Assisted Sucicide

Running Head: ASSISTED SUICIDE

Assisted Suicide
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Assisted Suicide

Assisted suicide is when one person helps another person end their lives. Some may call this murder that is what murder is, when one person kills another. The difference here is that one person is helping another die out of mercy and not malice. An individual has asked another individual to help them end their lives. That is usually not the case with a murder. Most murderers could care less about the wishes of the other person. In the case of assisted suicide, a person has chosen to die rather than live with the pain. This may be hard for some to believe, that there can be any instance where it would be merciful to help another die. The fact remains that there are instances that do happen when this issue comes up.   Assisted suicide has been a topic of contentious debate across the United States for years. At the heart of the issue is a complex web of religious, medical, and ethical issues surrounding the value of life and individual freedom, because many people have such strong feelings about these issues, it is difficult for people on different sides of the debate to see each others' perspectives or reach a compromise. (Mackelprang, 2005)
Most of us are familiar with Dr. Jack Kevorkian. He is a major supporter of the right to die movement. In fact, he may be considered the very face of the movement. He is believed to have assisted over 100 people to meet their end. Because of this he has been persecuted, even forced to spend some time in prison over his actions. Imagine having to spend time in prison for helping someone achieve a goal that they wanted. Keep in mind that these were terminally ill patients, people that were going to die soon from a disease that they found to be unbearable.   It comes down to our views and belief systems and how they combine to give us the rules and regulations that we live by. Most of us view life as a...