Students’ name
Course name
Professor name
Date
Critical thinking assessment
I believe the man above was guilty of murder, but he should go to jail for having a part in her wife’s demise. It clearly states that his wife asked him, in writing, to kill her. It doesn’t make any difference from her doing it herself, which under any written law is considered illegal, whether done by oneself or assisted.
The man deeply loved his wife, and it seems as if he was trying to make her happy by doing what she asked of him. He felt pity for him after for months on end taking care of her because she could not talk or walk and had to be fed through a tube in her abdomen.
The wife was much suffering from was suffering from Lou Gehrig’s disease as well as severe heart disease. The wife could not walk or talk and was fed using a tube in her abdomen. Her suffering made her decide that it was not worth living any longer, and she told her husband through a note to end her life along with her pain. She wanted all the suffering to come to an end.
A judge deliberating on this case is going to face a difficult time giving his ruling on this case. This is because the man is ancient and sentencing him to jail a death sentence of its own. Here is a scenario of a crime that was committed to ending the suffering of a loved one. (East, Harry)
The children of the couple I would imagine are going through the worst experience because of this incident. They saw their mother suffering, and I imaging they felt helpless. They are on the verge of losing two people they love one through mercy suicide and the other through jail time.
In Oregon, there is a “death with dignity” law. This law allows a doctor to prescribe a lethal dose of barbiturates to patients who have less than six months to live. Since the law took effect in 1997, 292 people have asked their doctors to prescribe drugs to end their lives. Doctors who patients with the critical terminal disease go through and would welcome the idea of ending the suffering of these particular patients. (Sheldon, Tony 591)
The clergy differ on mercy killings, but a large number of them are of the view that the murder of a human being, whether it is done to end their suffering goes against every divine law and particularly offends the dignity of a human being. (Spilka, Bernard, 299-306)
Even though I feel this way about the situation, I do not believe any laws should be changed to allow assisted suicide. If there were laws changed about this, it would honestly change the world as a whole. A lot more people would write fake notes making it seem like the other individual asked to be killed, which in some cases could be a lie.
I personally believe it would bring much more murder into this world and maybe even make it easier for people to get away with murder. I understand other people might have a different view of this situation then so do I. I firmly believe my point of view is right, only because that is the law that is intact now.
Work cited
Spilka, Bernard, et al. “Religion and death: The clerical perspective.” Journal of religion and health 20.4 (1981): 299-306.
Sheldon, Tony. “Dutch doctors call for a new approach to reporting “mercy killings.” BMJ 329.7466 (2004): 591.
East, Harry. Permission to die: an examination of the law and morality of battlefield mercy killing. Diss. University of Southampton, 2013.