Death with Dignity

Death with Dignity Imagine having a terminal form of cancer and having no response to treatment. The physicians say there are only a few months left until death. Does one choose to suffer out the last few months of life with family or end his or her life peacefully, with dignity? Physician assisted suicide should be legal because one should have the choice to end his or her own suffering. It has been said that physician assisted suicide would change the view of human life and its meaning as life focuses on two major events, birth and death. Some would believe that physician assisted suicide removes compassion from death, in reality physician assisted suicide is compassionate. If the patient wishes he or she may be surrounded by friends and family, who are often the most compassionate people in one’s life, to be present at the time he or she chooses to pass. Physician assisted suicide, if legalized, would be an option only after treatments were exhausted without success or death was imminent, i.e. fatality within six months. In the instance of constant unrelieved pain from a terminal illness physician assisted suicide would be an option for the patient, if the patient so desired. Physicians would not be actively offering physician assisted suicide as a treatment option. “A survey published [2007] in the Journal of Medical Ethics showed almost half the Dutch doctors questioned tried to avoid euthanasia because it was against their own values or difficult to deal with” (World Federation of Right to Die Societies, 2007) A definite standard that clearly outlines that physicians do not kill needs to be in place for patients, physicians, and society to maintain physician patient trust (Somerville, 2006). A doctor would still have the same intention with all treatment; whether it be a cold or a possibly fatal illness, to provide the patient with physical comfort during the illness as well as trying to cure the ailment. The fact that the patient may choose to end his

References: Alters, Sandra. (2007). Suicide, Euthanasia, and Physician assisted Suicide. Information Plus® Reference Series Death with Dignity Act (2007). Legislative Statute - Death with Dignity. Retrieved December 21, 2008, from www.oregon.gov Jochemsen, H. (2001). The Legalization of Euthanasia in The Netherlands. Lindeboom Institute. Retrieved December 21, 2008, from www.lindeboominstituut.nl Rosenfeld, B Retrieved November 20, 2008, from EBSCOhost database. Stolberg, M. (May-June 2008). Two Pioneers of Physician assisted suicide Around 1800. The Hastings Center Report(38), 19-24 The World Federation of Right to Die Societies (2007). Sedation vs Euthanasia in the Netherlands