Right to Die Issue

The focus of this paper is the issue of the right to die. This issue actually includes several different issues. The contention of some that there exists a "right to die," either through suicide or assistedsuicide, is an ethical issue that deals with both physical and mental conditions.

The issue seems to be becoming more in need of discussion and at least temporary resolution with the increased capability of medicine to prolong the life of those with terminal diseases and crippling handicaps. Medical science is able to keep people alive currently who probably would have died in past eras. It is able to provide some of these people with increased quality of life and reduced pain levels. Yet, there are those whose life has been extended who wish to die because of pain or reduced quality, and there are family members who wish to help other family members to die in order to reduce their suffering. In the following pages, the intention is to explore some of these issues in greater deal in order to come some conclusion about whether or not the right to die through suicide or assistedsuicide should continue to be constrained.

The Latimer Case represents the extreme end of the continuum in the righttodie movement. Essentially, Richard Latimer decided to kill his daughter, who was severely handicapped and in great pain. This was a unilateral decision, because his daughter was not capable of making that decision on her own. Latimer was c

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he necessities of life and selfdevelopment; they have a right to be treated as equally worthy members of the human community . . . (301). This is a strong statement supportive of an ethic of care that would constrain suicide, assistedsuicide, and mercy killings in favor of the provision of compassionate care by the entire community to those who need it. There is one other important issue that needs to be considered in the Latimer case, although it was not brought out in all discussion of the case. It was Latimer's contention, and that of his defense, that he acted out of compassion for his daughter and his murder of her was an act of mercy because of the extreme pain and incapacity that she suffered. In general, this was accepted, even by the judges, as noted earlier. The Crown Prosecutor, however, disputed this, noting that Tracy, Latimer's daughter, was actually scheduled for surgery that was anticipated to cure her pain, or had the potential to do so. Thus, he contended that she was not actually being forced to live interminably in unendurable pain. In other words, there is one more than viewpoint of this "mercy" killing. For many in the public, and in the legal profession, Latimer's act was a compassionate one that was

Category: Government - R