How To Legalize Physician Assisted Suicide

On the other hand, a doctor’s job is not only to save life and keep the patient healthy and alive, but it is to listen to what the patient wants. If the patient does not want to prolong their life because of the constant pain and they are definite to die in six months or less and the doctor has given them alternative options, the last resort is to give the patient what they want. A doctor can only do so much for the patient, they cannot cure every disease and every ache a patient has. If a patient has a terminal disease and is in pain, the only thing a doctor is able to do is to prescribe the patient with medication to alleviate the pain, however, medication to alleviate or subside the pain does not always work. The human body will soon get
With passive euthanasia, the patient will be in “terrible agony” until the patient’s body finally gives up. For this purpose, physician-assisted suicide should be legal since it is a moral alternative. The physician is doing their job because they are respecting the patient’s wish if they choose not to prolong their pain any longer. With the legalization of physician-assisted suicide, the physician will be able to administer a prescription of the lethal drug dosage that the patient will take on their own to end their life. Physician-assisted suicide is a better alternative to passive since the patient will die “relatively quick[ly] and painless[ly],” (Rachels, 1975, 79) rather than in “terrible agony” (Rachels 1975,
To illustrate, there is a case where the patient has terminal throat cancer and is in terrible pain that cannot be alleviated with the use of pain medication. The patient along with the immediate family asked the doctor to end their life because he cannot stand to live the rest of his days in unbearable pain. If the doctor chose passive euthanasia and only withheld the treatment from the patient, it could actually prolong his life but he will still suffer in agonizing pain (Rachels, 1975, 79). Since the patient will die in a few days it is inhumane to let the patient suffer when there is an alternative way. If the doctor wants to do what is best for the patient and has given the patient options, the choice is ultimately up to the patient. If the patient wants the lethal drug then it’s their choice, the doctor will have explained all their options and made sure the patient is competent that they know what’s going on. (Rachels, 1975, 80). Physician-assisted suicide is moral based on the premise that it is the patient’s choice and the beneficial factor that it ends the patient’s suffering and agonizing pain. A person has the right to choose how they want to spend the rest of their life as there are a series of criteria’s in order for the patient to be eligible for the lethal drug dose. The main goal of physician-assisted suicide is to help the patient reduce