never condone or participate in euthanasia or assisted suicide in any way. Dying patients who request euthanasia should receive loving care, psychological and spiritual support, and appropriate remedies for pain and other symptoms so that they can live with dignity until the time of natural death. 61. Patients should be kept as free of pain as possible so that they may die comfortably and with dignity, and in the place where they wish to die. Since a person has the right to prepare for his or her death while fully conscious, he or she should not be deprived of consciousness without a compelling reason. Medicines capable of alleviating or suppressing pain may be given to a dying person, even if this therapy may indirectly shorten the person’s life so long as the intent is not to hasten death. Patients experiencing suffering that cannot be alleviated should be helped to appreciate the Christian understanding of redemptive suffering. PAIN / SUFFERING; W/IN CONTEXT OF FAITH -> REDEMPTIVE VALUE (JUDEO-CHRISTIAN TRADITION) DECLARATION ON EUTHANASIA (1980):

http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_19800505_euthanasia_en.html Vicarious reparation Euthanasia vs physician-assisted suicide / death (PAS, PAD) AID IN DYING (AID) MEDICAL AID IN DYING (MAID) PHYSICIAN AID IN DYING (PAID) Healthy alternative to euthanasia / PAS: • HOSPICE • PALLIATIVE CARE In common: patient care Hospice vs Palliative care Differences (generally): Place • Hospice; home • Palliative Care; hospital Timing • Hospice; 6 months (terminal) • Palliative Care; no specified time (terminal or chronic) Payment • Hospice; not covered by all insurance (yes Medicare) • Palliative Care; hospital billing Treatment • Hospice; comfort care (few meds and treatments) • Palliative Care; maybe life-prolonging therapies / meds Palliative / Terminal Sedation Relieving distress in a terminally ill person in the last hours or days of a dying patient’s life, usually by means of a continuous intravenous or subcutaneous infusion of a sedative drug, or by means of a specialized catheter designed to provide comfortable and discreet administration of ongoing medications via the rectal route. • Last resort • Intractable pain • If to manage pain only (titration), then not euthanasia • If to sedate patient into unconsciousness –without N / H-, then euthanasia Analgesic (pain relief): opioids (morphine, hydrocodone, oxycodone, fentanyl) Sedative (sleeping): benzodiazepines (midazolam, haloperidol, chlorpromazine, pentobarbital, propofol) Critical bioethical distinction: KILLING vs ALLOWING TO DIE Hemlock Society (1980 – 2003): American right-to-die and assisted suicide advocacy organization motto: “Good Life, Good Death” founded (Santa Monica, CA): Derek and Ann Humphry, Gerald A. Larue, and Faye Girsh relocated to Oregon in 1988 2003, renamed: End of Life Choices 2004, Derek Humphry and Faye Girsh founded: Final Exit Network 2007, merged: Compassion in Dying Federation -> Compassion & Choices Jacob “Jack” Kevorkian (1928 – 2011; 83 y/o) “Dr. Death” American pathologist and euthanasia proponent Right to die via physician-assisted suicide assisted at least 130 patients to PAS 1999: arrested and tried for his direct role in a case of voluntary euthanasia convicted of second degree murder served 8 years of a 10-to-25-year prison sentence released on parole 2007: on condition he would not offer advice nor participate nor be present in the act of any type of suicide involving euthanasia to any other person; as well as neither promote nor talk about the procedure of assisted suicide assisted by attaching the individual to a euthanasia device that he had devised and constructed The individual then pushed a button which released the drugs or chemicals that would end his or her own life Studies of those who sought out Dr. Kevorkian, however, suggest that though many had a worsening illness … it was not usually terminal. Autopsies showed five people had no disease at all

Important information for writing discussion questions and participation

Welcome to class

Hello class and welcome to the class and I will be your instructor for this course. This is a -week course and requires a lot of time commitment, organization, and a high level of dedication. Please use the class syllabus to guide you through all the assignments required for the course. I have also attached the classroom policies to this announcement to know your expectations for this course. Please review this document carefully and ask me any questions if you do. You could email me at any time or send me a message via the “message” icon in halo if you need to contact me. I check my email regularly, so you should get a response within 24 hours. If you have not heard from me within 24 hours and need to contact me urgently, please send a follow up text to

I strongly encourage that you do not wait until the very last minute to complete your assignments. Your assignments in weeks 4 and 5 require early planning as you would need to present a teaching plan and interview a community health provider. I advise you look at the requirements for these assignments at the beginning of the course and plan accordingly. I have posted the YouTube link that explains all the class assignments in detail. It is required that you watch this 32-minute video as the assignments from week 3 through 5 require that you follow the instructions to the letter to succeed. Failure to complete these assignments according to instructions might lead to a zero. After watching the video, please schedule a one-on-one with me to discuss your topic for your project by the second week of class. Use this link to schedule a 15-minute session. Please, call me at the time of your appointment on my number. Please note that I will NOT call you.

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Plagiarism is highly prohibited. Please ensure you are citing your sources correctly using APA 7th edition. All assignments including discussion posts should be formatted in APA with the appropriate spacing, font, margin, and indents. Any papers not well formatted would be returned back to you, hence, I advise you review APA formatting style. I have attached a sample paper in APA format and will also post sample discussion responses in subsequent announcements.

Your initial discussion post should be a minimum of 200 words and response posts should be a minimum of 150 words. Be advised that I grade based on quality and not necessarily the number of words you post. A minimum of TWO references should be used for your initial post. For your response post, you do not need references as personal experiences would count as response posts. If you however cite anything from the literature for your response post, it is required that you cite your reference. You should include a minimum of THREE references for papers in this course. Please note that references should be no more than 5 years old except recommended as a resource for the class. Furthermore, for each discussion board question, you need ONE initial substantive response and TWO substantive responses to either your classmates or your instructor for a total of THREE responses. There are TWO discussion questions each week, hence, you need a total minimum of SIX discussion posts for each week. I usually post a discussion question each week. You could also respond to these as it would count towards your required SIX discussion posts for the week.

I understand this is a lot of information to cover in 5 weeks, however, the Bible says in Philippians 4:13 that we can do all things through Christ that strengthens us. Even in times like this, we are encouraged by God’s word that we have that ability in us to succeed with His strength. I pray that each and every one of you receives strength for this course and life generally as we navigate through this pandemic that is shaking our world today. Relax and enjoy the course!

Hi Class,

Please read through the following information on writing a Discussion question response and participation posts.

Contact me if you have any questions.

Important information on Writing a Discussion Question

• Your response needs to be a minimum of 150 words (not including your list of references)
• There needs to be at least TWO references with ONE being a peer reviewed professional journal article.
• Include in-text citations in your response
• Do not include quotes—instead summarize and paraphrase the information
• Follow APA-7th edition
• Points will be deducted if the above is not followed

Participation –replies to your classmates or instructor

• A minimum of 6 responses per week, on at least 3 days of the week.
• Each response needs at least ONE reference with citations—best if it is a peer reviewed journal article
• Each response needs to be at least 75 words in length (does not include your list of references)
• Responses need to be substantive by bringing information to the discussion or further enhance the discussion. Responses of “I agree” or “great post” does not count for the word count.
• Follow APA 7th edition
• Points will be deducted if the above is not followed

• Remember to use and follow APA-7th edition for all weekly assignments, discussion questions, and participation points.
• Here are some helpful links
• The is a great resource