In Favor Of Assisted Suicide Essay

Death is a natural process that will be experienced by everyone at some point, desirably at the end of a long, well lived life. The reality is that no one knows when that time will come or how it will happen. Unfortunately, for the terminally ill, death is in the near future and it is a sobering reality. Therefore, when that time comes, people need to know that they will have options, and the assurance that death does not have to be an agonizing end. They can choose to endure the annihilating pain that comes with the disease and allow it to take its natural course or choose to put an end to it, surrounded by those who love them.

The right to assisted suicide is a heavily controversial and debated over topic that concerns people all around the United States. The arguments go back and forth about whether a dying patient has the right to end their life with the assistance of a doctor or physician. Some people are against it because of moral and religious reasons. Others are for it because of their compassions and respect for unhappy patients waiting to die naturally. Assisted suicide is prohibited by common law or criminal statute in all 50 U.S. states; medical aid in dying is specifically authorized in 5 states: Oregon, Washington, Vermont, Montana, and California.

Physician assisted suicide, although legal in some states, should remain illegal because it goes against religious and moral beliefs. “In physician assisted suicide, the physician provides the necessary means or information and the patient performs the act” (Endlink). Supporters of assisted-suicide laws believe that mentally competent people who are in misery and have no chance of long-term survival, should have the right to die if and when they choose. I agree that people should have the right to refuse life-saving treatments, written in the patient bill of rights.

Some examples of a terminal illness include cancer, stroke, and ALS. Many people disagree with assisted suicide, but it is the better choice for those who do not what their disease to change who they are. The main arguments to allow this in our country is that the tremendous amount of pain and suffering of the patient will end, euthanasia, and health care costs will be reduced. Some people may choose to live their life with dignity and end their life in dignity, but assisted suicide would allow the choice to be their own. The pain a person can go through is a tremendous amount, especially those who are dying from a terminal illness.

“Legislation that allows people to end their lives automatically creates incentives to seek death as a cost-saving option. The elderly and infirm are seen as burdens and can easily be disposed of. Suicide becomes the easy way out.” (Ben Broussard) Most of the time physicians are against the idea of physician assisted suicide because it goes against their job description and personal beliefs.

After researching both sides of the argument, it is clear that the benefits of physician-assisted suicide outweigh the disadvantages. The benefits of ending a patient’s pain and suffering, minimizing the emotional and financial effects on families, and preserving the right for patients to decide their own fate, supports the legalization of physician-assisted suicide.

The price to pay for assisted suicide costs a lot more than just money. Some of the elderly or sick people believe that they would become a financial burden to their friends and loved ones. In fact, in one of the states where assisted suicide is allowed, a poll was taken. The poll revealed that 66% of citizens would only consider assisted suicide because of being a financial burden on their loved ones. One person even says “If I had terminal cancer, I had a few weeks to live, I was in tremendous amount of pain - if they just effectively wanted to turn off the switch and legalize that by legalizing euthanasia, I'd want that” (Key).

Patients have the right to the kind of treatment they want. 3) Conclusion a) Physician assisted suicide can help treat the terminally ill how they would like to be treated. b) The long history of assisted suicide speaks for itself in the matter of if it should be legal or

In the defense of Physician Assisted Suicide, a wide publicly talked about topic, it should be a choice every terminally ill patient receives. Physician Assisted suicide is when a patient is terminally ill and has no chances of recovering. The patient themselves can make the decision, with the help from their physician, to get lethally injected and end their life reducing and ending the pain. In America each state has a little over 3,000 patients that are terminally ill contact an advocacy group known as the Compassion and Choices to try to reduce end-of- life suffering and perhaps hasten their death. Physician Assisted Suicide shouldn’t be looked at as suicide, but as ending the pain and suffering from an individual whose life is going to be taken away anyway.

Physician assisted suicide is a current controversial issue that has been debated over since the colonial days of the United States. The Oxford dictionary defines assisted suicide as, “the act of killing himself/herself with help of somebody such as a doctor, especially because he/she is suffering from a disease that has no cure.” Although the definition seems like a doctor can put easily put a suffering patient out of their pain and misery by euthanizing the patient, the concept is much more complex than that. Euthanizing and medically assisting a patient to commit suicide are two completely different things. According to The World Federation of Right to Die Societies, “euthanasia usually means that the physician would act directly, for instance by giving a lethal injection, to end a patient’s life.”

Imagine having to endure so much pain and suffering for a majority of your life that you would just want it all to end. Well, there is a way one can stop their own pain and suffering and it is called euthanasia. Euthanasia is the painless killing of a patient suffering from an incurable and painful disease. The act may only be done solely to those diagnosed with terminal illnesses such as cancer, aids, and heart disease. Many people agree with the idea of euthanasia as it can help those who are suffering be stripped of all the pain they are enduring.

Everyone’s view of euthanasia is different. Some think it is best for what the patients want and give them that, others have their religious values to speak out against assisted death. Religions like Christianity and Catholics believe that assisted suicide violates the sanctity of life. The Mormon communities believe “Euthanasia is condemned. Anyone who takes part in euthanasia, including assisted suicide, is regarded as having violated the commandments of God” (Religion and Spirituality 1).

Dying is not a person’s first choice of thinking. When people think of assisted suicide, they think it is wrong for a person to take their life. Some people think killing themselves is wrong because we were made to take care of our bodies and not harm it. Assisted suicide is necessary because a suffering person should not continue to suffer even though they know they will not make it in the end. Assisted suicide is necessary to some patients because it can make the pain go away when the patient knows they are going to die in the end, but there can be negatives to assisted suicide.

The Right to Die has been taking effect in many states and is rapidly spreading around the world. Patients who have life threatening conditions usually choose to die quickly with the help of their physicians. Many people question this right because of its inhumane authority. Euthanasia or assisted suicide are done by physicians to end the lives of their patients only in Oregon, Washington, Vermont, Montana, New Mexico and soon California that have the Right to Die so that patients don’t have to live with depression, cancer and immobility would rather die quick in peace.

The most common location for the euthanasia act is in Netherlands but also in some other locations around the world. In the Netherlands euthanasia is also allowed without a parents or guardians consent. My argument is that I am pro euthanasia just because when you put yourself in a person shoes you would understand what they been through and the suffering pain they endure every day after the cause of illness. My opinion on this topic is that if I was in this predicament I would want to be able to choose whether or not I would like to choose a quick and painless death than suffering from pain and suffering on a daily basis.    The cost for the medication or what the lethal dosing item is less than 100 dollars but the cost of a assisted suicide can cost up to 100,000 dollars just to insure proper care of the patient to help the family in grief.