Why Is Assisted Suicide Wrong
Euthanasia is known as the act of deliberately ending a life which will initially free an individual from an incurable disease and intolerable suffering, with full consent of the patient. This act is often referred as an easy and painless, illegal death. Assisted suicide, also known as Euthanasia or mercy killing, is the act of a doctor helping a patient with an incurable disease leave this world painlessly and with personal consent. Have you ever wondered what it would be like to lose all control over your own body? To lose the ability to talk, eat, walk or read, making you incapable of doing anything other than just being there? To live in constant fear that every next painful breath you to take might be your last. Everything that you
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do normally without thinking, would now become a struggle.
Many people who are diagnosed with incurable diseases want to be able to die gracefully and on their own terms but are not permitted to do so. Reasons like this are why assisted suicide should be legalized for people with incurable diseases. Euthanasia should be a right granted to all citizens who are suffering from a degenerative, fatal, or painful condition that would enable them to enjoy their lives as healthy people do. There is much controversy on this subject, and frankly, it should not be up for discussion. It is not up to society to make decisions that infringe upon the rights of the physically ill. Firstly, it would allow the ill to practice their rights, it would grant doctors the opportunity to do their primary job in society, which is helping people. Euthanasia would save money that could be better spent on other fields of medicine. Lastly, assisted suicide should be legal in order to give patients the ability to decide their own fate. Furthermore, having the option to physician assisted suicide allows the patient to maintain control over his or her situation and to end life in an ethical and …show more content…
dignified manner.
To clarify, the more general term “assisted suicide” does not always refer to the involvement of a doctor. To be an assistant to the death or suicide of another human being is another legal issue that is completely different from physician assisted suicide. Physician assisted suicide is the initial act of going to a medical professional and having them administer a drug in a controlled manner, that will cause instant, painless death. For the purposes of this argument, the focus will be on the involvement
of a medical professional, in other words physician assisted suicide. Many individuals have questioned the medical community’s right to offer this possibility to patients, insisting that their job is to ensure that a patient has access to all available medical treatments, while living a full life. These opposition of the argument that supports physician assisted suicide believes that it is not within the rights of the medical field to help patients die, but to help them improve or at least continue life, no matter what the patients quality of life may be. To be specific, the argument against the legality of euthanasia is commonly based on speculation of a outside party that does not understand the issues at stake for someone diagnosed with a terminal disease. There are a large number of people who are suffering from pain caused from terminal conditions who are being stopped by the law. They are forced to live out the rest of their lives in an undignified and unwanted way. People who were once healthy are now considered to be burdens to their family. In society, a person should be able to choose the time of their death if they are terminally ill. They should be able to decide if they wish for the disease to consume them, or if they wish to die on their own terms. If we are to be truly living in a free society a person should be able to request their doctor to perform the treatments to put them to death if they are indeed terminally ill. Section 7 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms states that “Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of the person and the right not to be deprived thereof except in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice.”1 In other words this states that you have to right to live as you choose. It also assures you have the right die as you choose. The law is made to protect your rights as a human being, and assure that you are not being deprived of any rights you may have. After all, this would mean if you are wanting to die and the law is not allowing you to, you are being deprived of the principles of fundamental justice. As humans if we are not being able to request action, __________________ 1. "Constitution Acts, 1867 to 1982." Constitution, Canadian. Legislative Services Branch. 12 Aug. 2013. Web. 17 Dec. 2013.
this means that we are not allowed to freely decide our own fate and we are not in fact living in a free society.
People who oppose this topic will argue and claim that a doctor 's unnecessary involvement in the death of a patient is cruel and inhumane since their initial job is help people and prevent death, instead of causing it. However, as this is true, it should be recognized that the terminally ill are forced to live against their will in unmanageable and constant pain. “Patients seeking a suicide that is safely monitored and administered by a doctor often have a terminal illness which they know they will be able to never recover from.”2 (Bass) It is a doctors job to ensure that a patient is both happy and healthy. Most patients with incurable diseases are not getting healthy, and nor are they happy. They are simply deteriorating until they are deceased. Doctors need to be able to do their primary job and help patients who can be helped, not be consumed by patients who do not wish to be living and are not recovering. Assisted suicide would open up more hospital beds and allow doctors to act out their primary role in society. To begin with, a doctor’s job is to make an individual healthy. Not only do these terminally ill patients feel like a burden to their families since they are unable to live a normal healthy life, because they require constant help and supervision, they also feel like a burden to society. They take up need space that could be going to a patient who has a greater potential to recover from illness. If someone is unable to get healthy and requires a doctor to prolong their death with machines and drugs, this takes that doctor away from another patient who has the opportunity to become healthy again. Likewise, in an article written by CBC news, “Surgeries in at least two of Canada 's largest hospitals have been cancelled because of bed shortages.”3 (Zafer) __________________ 2. “Assisted Suicide- Should It Be Legal?” Bass, Sadie. abc news. July 16, 2012. Web. December 1, 2013 3. “Shortage of hospital beds, cancelled surgeries common across Canada.” Zafer, Amina. cbc news. January 26, 2007. Web. December 4, 2013
What if some of those hospital beds were occupied by patients who did not want to be there and were not going to get better? Doctors can not tell a patient to die but they also do not have the chance to aid them in doing so if that is the patients request. In addition, in an article written by the telegraph in the UK, “Hundreds of patients have been forced to wait for more than an hour in the back of ambulances due to a lack of hospital beds.”4 (Smith) Paramedics are good at their jobs but do not have the resources to keep patients in critical condition alive in the back of their vehicles. Not only were the patients trapped there, but also the ambulances were unable to set out to other emergencies because they had a patient already. Not only this, as a healthy individual we are able to commit suicide. None the less, as soon as the terminally ill wish to die in a way that is considered dignified and honourable, their opinions become irrelevant to the rest of society. Thus saying, euthanasia should be legalized so that people who are not getting better and do not want to be alive can provide opportunities for others who can be saved get the treatment they require. Physician assisted suicide would save a lot of money that is spent on unnecessary treatments. For instance, Dr. Elliot Fisher states “It will pay fifty five thousand dollars for patients with advanced breast cancer to receive the chemo therapy drug, Avastin, even though it extends life only an average of a month and a half. […] The real problem is that many of the patients that are being treated aggressively, if you ask them, they would prefer less aggressive care. […] If they were given a choice. But we don’t adequately give them a choice.”5 (Priest) Fifty five thousand dollars is a lot of money for a month and a half, especially if that patient would rather die peacefully and on his or her own terms. __________________ 4. “Patients forced to wait in ambulances due to lack of hospital beds.” Smith, Rebecca. The Telegraph.March 14, 2012. Web. December 1, 2013 5. “How Much Does Dying Cost Canadians?” Priest, Lisa. The Globe and Mail. September 6, 2012. Web. December 11, 2013
Likewise, in an article by Kevinmd.com, it is stated “Medicare spent fifty five billion dollars just for doctor and hospital bills during the last two months of patients’ lives and it has been estimated that twenty to thirty percent of these medical expenses may have had no meaningful impact.”6 (Meyer) If the right to die was granted to patients like this it could change lives. Instead of feeling like a constant burden on both society and family, they are able to pass away quickly and gracefully. This also strikes opportunity to become an organ donor to save lives. With the amount of people in need of organs, and approximately the same amount of people with incurable disease, this would create a situation where both parties benefit. Hundreds of people die each year due to lack of organ donation. Hundreds of people also live in constant pain due to illnesses which they can not control. “Over fifty percent of people who are diagnosed with a incurable disease say they would donate their organs.”7 (Kin Canada) Similarly, in an article by the Globe and Mail, it is shown that “About twenty five per cent of all health-care costs are devoted to caring for patients in their last year of life.”8 (Priest) Also, it is stated that “Almost seventy percent of people die in the hospital, including some in high-tech intensive-care beds, which cost about one million dollars a year to operate.”9 (Priest) Keeping a dying patient alive is very expensive, if we were to legalize euthanasia some of these patients could have the option to opt out of the treatments and pass away serenely, with their dignity still intact and their families by their side. This could save excess money that could go into research to try and cure a disease so more people do __________________ 6. “The cost of keeping the terminally ill alive.” Meyer, Richard. Med page today’s. December 16, 2010. Web. December 7, 2013
7. "Organ Donor Awareness." Canada, Kin. - Kin Canada. 2013. Web. 19 Dec. 2013.
8. “How Much Does Dying Cost Canadians?” Priest, Lisa. The Globe and Mail. September 6, 2012. Web. December 11, 2013
9. “How Much Does Dying Cost Canadians?” Priest, Lisa. The Globe and Mail. September 6, 2012. Web. December 11, 2013 not have to suffer, and this viscous circle can end. It could also go towards the treatment of other patients who have the opportunity to become healthy again. The legalization of assisted suicide would save hundreds of thousands of dollars that are being spent on treatments that are neither helpful nor wanted by suffering patients. Another argument that tends to be common is that the patient will die before their “given time.” We as humans should live our lives to the fullest extent. While this is true the ill are suffering everyday, essentially helpless and hopeless. Are they even living anymore, or has a part of them already somewhat passed away the day they were diagnosed with the illness? How is it possible to live your life to the fullest when you are incapable of participating in daily activities? Sue Rodriguez is a perfect example of someone who wished to end her live due to a disease. She believed in dying with dignity. She was diagnosed with ALS in 1991. ALS is a disease that affects the body, not the mind it causes the human body to slowly lose muscle mass, cause of death is usually by chocking on food. For Sue this was not an option, she did not want her family witnessing her undignified death. She wished to take her own life when the time would come, however if she were incapable of taking her own life when she felt it was time, she instead a doctor provide her with the means to do so. She argued “If I cannot give consent to my own death, whose body is this? Who owns my life?”10 (Rodriguez) If we as humans do not have control over the way we die in these circumstances, what do we have control over? If the government will not allow us to die with dignity, in a respectful, peaceful manner surrounded friends and loved ones when we are close to death who really owns our lives? Us? Or the government? In times such as this, dying before the disease completely consumes a patients life would be more of a blessing to them as well as their family, than anything else. __________________ 10. "Fight for the Right to Die." CBC News. 15 June 2012. Web. 13 Dec. 2013.
Finally, euthanasia should be legalized so people who are physically or terminally ill can still maintain control over their own body as well as their life. For example, ABC news reported a story of a couple committing suicide together after one of them was diagnosed with terminal cancer. They asked their followers on a blog they ran, what their opinion was of assisted suicide. According to one follower “It’s your life. You alone get to decide what you do with it. No one can feel your pain, suffer your illness, or put themselves in your shoes […] There is a huge difference between living and just being alive.”11 (Kelly) Many people with incurable diseases are not living and are simply just breathing. They are perfect examples of people who are not living, and just alive. These individuals should have the option to leave this world and they themselves should be the ones to make that choice. Living in a free society with the right to life means that we should be able to choose how we did if we believe it is for the better. Tony Nicklinson is a man in the United Kingdom who was living with Locked-in Syndrome. Locked-in Syndrome is a condition in which the patient is alive, aware and awake but unable to move any muscle in the body due to paralysis from the neck down, the only part of the body that is controllable are the eyes. Tony, a former skydiver and rugby player, started fighting British courts for the right to let his doctor to administer a lethal dose of a drug to permit him to die with dignity. The court denied Nicklinsons request and he passed away of pneumonia a week later. Nicklinsons is a prime example of why assisted suicide should be legal; he described his own life as “a living nightmare.”12 (Nicklinsons) Just like Rodriguez he did not want to live anymore. He felt as if he were a prisoner of his own body, not only was he unable to participate in activities that made his life __________________ 11. “How Much Does Dying Cost Canadians?” Priest, Lisa. The Globe and Mail. September 6, 2012. Web. December 11, 2013
12. “Briton Who Fought for Assisted Suicide Is Dead.” Burns, John. The New York Times. August 22, 2012. Web. December 2, 2013
worth living, he was not able to move at all. His life quickly became unbearable. He wished to die quickly, peacefully, and with his dignity still intact. From the time we are young we are taught to control our own bodies, it is something that comes naturally to all humans.
We decide what we want to wear, what we should or shouldn’t say, what activities we participate in, how we should act and much more. Why is the option to pass away any different when we have no other route to take? If we are not terminally ill we are able to end our lives if we wish. Even though it is frowned upon, we are able. Physician assisted suicide is a more dignified, and moral death than suicide. Yet we view as if it is inhumane just because a patient is requiring assistance by a medical professional. Why is it any different for a person who has a terminal disease with no chance of recovery, who is most likely going to die anyway. What is the harm? Not only is the patient suffering everyday, but his or her entire family suffers as they watch a loved one who use to be so full of life perish into nothing. What is life? Life is the ability to communicate, to adapt, to enjoy, to feel, to be able to feel a whole host of emotions while healthy enough to fully understand and let them happen. The question that needs to be asked in the case of assisted suicide is not about the of quality of life, there is no quality of life in most cases where people are seeking physician-assisted suicide. The patients who seek aid for a physicians help in peacefully and properly ending to their lives should not face legal repercussions. They are simply just doing their job by helping their patients to
the best of their abilities, given the situation. As the general public, we should have the right to choose to breathe our last breath with the help of a doctor if there are no other options available to extend the quality of life. In situation such as this a person is not truly living but merely existing. What if you were the one dying? Unable to go the bathroom by yourself. Unable to laugh or smile with your friends and family. What if you knew there was nothing a doctor could do for you except wait for your time to come? What if you woke up every single morning in excruciating pain and knew it was not going away? Would you want to be able to leave this world peacefully and with your dignity and pride intact? Would you want rights to your own
body? We should legalize euthanasia to allow doctors to do their primary job, which is to keep people healthy and give them the best possible treatment. The government wastes valuable resources on these people who would much rather control their own fate and end their battle with terminal illness on their terms. For the family of Tony Nicklinson, and families of all the terminally ill and incapacitated around the world, assisted suicide represents a peaceful and dignified ending, a brilliant white light at the end of a dark, torturous, emotionally scarring tunnel. This essentially would be their miracle. Thousand of dollars are spent yearly on expensive and aggressive treatments that are not wanted and do not do anything except prolong the inevitable. They cause constant suffering for both that patients and their loved ones. As a result, physician assisted suicide should be legalized so that we as humans can have the option to leave this world the way they choose when we are altered by a disease that has no found cure. What if this were you, or a loved one? Would your views change? For all of those terminally ill who have made their peace and feel compelled to retain some dignity in death, assisted suicide is not an option, it is the only option.
Works Cited
“Assisted Suicide- Should It Be Legal?” Bass, Sadie. abc news.
July 16, 2012. Web. December 1, 2013 This source was an article from a paper from last year. The story was very popular when it came out. It featured a middle aged couple who committed suicide together after one of them was diagnosed with terminal cancer. The important part for me was not the story it self, but rather the support they got from followers on a blog which they ran. Numerous supporters commented touching phrases, which I included in my paper. This will prove how the general public feels about taking control of your own life.
“Briton Who Fought for Assisted Suicide Is Dead.” Burns, John. The New York Times. August 22, 2012. Web. December 2, 2013 This newspaper article told the story of a man named Tony Nicklinson this is also a very popular story. Tony, a former “extreme athlete” wished to have an assisted suicide when he found out he was diagnosed with Locked-in Syndrome. This story helped me understand how severe and heart breaking diagnosis can be. It gave me a better understanding of Locked-in Syndrome and helped me explain how people with illness lack control over their lives.
"Constitution Acts, 1867 to 1982." Constitution, Canadian. Legislative Services Branch. 12 Aug. 2013. Web. 17 Dec. 2013. This website was the Canadian Constitution page, here I looked up the exact wording of the section seven rights to better display my thoughts. This page outlines all sections in the Canadian Constitution. Knowing the proper wording will make my argument more concise.
"Fight for the Right to Die." CBC News. N.p., 15 June 2012. Web. 13 Dec. 2013. This website is a combination of different articles that have to do with individuals who are fighting for the right to a dignified death. This is where I got information on Sue Rodriguez. This will help me explain my points since Sue Rodriguez is a well known individual, since she fought for her rights.
“How Much Does Dying Cost Canadians?” Priest, Lisa. The Globe and Mail. September 6, 2012. Web. December 11, 2013 This article shows how much of Canadian money goes to keeping dying patients alive. In this article it also explain how many of them do not actually want the treatments they are receiving. This will help explain my point on unnecessary cost treatments we are spending to prolong the inevitable. It will help support my other point on hospital beds.
“Patients forced to wait in ambulances due to lack of hospital beds.” Smith, Rebecca. The Telegraph.March 14, 2012. Web. December 1, 2013 This was a story about patients who called for a ambulance, but when they arrived at the hospital they were unable to get them through the doors due to bed shortages. The paramedics were then forced to treat the patients in the ambulance without proper equipment. This strengthens my point on how essential it is for hospitals to stop sinking money into keeping dying patients alive. These patients are taking up space that can be used for those who are going to become healthy again.
“Shortage of hospital beds, cancelled surgeries common across Canada.” Zafer, Amina. cbc news. January 26, 2007. Web. December 4, 2013
This article was about how a shortage of hospital beds were causing surgeons to cancel surgery 's. People who were in need of surgery had to wait weeks at a time to get their scheduled surgery. This goes hand in hand with my other story above, proving my point on how this issue that may not seem that large, can be deathly. It helps explain that euthanasia can help society.
“The cost of keeping the terminally ill alive.” Meyer, Richard. Med page today’s. December 16, 2010. Web. December 7, 2013 This website was an information page stating all medical statistics and data which affects the economy. It explains how many terminally ill patients are kept alive through intensive treatments. This will show how much money is going to dying patients who are kept alive by machinery or intensive medications. It will also help explain that most people do not want to be on that many intense medications, but they have little to no choice.
"Organ Donor Awareness." Canada, Kin. - Kin Canada. 2013. Web. 19 Dec. 2013. This website was called Kin Canada, it is an information site on common diseases as well as information on organs organ donation. It shows statistics and data on common questions asked. Such as how many people die per year due to lack of organ donation, etc. This website helped me determined the exact numbers and statistics of how many people in Canada needed organs in comparison to other countries. It also gave be a better understanding on certain diseases and how they affect the body.
do normally without thinking, would now become a struggle.
Many people who are diagnosed with incurable diseases want to be able to die gracefully and on their own terms but are not permitted to do so. Reasons like this are why assisted suicide should be legalized for people with incurable diseases. Euthanasia should be a right granted to all citizens who are suffering from a degenerative, fatal, or painful condition that would enable them to enjoy their lives as healthy people do. There is much controversy on this subject, and frankly, it should not be up for discussion. It is not up to society to make decisions that infringe upon the rights of the physically ill. Firstly, it would allow the ill to practice their rights, it would grant doctors the opportunity to do their primary job in society, which is helping people. Euthanasia would save money that could be better spent on other fields of medicine. Lastly, assisted suicide should be legal in order to give patients the ability to decide their own fate. Furthermore, having the option to physician assisted suicide allows the patient to maintain control over his or her situation and to end life in an ethical and …show more content…
dignified manner.
To clarify, the more general term “assisted suicide” does not always refer to the involvement of a doctor. To be an assistant to the death or suicide of another human being is another legal issue that is completely different from physician assisted suicide. Physician assisted suicide is the initial act of going to a medical professional and having them administer a drug in a controlled manner, that will cause instant, painless death. For the purposes of this argument, the focus will be on the involvement
of a medical professional, in other words physician assisted suicide. Many individuals have questioned the medical community’s right to offer this possibility to patients, insisting that their job is to ensure that a patient has access to all available medical treatments, while living a full life. These opposition of the argument that supports physician assisted suicide believes that it is not within the rights of the medical field to help patients die, but to help them improve or at least continue life, no matter what the patients quality of life may be. To be specific, the argument against the legality of euthanasia is commonly based on speculation of a outside party that does not understand the issues at stake for someone diagnosed with a terminal disease. There are a large number of people who are suffering from pain caused from terminal conditions who are being stopped by the law. They are forced to live out the rest of their lives in an undignified and unwanted way. People who were once healthy are now considered to be burdens to their family. In society, a person should be able to choose the time of their death if they are terminally ill. They should be able to decide if they wish for the disease to consume them, or if they wish to die on their own terms. If we are to be truly living in a free society a person should be able to request their doctor to perform the treatments to put them to death if they are indeed terminally ill. Section 7 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms states that “Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of the person and the right not to be deprived thereof except in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice.”1 In other words this states that you have to right to live as you choose. It also assures you have the right die as you choose. The law is made to protect your rights as a human being, and assure that you are not being deprived of any rights you may have. After all, this would mean if you are wanting to die and the law is not allowing you to, you are being deprived of the principles of fundamental justice. As humans if we are not being able to request action, __________________ 1. "Constitution Acts, 1867 to 1982." Constitution, Canadian. Legislative Services Branch. 12 Aug. 2013. Web. 17 Dec. 2013.
this means that we are not allowed to freely decide our own fate and we are not in fact living in a free society.
People who oppose this topic will argue and claim that a doctor 's unnecessary involvement in the death of a patient is cruel and inhumane since their initial job is help people and prevent death, instead of causing it. However, as this is true, it should be recognized that the terminally ill are forced to live against their will in unmanageable and constant pain. “Patients seeking a suicide that is safely monitored and administered by a doctor often have a terminal illness which they know they will be able to never recover from.”2 (Bass) It is a doctors job to ensure that a patient is both happy and healthy. Most patients with incurable diseases are not getting healthy, and nor are they happy. They are simply deteriorating until they are deceased. Doctors need to be able to do their primary job and help patients who can be helped, not be consumed by patients who do not wish to be living and are not recovering. Assisted suicide would open up more hospital beds and allow doctors to act out their primary role in society. To begin with, a doctor’s job is to make an individual healthy. Not only do these terminally ill patients feel like a burden to their families since they are unable to live a normal healthy life, because they require constant help and supervision, they also feel like a burden to society. They take up need space that could be going to a patient who has a greater potential to recover from illness. If someone is unable to get healthy and requires a doctor to prolong their death with machines and drugs, this takes that doctor away from another patient who has the opportunity to become healthy again. Likewise, in an article written by CBC news, “Surgeries in at least two of Canada 's largest hospitals have been cancelled because of bed shortages.”3 (Zafer) __________________ 2. “Assisted Suicide- Should It Be Legal?” Bass, Sadie. abc news. July 16, 2012. Web. December 1, 2013 3. “Shortage of hospital beds, cancelled surgeries common across Canada.” Zafer, Amina. cbc news. January 26, 2007. Web. December 4, 2013
What if some of those hospital beds were occupied by patients who did not want to be there and were not going to get better? Doctors can not tell a patient to die but they also do not have the chance to aid them in doing so if that is the patients request. In addition, in an article written by the telegraph in the UK, “Hundreds of patients have been forced to wait for more than an hour in the back of ambulances due to a lack of hospital beds.”4 (Smith) Paramedics are good at their jobs but do not have the resources to keep patients in critical condition alive in the back of their vehicles. Not only were the patients trapped there, but also the ambulances were unable to set out to other emergencies because they had a patient already. Not only this, as a healthy individual we are able to commit suicide. None the less, as soon as the terminally ill wish to die in a way that is considered dignified and honourable, their opinions become irrelevant to the rest of society. Thus saying, euthanasia should be legalized so that people who are not getting better and do not want to be alive can provide opportunities for others who can be saved get the treatment they require. Physician assisted suicide would save a lot of money that is spent on unnecessary treatments. For instance, Dr. Elliot Fisher states “It will pay fifty five thousand dollars for patients with advanced breast cancer to receive the chemo therapy drug, Avastin, even though it extends life only an average of a month and a half. […] The real problem is that many of the patients that are being treated aggressively, if you ask them, they would prefer less aggressive care. […] If they were given a choice. But we don’t adequately give them a choice.”5 (Priest) Fifty five thousand dollars is a lot of money for a month and a half, especially if that patient would rather die peacefully and on his or her own terms. __________________ 4. “Patients forced to wait in ambulances due to lack of hospital beds.” Smith, Rebecca. The Telegraph.March 14, 2012. Web. December 1, 2013 5. “How Much Does Dying Cost Canadians?” Priest, Lisa. The Globe and Mail. September 6, 2012. Web. December 11, 2013
Likewise, in an article by Kevinmd.com, it is stated “Medicare spent fifty five billion dollars just for doctor and hospital bills during the last two months of patients’ lives and it has been estimated that twenty to thirty percent of these medical expenses may have had no meaningful impact.”6 (Meyer) If the right to die was granted to patients like this it could change lives. Instead of feeling like a constant burden on both society and family, they are able to pass away quickly and gracefully. This also strikes opportunity to become an organ donor to save lives. With the amount of people in need of organs, and approximately the same amount of people with incurable disease, this would create a situation where both parties benefit. Hundreds of people die each year due to lack of organ donation. Hundreds of people also live in constant pain due to illnesses which they can not control. “Over fifty percent of people who are diagnosed with a incurable disease say they would donate their organs.”7 (Kin Canada) Similarly, in an article by the Globe and Mail, it is shown that “About twenty five per cent of all health-care costs are devoted to caring for patients in their last year of life.”8 (Priest) Also, it is stated that “Almost seventy percent of people die in the hospital, including some in high-tech intensive-care beds, which cost about one million dollars a year to operate.”9 (Priest) Keeping a dying patient alive is very expensive, if we were to legalize euthanasia some of these patients could have the option to opt out of the treatments and pass away serenely, with their dignity still intact and their families by their side. This could save excess money that could go into research to try and cure a disease so more people do __________________ 6. “The cost of keeping the terminally ill alive.” Meyer, Richard. Med page today’s. December 16, 2010. Web. December 7, 2013
7. "Organ Donor Awareness." Canada, Kin. - Kin Canada. 2013. Web. 19 Dec. 2013.
8. “How Much Does Dying Cost Canadians?” Priest, Lisa. The Globe and Mail. September 6, 2012. Web. December 11, 2013
9. “How Much Does Dying Cost Canadians?” Priest, Lisa. The Globe and Mail. September 6, 2012. Web. December 11, 2013 not have to suffer, and this viscous circle can end. It could also go towards the treatment of other patients who have the opportunity to become healthy again. The legalization of assisted suicide would save hundreds of thousands of dollars that are being spent on treatments that are neither helpful nor wanted by suffering patients. Another argument that tends to be common is that the patient will die before their “given time.” We as humans should live our lives to the fullest extent. While this is true the ill are suffering everyday, essentially helpless and hopeless. Are they even living anymore, or has a part of them already somewhat passed away the day they were diagnosed with the illness? How is it possible to live your life to the fullest when you are incapable of participating in daily activities? Sue Rodriguez is a perfect example of someone who wished to end her live due to a disease. She believed in dying with dignity. She was diagnosed with ALS in 1991. ALS is a disease that affects the body, not the mind it causes the human body to slowly lose muscle mass, cause of death is usually by chocking on food. For Sue this was not an option, she did not want her family witnessing her undignified death. She wished to take her own life when the time would come, however if she were incapable of taking her own life when she felt it was time, she instead a doctor provide her with the means to do so. She argued “If I cannot give consent to my own death, whose body is this? Who owns my life?”10 (Rodriguez) If we as humans do not have control over the way we die in these circumstances, what do we have control over? If the government will not allow us to die with dignity, in a respectful, peaceful manner surrounded friends and loved ones when we are close to death who really owns our lives? Us? Or the government? In times such as this, dying before the disease completely consumes a patients life would be more of a blessing to them as well as their family, than anything else. __________________ 10. "Fight for the Right to Die." CBC News. 15 June 2012. Web. 13 Dec. 2013.
Finally, euthanasia should be legalized so people who are physically or terminally ill can still maintain control over their own body as well as their life. For example, ABC news reported a story of a couple committing suicide together after one of them was diagnosed with terminal cancer. They asked their followers on a blog they ran, what their opinion was of assisted suicide. According to one follower “It’s your life. You alone get to decide what you do with it. No one can feel your pain, suffer your illness, or put themselves in your shoes […] There is a huge difference between living and just being alive.”11 (Kelly) Many people with incurable diseases are not living and are simply just breathing. They are perfect examples of people who are not living, and just alive. These individuals should have the option to leave this world and they themselves should be the ones to make that choice. Living in a free society with the right to life means that we should be able to choose how we did if we believe it is for the better. Tony Nicklinson is a man in the United Kingdom who was living with Locked-in Syndrome. Locked-in Syndrome is a condition in which the patient is alive, aware and awake but unable to move any muscle in the body due to paralysis from the neck down, the only part of the body that is controllable are the eyes. Tony, a former skydiver and rugby player, started fighting British courts for the right to let his doctor to administer a lethal dose of a drug to permit him to die with dignity. The court denied Nicklinsons request and he passed away of pneumonia a week later. Nicklinsons is a prime example of why assisted suicide should be legal; he described his own life as “a living nightmare.”12 (Nicklinsons) Just like Rodriguez he did not want to live anymore. He felt as if he were a prisoner of his own body, not only was he unable to participate in activities that made his life __________________ 11. “How Much Does Dying Cost Canadians?” Priest, Lisa. The Globe and Mail. September 6, 2012. Web. December 11, 2013
12. “Briton Who Fought for Assisted Suicide Is Dead.” Burns, John. The New York Times. August 22, 2012. Web. December 2, 2013
worth living, he was not able to move at all. His life quickly became unbearable. He wished to die quickly, peacefully, and with his dignity still intact. From the time we are young we are taught to control our own bodies, it is something that comes naturally to all humans.
We decide what we want to wear, what we should or shouldn’t say, what activities we participate in, how we should act and much more. Why is the option to pass away any different when we have no other route to take? If we are not terminally ill we are able to end our lives if we wish. Even though it is frowned upon, we are able. Physician assisted suicide is a more dignified, and moral death than suicide. Yet we view as if it is inhumane just because a patient is requiring assistance by a medical professional. Why is it any different for a person who has a terminal disease with no chance of recovery, who is most likely going to die anyway. What is the harm? Not only is the patient suffering everyday, but his or her entire family suffers as they watch a loved one who use to be so full of life perish into nothing. What is life? Life is the ability to communicate, to adapt, to enjoy, to feel, to be able to feel a whole host of emotions while healthy enough to fully understand and let them happen. The question that needs to be asked in the case of assisted suicide is not about the of quality of life, there is no quality of life in most cases where people are seeking physician-assisted suicide. The patients who seek aid for a physicians help in peacefully and properly ending to their lives should not face legal repercussions. They are simply just doing their job by helping their patients to
the best of their abilities, given the situation. As the general public, we should have the right to choose to breathe our last breath with the help of a doctor if there are no other options available to extend the quality of life. In situation such as this a person is not truly living but merely existing. What if you were the one dying? Unable to go the bathroom by yourself. Unable to laugh or smile with your friends and family. What if you knew there was nothing a doctor could do for you except wait for your time to come? What if you woke up every single morning in excruciating pain and knew it was not going away? Would you want to be able to leave this world peacefully and with your dignity and pride intact? Would you want rights to your own
body? We should legalize euthanasia to allow doctors to do their primary job, which is to keep people healthy and give them the best possible treatment. The government wastes valuable resources on these people who would much rather control their own fate and end their battle with terminal illness on their terms. For the family of Tony Nicklinson, and families of all the terminally ill and incapacitated around the world, assisted suicide represents a peaceful and dignified ending, a brilliant white light at the end of a dark, torturous, emotionally scarring tunnel. This essentially would be their miracle. Thousand of dollars are spent yearly on expensive and aggressive treatments that are not wanted and do not do anything except prolong the inevitable. They cause constant suffering for both that patients and their loved ones. As a result, physician assisted suicide should be legalized so that we as humans can have the option to leave this world the way they choose when we are altered by a disease that has no found cure. What if this were you, or a loved one? Would your views change? For all of those terminally ill who have made their peace and feel compelled to retain some dignity in death, assisted suicide is not an option, it is the only option.
Works Cited
“Assisted Suicide- Should It Be Legal?” Bass, Sadie. abc news.
July 16, 2012. Web. December 1, 2013 This source was an article from a paper from last year. The story was very popular when it came out. It featured a middle aged couple who committed suicide together after one of them was diagnosed with terminal cancer. The important part for me was not the story it self, but rather the support they got from followers on a blog which they ran. Numerous supporters commented touching phrases, which I included in my paper. This will prove how the general public feels about taking control of your own life.
“Briton Who Fought for Assisted Suicide Is Dead.” Burns, John. The New York Times. August 22, 2012. Web. December 2, 2013 This newspaper article told the story of a man named Tony Nicklinson this is also a very popular story. Tony, a former “extreme athlete” wished to have an assisted suicide when he found out he was diagnosed with Locked-in Syndrome. This story helped me understand how severe and heart breaking diagnosis can be. It gave me a better understanding of Locked-in Syndrome and helped me explain how people with illness lack control over their lives.
"Constitution Acts, 1867 to 1982." Constitution, Canadian. Legislative Services Branch. 12 Aug. 2013. Web. 17 Dec. 2013. This website was the Canadian Constitution page, here I looked up the exact wording of the section seven rights to better display my thoughts. This page outlines all sections in the Canadian Constitution. Knowing the proper wording will make my argument more concise.
"Fight for the Right to Die." CBC News. N.p., 15 June 2012. Web. 13 Dec. 2013. This website is a combination of different articles that have to do with individuals who are fighting for the right to a dignified death. This is where I got information on Sue Rodriguez. This will help me explain my points since Sue Rodriguez is a well known individual, since she fought for her rights.
“How Much Does Dying Cost Canadians?” Priest, Lisa. The Globe and Mail. September 6, 2012. Web. December 11, 2013 This article shows how much of Canadian money goes to keeping dying patients alive. In this article it also explain how many of them do not actually want the treatments they are receiving. This will help explain my point on unnecessary cost treatments we are spending to prolong the inevitable. It will help support my other point on hospital beds.
“Patients forced to wait in ambulances due to lack of hospital beds.” Smith, Rebecca. The Telegraph.March 14, 2012. Web. December 1, 2013 This was a story about patients who called for a ambulance, but when they arrived at the hospital they were unable to get them through the doors due to bed shortages. The paramedics were then forced to treat the patients in the ambulance without proper equipment. This strengthens my point on how essential it is for hospitals to stop sinking money into keeping dying patients alive. These patients are taking up space that can be used for those who are going to become healthy again.
“Shortage of hospital beds, cancelled surgeries common across Canada.” Zafer, Amina. cbc news. January 26, 2007. Web. December 4, 2013
This article was about how a shortage of hospital beds were causing surgeons to cancel surgery 's. People who were in need of surgery had to wait weeks at a time to get their scheduled surgery. This goes hand in hand with my other story above, proving my point on how this issue that may not seem that large, can be deathly. It helps explain that euthanasia can help society.
“The cost of keeping the terminally ill alive.” Meyer, Richard. Med page today’s. December 16, 2010. Web. December 7, 2013 This website was an information page stating all medical statistics and data which affects the economy. It explains how many terminally ill patients are kept alive through intensive treatments. This will show how much money is going to dying patients who are kept alive by machinery or intensive medications. It will also help explain that most people do not want to be on that many intense medications, but they have little to no choice.
"Organ Donor Awareness." Canada, Kin. - Kin Canada. 2013. Web. 19 Dec. 2013. This website was called Kin Canada, it is an information site on common diseases as well as information on organs organ donation. It shows statistics and data on common questions asked. Such as how many people die per year due to lack of organ donation, etc. This website helped me determined the exact numbers and statistics of how many people in Canada needed organs in comparison to other countries. It also gave be a better understanding on certain diseases and how they affect the body.