Argumentative Essay: The Death With Dignity Act

The Death with Dignity Act has been debated between political parties, morial viewpoints, and religious groups all across America. Oregon, which has passed this act, has caused an upheaval in many of these organizations(ideals or groups) over whether it is humane or inhumane. The people who are arguing this act should not be allowed are not educated enough to see the real reason why it is so important to have available. The Death with Dignity Act should be passed in every state because it is essential for qualified terminally ill patients to have the right to terminate their lives especially when it can and will end their pain and suffering.
The Death with Dignity Act was first enacted in Oregon in 1997, which allows terminally ill patients
to voluntarily end their suffering by a self administered lethal medication. This act allows for patients to self administer an oral form of a barbiturate, a class of drugs that causes a sedative and sleep-inducing effect.
This means that the patient will be put to sleep before they pass, so no pain will be felt. The process triggers the heart to slow down so the body falls asleep, and as time progresses, the heart will slow down to the point where it will eventually stop (Authority). This process allows the patient to pass in the most humane way as possible. The oral administration of an assisted suicide can be compared to that of a veterinarian euthanizing a sick animal. Although it is still uncertain, it has been estimated that half the patients who ingested the drug were unconscious within 9 minutes and were deceased within 30 minutes. This let doctors infer that the patients did not suffer and a prolonged death did not occur (Division). Anyone who has sat with their loved one and watch nature take its course and see them gasp for air and cry in pain and agony can honestly say, they would much rather have their loved one be given a medicine to make them pass peacefully in their sleep so they are no longer suffering an unbearable
pain.
Many people who oppose the Death with Dignity Act do so purely because they do not fully understand all the steps and procedures that are necessary to qualify for this treatment.
In order for patients to qualify for the procedure: they must be a legal adult, be a resident of Oregon, have good mental health, and on top of all that they must be diagnosed with a terminal illness that will cause death in at least six months (Authority). However this is not the end of the steps the patients have to endure in order be qualified for the procedure. In order to prove their residency in Oregon proper documentation is needed; for example, a driver's licence, a lease, a tax return, or a voter's registration. Without this documentation it is impossible for the patient to receive the medication (Authority). People can not move there and quickly get the procedure done, it takes time to gather all the proof needed to prove their residency. Even this is not the end of the many steps that a patient and doctor personally must do in order to finally achieve the procedure. The patient must make two oral requests, that are separated by at least 15 days, to their doctor. They also must submit a written request to the doctor that is signed by two witnesses, one who is not related to them. There also has to be multiple doctors that confirm the diagnosis and prognosis. The doctors then must determine if the patient is in a good mental health state. If the mental health state can not be determined
the patient has to be sent to get a psychological examination. The doctor then must inform the patient about alternatives which include, comfort care, hospice care, and pain control, all of which they have the majority has already tried. After all those steps the doctor can request one more step to happen, which would make it so the patient has to inform their next-of-kin of their request for the medication. The process is made so that the patients have a lot of time to make sure they one hundred percent want to go threw with the procedure, and that is what they truly want (Authority). The last step is required solely by the doctor, which requires them to get their licence for the procedure. It is not easy for doctors to obtain their licence to carry out this procedure. First they must be a Doctor of Medicine, have a licence to practice medicine by the Board of Medical Examiners for the State of Oregon, even if the doctor has both of these things they must be comfortable carrying out this procedure, and finally after all of these things are achieved they must be in a workplace that does not prohibit the procedure. Some places like the Catholic hospital or the Veterans Administration prohibits the procedure due to the moral and religious discrepancies (Authority). If people were educated with all the steps needed before the patient can receive the medication there would be no debates over how it could potentially be abused. The fact that any medication can be potentially abused so if that is the reason why people think that it should not be aloud then no other medication should be allowed either.