M4 Discussion: Right to Die Issues
Photo Credit: AP Photo/Newsis, Kim Myung-won
Given everything you have discovered in the readings and learned so far, please respond to the following:
Do critically ill and/or dying patients have a right to die? Why or why not?
Do health care professionals have an obligation to help them die?
What about family members and friends – do they have a duty to help their loved ones die?
Remember, the focus of this and all discussions should be academic and objective in scope, rather than led by personal opinion, experience or judgment. It is important that issues – even difficult ones – be examined from a theoretical perspective through an analytic lens. We are not debating these issues; rather, we are examining some of the more prominent perspectives on the issues.
Questions adapted from Tong, R. (2007). New Perspectives in Healthcare Ethics: An Interdisciplinary and Crosscultural Approach. Pearson Prentice Hall.
Discussion Participation Tips
Quality of Posts
Please make sure you focus on the course and the issues at hand when posting to the discussions. Connect your discussion posts to the literature we are reading, and maintain an academic focus. Relevance, credibility and using referenced material is always important whether in discussion or writing essays. We will be discussing some issues which are polarizing; I expect scholarly discourse and reference to the issues. I expect proper grammar and spelling. This is a minimum requirement. Deviations from this will hurt your grade. I also expect courtesy in discussion. Scholars disagree with each other all the time, and do it politely and with respect. It is better to lean excessively in the direction of courtesy than to have any chance at crossing the line of acceptable discourse.
Quantity of Posts
Your initial post should respond to the prompts and questions posted, typically in at least 250 words. After posting, you should return to this discussion area and post at least two responses to posts made during the remaining week(s) of the module. However, if you want to contribute more responses, please do. Be sure to use APA style to cite sources when putting forth the ideas, opinions, and facts of others.