Argumentative Essay: The End Of Life Option Act

In 1997, Oregon passed the Right-to-Die Bill and in September 2015, California state lawmakers recently passed a similar bill called The End of Life Option Act. This bill now the needs to be signed into law by Governor Jerry Brown of California to be put into full effect. This bill will give the terminally ill the option to end their lives rather than suffer with the illnesses they have been cursed with. With this bill becoming a law, physicians would then be able to prescribe a lethal dose of a certain drug to people in advanced stages of deadly illnesses. This will be the fifth right-to-die bill to be submitted to California's legislature since 1995 and with the death of 29 year old teacher, Brittany Maynard, who was crippled by late
As this quote explains, “it would allow each person the freedom to control the time, place, and circumstances of his or her death. Patients facing the slow progression of a fatal disease or the prognosis of living for years with incurable pain would be able to end their lives with dignity” (Stokely 1). This means that one could have control of his life just as he should. It is easy to understand that a person would rather end his life peacefully rather than in suffering such as someone with a fatal disease or a late stage cancer. The freedom for someone to pick the details of their own death, such as time and place, under certain conditions should be a guaranteed right just like the freedom of speech and the freedom of religion. Everyone is going to die at some point in life. Why should a person not be able to die when he prefers
This quote states, “a Harris poll in December 2001 showed support for both euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide by a 2-1 majority" (Stokely 1). In other words, twice as many people show support for physician-assisted suicide at the time of this poll. If twice as many people supported it, why is it not legal? It would make more sense to have what the majority believes in because more people would be satisfied. As for minority of people that do not support it, they do not have to participate in the application of the law if they do not want to. This law would not force the terminally ill to commit suicide, it is just another option for everyone. Physician-assisted suicide should be made legal in the United States because people would have an alternative option in the decision making of the end of their own lives. Allowing physician-assisted suicide to be an option for the terminally ill, people would have a larger sense of control of their own inevitable death. Leon R. Kass and Nelson Lund wrote an article about courting death. According to them, “a decision to commit suicide, like a decision to have an abortion, is encompassed by a judicially recognized right to make private decisions about the mystery of human life” (Kass and Lund 1). This quote shows a connection between abortion and physician-assisted suicide