Analysis of Opinions on Assisted Suicide Bill
In “Medical Assistance in Dying: Journey to Medical Self Determination,” by Rose M. Carter and Brandyn Rodgerson and “Medical Assistance In Dying and Mental Health: A Legal, Ethical and Clinical Analysis,” by Alexander I.F. Simpson present the facts efficiently around the contentious issue of the assisted suicide Bill. The controversy here is the medical community determining who is eligible for assisted suicide and who isn’t. One of the determining factors to who can receive assisted suicide is who is terminal and everything their medical issue entails long term; how sick they are. The second piece of writing shows the side of mentally ill people who can’t use the services of medically assisted suicide. The significance of this contentious issue is the Charter of Human Rights because of the fact you should be able to control your own fate. It is about people being able to make their own decisions based on what they want their life to look like.
The article “Medical Assistance in Dying: Journey to Medical Self Determination,” by Rose M. Carter and Brandyn Rodgerson .
This article explains and identifies four main points that are important to be revised in the C-14 Bill for assisted suicide. The authors touch on unconstitutional exclusion of patients not suffering from terminal conditions, problems of certainty in determining when death is “reasonably foreseeable,” problems related to patients’ mental capacity, and the need for effective data collection. The first situation they explain is when Canadian Kay Carter left home and travelled to Switzerland to seek assistance she couldn’t get in Canada. They follow a journey through other cases in Canada that challenged the Charter of Human Rights and how that journey evolved due to different patients’ circumstances.
One woman died from her illness waiting for the court to approve the request for her death because the jurisdiction held up a lot of the process. They provide details of the current regime of the Bill breaking it down into four stages and pointing out the flaws along the way. The end result of the journey they present is having the Bill that is in place today.
My analysis of “Medical Assistance in Dying: Journey to Medical Self Determination,” by Rose M. Carter and Brandyn Rodgerson is that, it is a very well written for readers to follow and understand the topic. The format the authors provide by way of subtitles and categories are very easy to follow. It wasn’t hard to comprehend or understand what the next paragraph would be, as it all went together nicely. The authors made it easy to follow when it came to moving from topic to topic as they use subtitles well and give us the given subject they would be talking about. The authors transition from the subject of the bill to then the past cases it tied it all together for me which was great as a reader. The authors use logos and ethos when it comes to this strategies.
“Who can really decide who can die?”
The journal article “Medical Assistance In Dying and Mental Health: A Legal, Ethical and Clinical Analysis,”
examines the controversy surrounding the rights of patients who suffer from a mental illness or incapacity. The question seems to be, does this qualify them as having a terminal illness and are they able to request assisted suicide? This addresses the difference of a mental illness as having more ethical implications than just straight forward physical, medical circumstances.
They refer to legal arguments in jurisdictions in Europe where the issue is still not definitive either. It raises speculation about early self-inflicted suicide by those who may not be able to make the decision later due to incapacitation. The article implies that a mental illness accompanied by a physical, terminal illness is entirely different than mental illness alone. The medical community’s responsibility to patients with mental illnesses is to assist people in recovery and make them believe theirs is a life worth living.
My analysis of “Medical Assistance In Dying and Mental Health: A Legal, Ethical and Clinical Analysis,” Alexander I.F. Simpson is that it is a perspective written piece. The format the author chose for this piece is a lot less broken down and is less segregated when it comes to subtitles. It is also a shorter writing and wasn’t quite as detailed as many broken down subjects. It was a more specific topic and was an issue that isn’t very commonly written about and discussed. The unique thing the author introduces in his idea process is that there is a simple step we as a society can take to help end the stigma and that is by being open to discussion. The author was not biased in his opinions, the wording he uses proves this, and once again used mainly the facts to explain the topic. One amazing thing the writer did for the readers was use language that invites all levels of knowledge to understand the topic. As a reader this was very welcoming.
In conclusion both articles and all authors use the facts provided effectively about the contentious issue of the assisted suicide Bill. “Medical Assistance in Dying: Journey to Medical Self Determination,” by Rose M. Carter and Brandyn Rodgerson is based around the idea of the journey the Bill has gone through and touches many cases, past and present. It is formatted well and uses the facts to be unbiased about their opinions on the topic. In “Medical Assistance In Dying and Mental Health: A Legal, Ethical and Clinical Analysis,” Alexander I.F. Simpson he looks at the views and logical ways mental health is included in the issue. The author makes it short and understandable.
