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Thesis: The right to die is out of human hands, despite the undignified suffering it may cause. Case Background: Sue Rodriguez was an active forty-two year old, who enjoyed aerobics, weight lifting and cross country skiing. She was a proud mother of nine year old Cole and loving wife to Henry Rodriguez. The family lived near Victoria in British Columbia, Canada. Sue was in great condition only months before her diagnosis. The devastating diagnosis with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) in August, 1991 caused her life to change (Hobbs 5). This disease is commonly referred to as Lou Gehrig’s disease, named after the baseball player who died of it in 1941 (Hobbs 5). It is a fatal disease of the nervous system that currently affects about 3 200 Canadians (Underwood 46). On average, it results in death about two years after being diagnosed (Underwood 46). Sue Rodriguez was told that her life expectancy was between two and thirteen months. She spent over $10 000 on naturopaths, acupuncturists and nutritionists in hope that the disease would not advance (Wood 23). It would be a very painful death to die from ALS, and understandably Sue wants to die in comfort. Rodriguez’s last wish was to die on her own terms with the help of a doctor. She was so weak that without a doctor she was physically incapable of committing suicide (Wood 22). Ethics: The ongoing debate of Euthanasia only strengthened with Rodriguez’s fight. Polls taken in Canada showed that most would give their blessing if Sue wanted to end her own life. More than three out of four people surveyed agreed with the statement that “when a person has an incurable disease that causes great suffering, competent doctors should be allowed to end the patient’s life through mercy killing” (Wood 22). As this is the majority’s view, Rodriguez thought that she had a good case, as many laws are changed to reflect a majority’s opinion. Few terminally ill patients request death, but those that do often want to die because of chronic pain.
Approximate Word count = 1354
Approximate Pages = 5.4
(250 words per page double spaced)
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