Physician Assisted Suicide Argumentative Essay

Physician-assisted suicide is, “the voluntary termination of one’s own life by administration of a lethal substance with the direct or indirect assistance of a physician.” (medicinenet.com) Physician-assisted suicide gives patients and loved ones a choice at how their time together should end. Although many people find assisted suicide to be a considerable option to suffering, others find assisted suicide to have more weaknesses than strengths. Looking at the side of those who are for assisted suicide you can understand why it could be a good idea to have this option. If somebody is terminally ill, they do not want to go through all the excruciating pain, and their loved ones don’t want to see them go through it. When somebody is diagnosed
with a disease they know they have little control on how their life will play out, most people understand that what they have been diagnosed with, will end their life. To give a patient a sense of control and the chance to have a dignified death, assisted suicide gives them this option. The right to die should be as basic as those to marry, to have kids, or the right to refuse medical treatment. Patients deserve the right not to be forced to suffer, people believe that it should be a crime to make somebody live, if they have a good reason to die, if they don’t wish to continue. Doctors are not supposed to bring harm to their patients, but harm is being done when a life is prolonged that is suffering and no longer wishes to live. The decision to keep a family member going should not be up to those who have no relation to the patient. It is a major decision emotionally and financially to decide another person’s life. The government should not be able to tell them when they stop doing all they can and forcing a life to go on that doesn’t want to. By assisting death does not mean that the patient isn’t receiving the best care they could possibly receive, but it shows that we respect and care for the patient to allow them this last dignified request. Before they allow a patient to die though, they must discuss all palliative options they have to offer with the patient, and if the patient allows them to, try before they allow the patient to request assisted suicide. With physician-assisted suicide, they could save money that benefits a lot, the cost of the medicine for assisted-suicide costs roughly $35-$45. Although healthcare is making sure no money is wasted, with physician-assisted suicide they can save so much more. A concern may be that those who are of a disadvantaged population, such as the elderly or disabled, would be targeted among patients who choose assisted suicide, but studies have shown that the vulnerable aren’t any more likely to receive physician-assisted suicide than anybody else. The group that that used the assisted suicides the most were young white men. Legalizing assisted suicide won’t lead to a place where everybody is murdering each other, life is cheaper, or death is meant to be easy. In the Netherlands approximately 3,000 people seek to be euthanized which is only 1.7% of all deaths. About 2/3 of patients who apply for assisted suicide are denied. They made the process difficult to prevent it from being an overused treatment. On the other side of the spectrum are those against physician-assisted suicide. It is understandable why somebody might be against the idea. The laws against assisted suicide are there to prevent abuse and protect people from a sinister doctor or others. The law isn’t there to force patients to suffer. In addition, the forbidden act of killing patients is the first promise of self-restraint of the Hippocratic oath. They aren’t allowed to view the patient’s choosing death, can make killing him right. The drugs for assisted suicide cost about $35-$45 which makes them much cheaper than medical care.
People fear that because it would save so much, there will be a reduction in treatment and care and an in assisted suicide to save money. They may take advantage of those who are vulnerable to abuse, and being treated different such as, the poor, uneducated, old, or disabled. There is still that chance that a physician may be prejudice against certain people, just because they are a physician does not mean they are exempt from prejudices. With a treatment such as assisted suicide, there comes religious concerns. Catholic leaders believe that God’s most basic gift that he can give is life. Catholics declare a moral obligation to take care of their life and health and when they need help, they must seek care from others. They must never purposely cause their own death, or the death of anyone else. Physician-assisted suicide could be something that affects any of us. The topic matters because, if you or a loved one was diagnosed with a terminal illness what would you want done? If they were diagnosed with a death sentence like pancreatic cancer or something that took away the ability to perform simple tasks such as ALS, or Alzheimer’s disease, would you want to watch them go through that and die in a painful undignified way, or give them the final request to die a death they have control
of?