Physician Assisted Suicide Ethical Dilemmas

Physicians assisted suicide can be defined as the voluntary termination of one's own life by administration of a lethal substance with the direct or indirect assistance of a physician (Snyder 2001). In order to truly explore the ethical dilemma of physicians assisted suicide we must first understand and grasp the base meaning of the term, as well as let go of any prior misconceptions we may have surrounding the topic. The process of physician-assisted suicide is different than you might imagine. Before I had researched this topic I had the inaccurate impression that physician assisted suicide was a procedure similar to that which you would imagine for an animal being put down or euthanized. As many of us unfamiliar with the topic might believe,
Most people would agree that the right of a competent, terminally ill person to avoid any unnecessary excruciating pain seems as though it should be a basic human right. To have someone go through more suffering than absolutely necessary seems as though it would fall under the description of an inhumane act, and frankly an injustice against the basic human right of bodily autonomy and integrity. Due to these almost undeniable arguments, physician assisted suicide, in many cases, is seen as a basic human right that we need to be granted access to. Activists argue that it is simply an additional choice that we will be able to make, and that it will surely never be pushed onto anybody or used sinisterly (Maynard 2014). Although this claim is something that we cannot be entirely sure of, as I have continued to research the pros and cons behind physician assisted suicide, I have come to the conclusion that in many cases it truly does seem that the legalization of physician assisted suicide is the best option for everyone involved. It is a means to cease any unnecessary suffering that a person may be going though, and provides a sense of comfort for them during a time in their lives where they are not given many choices besides to deal with what they are going through and try to survive. Additionally, with many of the extreme medical advancements of the 20t century, our goals have been clouded by the quest to
We cannot know for sure what the consequences of the legalization for this procedure will be, but the right to die should most certainly be a basic human right, and is something that we need to define through legislature so that it cannot be abused (Snyder 2001). If the right steps are taken to make sure that there is no room for error or corruption that could lead to the abuse of physician assisted suicide, then it should surely be legalized around the world. The right to assisted suicide falls under the category of the rights approach, which goes along with respecting the basic right of the individual, and what they feel is the right path for them to take. As human beings, ethically speaking, we should all take into consideration that we cannot and should not limit the rights of others only because we do not understand the situation that they are facing. As dissected in the essay “The Drowning Child and the Expanding Circle”, we all need to be more aware of our human obligation to help those in need, even if it does not directly impact us (Singer 1997). Just as we would quickly agree to help a drowning child, we must take those same instincts and apply them to helping those in need have access to a means of death that they have a choice in. In conclusion, I believe that when the time comes everyone should have