Assisted Suicide: How Does It Benefit Our Society? Essay Example
Assisted suicide is an age old debate that goes back to the time of the great philosophers. This debate will keep popping up until a reasonable resolution comes about. Personally having seen people suffer from life threatening illness makes me believe that a person should have the right to choose to end their life in a dignified way. According to a recent AP-Ipsos poll 68 percent of Americans thought that there are circumstances where a patient should have the choice to die. Having said that, let's examine the pros and cons of assisted suicide (MSNBC).
First, let's look at the benefits of assisted suicide. It will allow a person to have a speedier less painful death, if this is done with the help of a doctor who will be able to prescribe medication to help and tell you how to do it. This is called physician assisted suicide. It's quicker than a slow painful death from a terminal disease or suffering from starvation due to life support being withdrawn. One family member recounts their mother's death saying, "My siblings and I watched our mother die a horrific death from throat cancer. The cancer was wrapped around her neck blood vessels, so her death was a race between her brain slowly exploding in one stroke after another when blood could drain from her head, or her heart exploding trying to pump blood into her head. She made the choice to stop hydration and food. Because she was well nourished, she did not lose consciousness in the 2 days, nor die in the 7 days the doctor predicted" (Flynn & Boyd). Not only did this family have to endure watching their mother die a slow agonizing death but they will always remember her as she was at the end.
People should be able to have all options available to them when choosing how they would like their life to end. Currently, Oregon is the only state where physician assisted suicide is legal. I don't see how this is much different from pulling the plug on a person on life support or giving someone so much pain medicine
First, let's look at the benefits of assisted suicide. It will allow a person to have a speedier less painful death, if this is done with the help of a doctor who will be able to prescribe medication to help and tell you how to do it. This is called physician assisted suicide. It's quicker than a slow painful death from a terminal disease or suffering from starvation due to life support being withdrawn. One family member recounts their mother's death saying, "My siblings and I watched our mother die a horrific death from throat cancer. The cancer was wrapped around her neck blood vessels, so her death was a race between her brain slowly exploding in one stroke after another when blood could drain from her head, or her heart exploding trying to pump blood into her head. She made the choice to stop hydration and food. Because she was well nourished, she did not lose consciousness in the 2 days, nor die in the 7 days the doctor predicted" (Flynn & Boyd). Not only did this family have to endure watching their mother die a slow agonizing death but they will always remember her as she was at the end.
People should be able to have all options available to them when choosing how they would like their life to end. Currently, Oregon is the only state where physician assisted suicide is legal. I don't see how this is much different from pulling the plug on a person on life support or giving someone so much pain medicine