euthanaisa
... the primary objective of health care providers. They argue that society is obligated to acknowledge the rights of patients and to respect the decisions of those who elect to die. The legal profession debates the concept that a patient has a legal right to refuse treatment. One factor that contributes to a greater acceptance of this right is the ability to keep individuals alive for long periods of time, even when they are unconscious or severely brain-damaged. The highly publicized case of Karen Ann Quinlan brought great attention to the dilemma of mercy killing. Ms. Quinlan suffered a respiratory arrest that resulted in severe and irreversible brain damage and left her in a coma. After several months her parents were informed that their daughter’s recovery was extremely unlikely. In light of that informations Quinlan’s parents requested that artificial means of life support be removed. The hospital refused this request. After a lengthy legal battle, the Quinlans obtained a court order allowing them to remove the artificial respirator they thought was keeping their daughter alive. The parent’s court victory allowing their daughter to die with dignity was somewhat tainted as Karen Ann Quinlan began to breathe by herself and lived for another nine years. In response to modern medicine, physicians and lawmakers have developed new definitions of death. Rules have been formulated to implement these definitions in situations where organs might be available for transplanting. Most states have accepted a definition of brain death as the time when it is legal to turn off a patient’s life-support system, with permission from the family. However, the debate continues over the individuals right to end their life in the face of long term pain and suffering. Life is not always a blessing to everyone. Some terminally ill people suffer every minute of their lives. For them life is no pleasure, only pain. Certainly there exists a great debate over the psychology of pain. Psychologist’s argue that suicidal individ...