Summary: Should Physician Assisted Suicide Be Legal?

Should Physician Assisted Suicide be Legal?
Jacqueline
Informal Logic INF103
Instructor Andrew Stave
January 13, 2014

Should Physician Assisted Suicide be legal?
When we think about the idea of physician- assisted suicide, we most likely feel as though that the act itself should be considered murder. During 1997, The President at the time Bill Clinton signed into regulations “The assisted suicide funding restriction act”. The regulation omitted the use of federal monies to pay for physician assisted suicide, as well as euthanasia, and also mercy killings in the United States. According to the New England Journal of Medicine Physician assisted suicide is now currently legal in three states, they are Oregon, Washington,
and Montana. States like Hawaii, Pennsylvania, and Vermont are making an allowance for bringing forth legislation to legalize physician assisted suicide for patients suffering from terminal illnesses. In this paper I will explain why it is very important for physician assisted suicide to be legal in all of our states, in order to help the terminally ill patients as well as those patients that are severely disabled and can no longer care for themselves. These patients want the right to die with dignity. Conferring to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, Doctor supported suicide is “suicide by a terminally ill patients that is helped by resources or evidence (as a prescription or suggestion of the lethal dosage) as long as by a doctor who is attending to his patient and plans to use such resources or information to end his or her own life.
Everyone has a right to their own opinion when it comes to physician assisted suicide, but what about those patients who are suffering from an incurable type of cancer, or what about the patients that have suffered from a major stroke or even been involved in a major car accident that has left them paralyzed and are unable to care for themselves. Patients who are suffering from an incurable bout with cancer experiences unbearable pain, vomiting, coughing, lack of energy, as well as other debilitating symptoms. Physician assisted suicide occurs when a physician helps someone to end their life rather than a close friend, or a family member. Physician assisted suicide take place when a physician prescribes a drug to their terminally ill patient resulting in that patient’s death. There are many physicians that are against physician assisted suicide because they feel as though it violates the Hippocratic Oath they took, to do no
harm.
Patients who are suffering from a terminal illness in Oregon, and have less than six months to live would be considered for physician assisted suicide.
Those who are for physician assisted suicide would argue that the patient’s pain and suffering would be saved. They would also argue that the patient should have the freedom to decide to die. They would also argue that the healthcare cost would be lowered, which would lower insurance premiums. The families pain and anger would be somewhat lessened by getting to say their final goodbyes to their loved one. Proponents could also argue that laws could be made to help prevent abuse of physicians just giving out the powerful medication to just anyone and still protect the value of human life. Vital organs could be harvested and saved, In turn saving the lives of many others. Opponents argued in contradiction of physician assisted suicide, they believe that it violates the Hippocratic Oath, they took when they first became physicians. They also argue that physician assisted suicide demeans the value of life in the patients. Opponents believe that physician assisted suicide is
unethical.
I believe physician assisted suicide, if done in the appropriate manner should be legal, and available to those who want to go about that way of life for themselves.

REFERENCES

http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=54070 http://www.deathwithdignity.org/in-oregon https://www.health.usnews.com/health-news/news/articles/2013/04/10/physician-assisted-suicide-program-rarely-used-study-finds https://www.balancedpolitics.org/assisted_suicide.htm https://www.merriam-webster.com/medical/physician-assisted%20suicide