Assisted Suicide

Assisted Suicide
Jennifer Berger
PHI 200: Mind and Machine
Samuel Grummons
September 12, 2011

Assisted suicide, it’s a very controversial topic. Some people are for it and many more are against it as it pushes the moral boundaries of right and wrong. The idea of assisted suicide, (ending a life by one’s choice) is not acceptable in many cultures, religions or personal beliefs, but is it any different that euthanizing an animal because that animal is terminally ill or in excruciating pain with no available treatment? How or why isn’t that seen as immoral and wrong? Is it any different than a person who is in pain suffering from a terminal illness, or in incurable and unmanageable pain from end stage diseases? End stage diseases such as cancer are very painful and no amount of pain medicine to manage pain can bring relief. In my opinion, just as many other choices we as humans are allowed to make, assisted suicide should be one.

I have watched two family members now suffer in pain from end of life diseases, one from end stage brain and lung cancer which was diagnosed 3 months before the passing and the other emphasymia for 20 years. Although both deaths were different they both could have used assisted suicide, especially the cancer patient. My children’s great grandmother was 69 when she passed. She was a fairly healthy woman, she worked until 65 and then she watched my oldest daughter for 3 years while I worked. One day she wasn’t feeling well, the day after Christmas she went to the doctor. They did some e-rays and gave her some medicine saying they thought it was pneumonia. She went home and one hour later they called her into the office again. She was informed that she had 7 large tumors in her lungs. They did more x-rays and she also had 5 tumors in her brain one of which needed to be removed immediately if she wanted to survive the week. She had the surgery and was never quite the same. She never did recover from the surgery. She was never the same. One month after her diagnose I gave birth to her 3rd great grand child. One month later she passed. Those three months were full of paid for her and it was absolutely awful. She had hospice as she wanted to be at home but her quality of life was not there. She was a devout Catholic and did not believe in assisted suicide or anything like that. She suffered until her last day. She did have hospice and was able to be at home for the duration. I do not think I would have wanted to suffer everything that she did in those very short three months, but I understand between her religion and her beliefs she would not have had it any other way.

My grandmother suffered from a long bout of emphasymia and had a great life, but at the end was so depressed and in pain and she was open to assisted suicide. Although assisted suicide is not legal here hospice is extremely helpful with pain management and supplying an end of life kit. The hospice nurse administered enough Morphine to make her more than comfortable and she passed peacefully.

Religions are against assisted suicide because it is against the will of God and the bible, some cultures are against it because ending a life is wrong and even politicians and individuals who believe that abortion, euthanasia, and capital punishment still believes that assisted suicide is crossing the line of moral decisions. I strongly dislike that so many individuals base their lives based on morals and values that are centuries old and may no longer apply. I mean if we are allowed to execute criminals then we should have the right to take our own lives correct? I think that suicide is a sad thing, that there shouldn’t be individuals that feel so helpless and lost that ending life is the best choice. I do however think that if a person is suffering from a life threatening disease then they should be able to make their own decisions as to how to handle that end.

In Susan’s story I felt her pain, I understand where she was coming from. She had never thought about assisted suicide as right until she was stuck facing it head on. Watching someone you love is a very painful experience and one that can make very strong beliefs change. For Susan, all she wanted to do was to make her dad comfortable, to make him happy. She didn’t want to see him suffering. Her dad changed his mind at some point as well, when he realized that he wasn’t living the way he wanted. Her dad knew that he did not want to be here if it meant everyday was a struggle, or painful. It took a great deal of strength from Susan in order to follow through with her father’s wishes. I think of how I would feel if it was one of my parents. It would be so hard to let one of them go, but if it is their wish then I will absolutely oblige.

Assisted suicide is just another topic that is extremely controversial. There are people both for and against it. I think that it is a very humane way to handle such a personal event. If we are allowed to humanely do this to our animals because the quality of life is not there any longer, then we should be able to make such a personal choice.

References

Assisted Suicide and Free Choice, Sheena Lyengar, Special to CNN
Wolf, S.M. (2008). Confronting Physician-Assisted Suicide and Euthansia: My Father’s Death. Hastings Center Report, 38(5), 23-26. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

References: Assisted Suicide and Free Choice, Sheena Lyengar, Special to CNN Wolf, S.M. (2008). Confronting Physician-Assisted Suicide and Euthansia: My Father’s Death. Hastings Center Report, 38(5), 23-26. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.