http://www.opposingviews.com/questions/do-the-terminally-ill-have-a-right-to-die Opposing Views - Do the Terminally Ill Have a Right to Die? http://www.opposingviews.com/arguments/suicide-is-a-moral-right Laws against physician-assisted suicide transgress the central principle on which America was founded. The Declaration of Independence proclaimed, for the first time in the history of nations, that each person exists as an end in himself. This basic... Ayn Rand Institute Tue, 09 Dec 2008 09:25:37 -0600 http://www.opposingviews.com/arguments/suicide-is-a-moral-right http://www.opposingviews.com/arguments/oregons-law-is-a-model-for-other-states For more than a decade, Oregon has been the only state to provide clear procedures by which doctors can help end their dying patients' pain and suffering while protecting themselves from criminal prosecution. Oregon doctors are permitted to... Ayn Rand Institute Mon, 08 Dec 2008 12:40:56 -0600 http://www.opposingviews.com/arguments/oregons-law-is-a-model-for-other-states http://www.opposingviews.com/arguments/laws-against-suicide-are-based-on-religious-taboos There is no rational basis upon which the government can properly prevent any individual from choosing to end his own life. Laws banning physician-assisted suicide are supported primarily by religious conservatives who believe that human life is a... Ayn Rand Institute Mon, 08 Dec 2008 12:37:12 -0600 http://www.opposingviews.com/arguments/laws-against-suicide-are-based-on-religious-taboos http://www.opposingviews.com/counters/ending-one-s-own-life-is-not-murder Killing people is not always murder.  We allow for killing in self defense, when it’s part of an act of war, when it’s an accident, and when it’s an unborn baby.  But more to the point, there’s a huge difference between killing an... Rob Nelson Fri, 07 Nov 2008 10:06:39 -0600 http://www.opposingviews.com/counters/ending-one-s-own-life-is-not-murder http://www.opposingviews.com/counters/alleviating-physical-pain-is-good-but-not-the-whole-story The American Life League claims the proper response to terminal illness is to alleviate pain.  They also cite an American Medical Association poll from 1997 that showed that people when given “all the facts” about physician aided dying... Rob Nelson Fri, 07 Nov 2008 09:59:37 -0600 http://www.opposingviews.com/counters/alleviating-physical-pain-is-good-but-not-the-whole-story http://www.opposingviews.com/counters/life-may-be-terminal-suffering-shouldn-t-be-interminable First, human life may be a finite experience, although viewing it as a terminal disease is a morbid way to look at it, but that still doesn’t mean a person, particularly one dying of a terminal illness, should have to suffer unnecessarily –... Rob Nelson Fri, 07 Nov 2008 09:59:37 -0600 http://www.opposingviews.com/counters/life-may-be-terminal-suffering-shouldn-t-be-interminable http://www.opposingviews.com/arguments/a-right-to-live Rather than consider a question as fraught with calamity as whether or not the terminally ill have a right to die, it might be a better idea to focus attention on their lives and the dignity that is inherent in each of us regardless of our health or... ALL Tue, 04 Nov 2008 22:52:37 -0600 http://www.opposingviews.com/arguments/a-right-to-live http://www.opposingviews.com/arguments/when-choices-become-obligations While the “right to die” may sound tempting, particularly when severe illness or suffering is part of the equation, the bottom line is that the terminally ill are not the only targets of those who claim that everyone should have the right to... ALL Tue, 04 Nov 2008 22:52:16 -0600 http://www.opposingviews.com/arguments/when-choices-become-obligations http://www.opposingviews.com/arguments/killing-people-is-murder Killing is not appropriate. In fact, the direct killing of an innocent person is never acceptable in a civilized society. Yet this is precisely what right to die advocates want to do under cover of law and with the agreement of the general... ALL Tue, 04 Nov 2008 22:51:00 -0600 http://www.opposingviews.com/arguments/killing-people-is-murder http://www.opposingviews.com/arguments/mitigate-pain We are aware that those who favor euthanasia have used phrases such as a “right to die” in a campaign to convince Americans that indeed they should have a right to tell a doctor when they want their life to end.  Further, when someone is... ALL Tue, 04 Nov 2008 22:50:49 -0600 http://www.opposingviews.com/arguments/mitigate-pain http://www.opposingviews.com/arguments/life-is-a-terminal-disease The simple answer to the profound question, do the terminally ill have a right to die, is that nobody has a choice in the matter. Anyone who is going to experience life is also going to experience death. And in that life process some of us, sadly... ALL Tue, 04 Nov 2008 22:50:41 -0600 http://www.opposingviews.com/arguments/life-is-a-terminal-disease http://www.opposingviews.com/arguments/it-s-compassionate-economically-necessary-and-good-social-policy Four years from now will begin the official retirement boom of the baby boomers.  That means over the coming years tens of millions of new retirees, growing older and living longer.  Meanwhile, medical advancements will make it easier and... Rob Nelson Thu, 28 Aug 2008 22:44:52 -0500 http://www.opposingviews.com/arguments/it-s-compassionate-economically-necessary-and-good-social-policy http://www.opposingviews.com/arguments/physician-assisted-dying-has-not-led-to-the-problems-critics-feared Some people argue that doctor aided dying for the terminally ill will lead to a situation where people are involuntarily forced to end their lives. Or that physician-assisted dying will disproportionately affect the less educated, poor, women, those... Rob Nelson Thu, 28 Aug 2008 22:44:52 -0500 http://www.opposingviews.com/arguments/physician-assisted-dying-has-not-led-to-the-problems-critics-feared http://www.opposingviews.com/arguments/physician-assisted-dying-should-not-be-a-crime Many opponents of allowing the terminally ill to end their lives consider doctor assisted dying a type of murder. This is based on the premise that since someone else assists the dying person in ending their life, it must be an illegal termination... Rob Nelson Thu, 28 Aug 2008 22:44:51 -0500 http://www.opposingviews.com/arguments/physician-assisted-dying-should-not-be-a-crime http://www.opposingviews.com/arguments/the-decision-to-end-one-s-own-life-is-a-fundamental-human-right  Every human being has a fundamental right to make decisions involving their own body…including the right to decide that they no longer wish to endure the pain and suffering of a terminal illness.   These are people who are going to... Rob Nelson Thu, 28 Aug 2008 22:44:50 -0500 http://www.opposingviews.com/arguments/the-decision-to-end-one-s-own-life-is-a-fundamental-human-right