Physician Assisted Suicide Comparative Religious Ethics

Physician Assisted Suicide RST-331-20 Comparative Religious Ethics Brian D. Berry, Ph.D. Fall 2014 Physician Assisted Suicide 2 Physician Assisted Suicide is defined as suicide committed with the aid of a physician who facilitates a patient’s death by providing the necessary means and or information to perform the life ending act. The physician provides sleeping pills and information about the lethal dose, which is fully aware the patient will commit suicide. The patients who are seeking assistance are likely terminally ill and are suffering from a painful and most likely terminal illness. They have gone through life’s journey and are facing the end and have come to the final decision that death is†¦show more content†¦The patients receive a lethal prescription from their doctor that they administer themselves. Doctors in Oregon do not have to fear prosecution from legal authorities, physician assisted suicides are legal in Oregon. Suicide is not a new concept; it has been around for a while. It is the actual intention of killing oneself. We can look to scripture where we find the apostle Judas who was depressed and felt an enormous amount of guilt from betraying Jesus Christ to the Roman authorities. Judas committed suicide after feelings of desperation swept over him. Suicide is often associated with feelings of despair and crisis situations. Views about suicides in society have changed previously suicides were punishable by law. The Abrahamic religions traditionally consider suicide an offense towards God. The Catholic Church teaches that human life is the most basic gift from God. Every human life is sacred from conception to natural death. We are given stewardship over our lives but not absolute dominion. The worth of a human life should not be determined by an illness or disease. The Church teaches that Physician Assisted Suicide is like murder becomes it involves taking an innocent life. We begin to em bark on what is known as a slippery slope if we begin to accept assisted suicide as a rational choice. The slippery slope is real and the Dutch who have years allowed physicians to practice assisted suicides with impunity, supposedly only in cases where