Sample Outline
Introduction
Opener/Attention-Getter— “But it may also be within my power to take a life, this awesome responsibility must be faced with great humbleness and awareness of my own frailty. Above all, I must not play God” (Hippocratic Oath)
Relevance of Topic to Audience— throughout our life’s we will all witness someone who is slowly and painfully dying due to some terminal illness.
Speaker Background— witnessed similar issues concerning my grandfather and family.
Thesis— Death is of the utmost personal and private matters, it is a right and freedom we have to decide if we should end our life. Physician assisted suicide can be done safely and should always be an available option for terminally ill patients
Preview Main Points—…show more content… 1997 State of Florida v. Charles E. Hall, Illness- AIDS, Diagnosis- terminal, outcome: state of Florida ruled that under the state’s Privacy Provision, “every person has the right to be let alone and free from governmental intrusion into one’s own private life.” the Supreme Court found persuasive evidence that the Constitution includes a due process liberty in controlling the time and manner of a person’s death.
3. Compassion in Dying v. State of Washington Outcome- The Constitution guarantees a “fundamental right” to assisted suicide.
3) Death with Dignity
i) The Death with Dignity National Center, a non-profit advocacy group says this, “The greatest human freedom is to live, and die, according to one's own desires and beliefs.” ii) Can’t take care of yourself iii) Impact on family, burden
(a) Cost medical care, almost being forced to pay. iv) Last chance at controlling your own life go out on your circumstances
4) Pain and suffering
i) When physical or mental pain can’t be controlled ii) Most terminal illness results in slow, agonizing death
(a) Being forced to live everyday in uncontrollable amounts of to live through until death iii) Psychological distress
(a) Know your getting worse and going to die no…show more content… He lost more than his memories. His body began deteriorating and he had medical issues for years. My grandma could never leave his side. My mom took frequent trips hours away to help give others some rest. He had discussed, with my mom, years before about options when things got too bad and what he wanted to do. Unfortunately he had no options besides let it happen. Before he lost all of who he was you could tell he felt like nothing more than a burden to all of us. Of course we wanted him to stay but for him he was always confused and sick and depressed in and out of hospitals. He hated hospitals. The hardest part of all was having to watch your family say goodbye to a man who had been gone for years. I just imagine with the choice available how would things be different? Sure it would be hard for us to understand at the time as his family but knowing we could have gotten the chance to say bye to the grandpa who spoiled us and loved us and taught us about. Getting to hug him one last time when he was capable of telling me how dumb I was to go to KU instead of K-state and listening to that awful k-state fight song he loved so much one more time would have been much more magical and meaningful to him and us.
b) Most of us have been around someone who we have seen worsening and when they feel they have become a burden to their own family they mentally loose it no matter