Rogerian Method of Argumentation
Introduction
After a bitter and never-ending legal battle over her guardianship and her rights, Theresa Maria Schindler Schiavo was finally allowed to die. Wouldn’t it be appropriate for states to pass a law to legalize physician-assisted suicide because of the agony and burden placed on the victim and his or her family members?If a physician treating a patient declares there is no chance of recovery and would only cause the patient and his or her family and near ones agony and pain, the family or guardian should be given the authority to permit the removal of the life-support apparatus and let the patient die in peace. There are many people who oppose euthanasia. For them, giving or taking one’s life is only in the hands of God. If God desires the patient should die on his or her own, there is no way euthanasia will be allowed.
Summary of Opposing Views
There is every chance that a person in a comatose state could recover after a certain period. “Kant’s moral philosophy prohibits suicide in medical contexts in which end-of-life treatment decisions are made” writes Gunderson (2004). What Kant means is that taking one’s own life is a violation of the moral law, and this also applies to assisted suicide; where a physician assists a person take his own life
Statements of Understanding and Validity
A physician-assisted suicide should not be construed as killing a person, as Kant mentions. Euthanasia has been recognized and allowed in a number of states across the United States, and if physician-assisted suicide is killing a person, how can a state legalize it?
Physician-assisted euthanasia can be termed as intentional killing if the physician does so without the knowledge or consent of that patient’s guardian or family in writing. A number of cases have been recorded where physicians have used euthanasia in haste on humanitarian grounds. There are a number of patients in the U.S who are in vegetative state and have no hope of recovery. Even when the patient’s condition is so critical and the patient’s family members go through severe physical, mental, and financial difficulties, physicians seek their consent to remove the life-support apparatuses.
Statement of your position
Euthanasia should be made legal throughout the U.S. Hill (as cited in Gunderson, 2004, p.280), says that “committing suicide is permissible for a person who is faced with a loss of rational agency through dementia or pain that overwhelms the ability to engage in rational thought.” A person, who has no more memory or suffers from extreme physical pain that kills rational thinking, could be allowed to end his or her agony. In conclusion it can be said that a person who has no memory and suffers extreme pain should be allowed to free him or herself from that condition for good.
Statement of Context
What could be more just than allowing a person to choose to end a life that is bereft of hope and consumed with pain?” …
