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Sion Kim
Professor Celestino
English 1010 7 p.m. class
March 10, 2015
Annotated Bibliography
Angell, Marcia. “Health Care Implications.” Euthanasia ProCon 30 Aug. 2006. 16 Feb.
2008 < http://www.euthanasiaprocon.org/americanhealthspending.html>.
This article discusses the topic of government spending on health care. Most of
this article, written by Marcia Angell, is based around the fact that the
government has to spend billions of dollars each year to help keep terminally ill
patients on life support. Angell states that the United States spends more than
$4,500 on each Americans health bill every month, a figure that is almost double
the amount of any other country. This article is trying to get the point across that
funding the life-support of many seriously ill patients costs a great deal of money,
around $40 billion a year, and that it might not be very wise for the government to
spend that much money if doctors have already pronounced that a patient will
never recover. This article was significant because it answered my question
regarding how much it costs to support patients with serious illnesses. After
realizing that our government spends more than $40 billion on medical bills, it
became apparent that spending that amount of money to keep someone alive in a
“vegetative” state might not prove to be beneficial to the patient or government.
Marcia Angell is a credible source because of her extensive knowledge in how
much funding is provided for health care. I will use this article for an appeal to
logos.
Barbuzzi, Miranda. "Who Owns The Right To Die? An Argument About The Legal
Status Of Euthanasia And Assisted Suicide In Canada." Penn Bioethics Journal
10.1 (2014): 16-20. Academic Search Premier. Web. 10 Mar. 2015.
Euthanasia is an ethical dilemma that is happening not just in America, but also
all over the world. This article explains what has happened in Canada in regards
to the 2012 Supreme Court of British Columbia versus Carter v. Canada struck
down Section 241 (b) of the Criminal Code of Canada that makes assisted suicide
illegal. This article examines one approach to the moral and legal justifications for
the decision of the Supreme Court of B.C. and provides a model for the
implementation of legally assisted suicide that Canada could follow. The model
examined is the model used in the Netherlands, which has stringent procedures in
place to ensure that those requesting physician-assisted suicide are not coerced
into or in the wrong mental state when making their decision. I am using this
article to support my argument by showing an example of why it is unethical as
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this article show that. The author, Miranda Barbuzzi, is a student at Ryerson
University majoring in Inquiry. She is a credible source because of her extensive
research and her involvement with Dr. Meredith Schwartz who was a faculty
sponsor and an executive board member of the Canadian Bioethics Society. I will
be using this article for my logos appeal.
Battin, Margaret P. "Legal Physician-Assisted Dying in Oregon and the Netherlands:
Evidence Concerning the Impact on Patients in "Vulnerable" Groups." Journal of
Medical Ethics 33 (2007) : 591 pp. 13 Feb. 2008
This journal from Margaret Battin, discusses the effects of legalizing euthanasia.
Specifically, it relates on evidence from the state of Oregon and the Netherlands,
where euthanasia is legal. Evidence from these areas shows no risk to the elderly,
people with low education status, or women. The journal states that people with
HIV are at heightened risks for having euthanasia performed on them. Of the
many families who have had loved ones receive physician-assisted death, several
have claimed that they were pleased because it took the pain away from the
individual they greatly cared about. I think that this journal shows much evidence
that supports the upside of legalizing euthanasia. Margaret Battin is a credible
source because of the many people she has interviewed to get this information. I
will be using this journal for an appeal to logos.
Boudreau, J. Donald, and Margaret A. Somerville. "Euthanasia And Assisted suicide: A
Physician's And Ethicist's Perspectives." Medicolegal & Bioethics 4.(2014): 1-12.
Academic Search Premier. Web. 10 Mar. 2015.
There have been many different views and opinions over the ethical dilemma on
euthanasia. A physician named J. Donald and an ethicist, Margaret Somerville,
discusses the debate on legalizing euthanasia with perspective from a broad range
of participants including physicians, scholars in ethics and health law, politicians,
and the general public wrote this article. Written in a narrative style, this article is
intended to share basic information and review foundational principles that help
in ethical decision-making in relation to end-of-life medical care. This article
goes over how the general public are poorly informed of euthanasia. The authors
argue and support their rejection of euthanasia with the belief that intentionally
inflicting death on another human being is inherently wrong and the risks and
harms of legalizing euthanasia outweigh any benefits. Because I am focusing on
how it is unethical to legalize euthanasia, I wanted to get the thoughts and
perspective of a medical provider who are against legalization. J Donald
Boudreau and Margaret A Somerville are both credible sources because of their
extensive knowledge of this subject. I will be using this as article for logos.
DeCelles, Charles. "Appreciating Life." Priest 71.1 (2015): 38-40. Academic Search
Premier. Web. 17 Mar. 2015.
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The article focuses on how individuals can make the best of life in a culture where
euthanasia exists. The article discusses personality traits of those who seek
euthanasia. Other topics discussed include the psychological reasons why sick
people seek medical help to commit suicide, and the rules of some U.S. states that
allow physician-assisted suicide, including Oregon, Washington and Vermont.
The author, Charles DeCelles is credible because of the personal relationship he
had with his friend and the extensive research he has put into this article. I will be
using this article for an appeal to pathos, discussing some of the effects it can
have on relationships with other people.
Havill, JACK. "Voluntary Euthanasia In New Zealand: The Case For Support From
Christians." Stimulus: The New Zealand Journal Of Christian Thought & Practice
21.1 (2014): 12-19. Academic Search Premier. Web. 10 Mar. 2015.
The article discusses the issue on voluntary euthanasia in New Zealand. The
debate over the issue has been framed around the proposed End of Life Choice
Bill introduced into the parliamentary Ballot Box in 2013 by Maryan Street,
Labour Politician. The aim of the bill is to allow medical practitioners to act
lawfully when assisting the dying process. I have chosen this article to get an
opposite side of view over the ethical dilemma on euthanasia. The author, Jack
Havill, is a credible source was a former Waikato Hospital Intensive Care Unit
clinical director and board member of the Waikato District Health Board emeritus
consultants club. I will be using this article for pathos.
Roelands, Marc, et al. "Attitudes Of Belgian Students Of Medicine, Philosophy, And
Law Toward Euthanasia And The Conditions For Its Acceptance." Death Studies
39.3 (2015): 139-150. Academic Search Premier. Web. 17 Mar. 2015.
In this article euthanasia is legal in Belgium, which is judged by committees
including physicians, ethicists, and jurists. The article examined whether students
in these disciplines differ in how they judge euthanasia as an acceptable act. A
cross-sectional, anonymous e-mail survey revealed that they have similar attitudes
and accept its legalization. Therefore, joint decision-making of physicians,
ethicists, and lawyers regarding euthanasia seems to have a common attitudinal
base in Belgium. However, the students how different opinions to some extent
regarding the conditions the committee put forward for euthanasia being
acceptable mainly regarding philosophy of life and religion. Marc Roelands is a
credible source because of the actual answers he has gotten from the students
regarding their thoughts about euthanasia via email survey. I will be using this
article for an appeal to ethos.
Shapiro, Richard S. "Willingness to perform euthanasia. A survey of physician attitudes."
Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide (2007) : 418 pp. 13 Feb. 2008
<http://www.accessmedicine.com.ezproxy.library.drexel.edu/content.aspx?aID=2
613825&searchStr=euthanasia >.
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This journal discusses a study that was performed on physician attitudes towards
the practice of euthanasia. Shapiro gave nearly a 1000 physicians a four-section
survey that analyzed several specific variables on their attitudes towards
euthanasia, such as the patient’s disease, mental state, age, and the physician’s
area of expertise and religion. The four parts of the survey basically asked a
physician how they would respond to a patient requesting euthanasia, how the
legalization of this practice might affect their careers and personal life, and some
demographic information. After 740 surveys were analyzed it was concluded that
physician’s felt better if the request to perform euthanasia came from a nonterminal patient that had previously left advance directives, rather than from
patients with serious illnesses or injuries. It was also concluded that the specialties
and religions of physicians were directly related to their generalized attitudes
(Shapiro 418). This journal is proved to be very significant because it shows us
that many physicians would not have major issues with performing euthanasia as
long as they are fine with the stage of the patient’s disease, mental state, age, and
their own area of expertise and religious beliefs. It also answered our question
regarding the circumstances that a physician would feel comfortable performing
euthanasia on a patient. I will use this information for logos to view the
perspectives of physicians performing euthanasia as long as the conditions of both
the physician and patient are appropriate.
Starr, Linda. "Right To An Assisted Death In The Spotlight." Australian Nursing &
Midwifery Journal 22.3 (2014): 27. Academic Search Premier. Web. 17 Mar.
2015.
In this article, the author, Linda Starr, reflects on increased discussions about the
moral and legal aspects of assisted suicide in Australia. Specific examples of
euthanasia have been seen in 2014 as a result of suicides, which were committed
by a 45-year-old man named Nigel Brayley and a 67-year-old former candidate
for the Australian Senate who were assisted in their suicides by a physician who
was the founder of euthanasia group called Exit International. The history of
assisted suicide legislation in Australia is discussed. Linda Starr is a credible
source because of her affiliations with the School of Nursing and Midwifery and
her extensive knowledge about euthanasia. I will be using this article to support
my pathos.
Wilson, Keith G., et al. “Attitudes of Terminally Ill Patients Toward Euthanasia and
Physician-Assisted Suicide.” Archives of Internal Medicine. 160.16 (2000): 24542460 pp. 13 Feb. 2008
This journal entry shows the attitudes of patients, specifically those with severe
cancer, towards euthanasia. The authors designed a survey that they gave to
cancer victims. The survey was made up of questions concerning the willingness
to accept physician-assisted suicide if pain became unbearable and death was
inevitable. Of the 70 terminally ill patients interviewed, 73% believed that
euthanasia should be legalized and that it should be an individual’s right to choose
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their fate. Half of the participants also stated that, if legal, they would personally
make a request for a quicker death. The ones who opposed this issue cited moral
and religious objections. Wilson concluded that many patients with advanced
cancer would favor access to euthanasia but patients who would request this form
of death would need to be psychologically evaluated along with their physical
symptoms. Keith Wilson is credible because of the actual evidence on what these
victims want, ultimately. This information sheds light and gives perspective for
those in support of legalizing euthanasia. I will use this article in for an appeal to
pathos to get a perspective from those actually suffering.