Assisted Suicide Should Be Legal

It is said that helping somebody who wants to die in a peaceful, painless way should be legal. Choosing how we die is a basic human freedom and if an individual's quality of life is deteriorating, due to a terminal disease such as cancer, they should have the right to stop their suffering via physician assisted suicide. It might be the case that the drugs for assisted suicide are far less expensive than the cost of their current medical care. This allows the government to save money as well as the lift the financial burden from the family of patients who are suffering from serious illness. Some people say that physician assisted suicide decreases the value of human life, but this isn't the case as it actually helps those who are terminal retain their dignity and choose their own death.

Imagine laying in a hospital bed living everyday in extreme pain with no hope of getting better. This scenario explains what many people go through everyday, which is a living with a terminal illness. M. Lee, a science historian, and Alexander Stingl a sociologist, define terminal illness as “an illness from which the patient is not expected to recover even with treatment. As the illness progresses death is inevitable” (1). There are not many options for the terminally ill besides dying a slow and painful death, but assisted suicide could be best option for these patients. Assisted suicide is “any case in which a doctor gives a patient (usually someone with a terminal illness) the means to carry out their own suicide by using a lethal dose of medication” (Lee and Stingl 1). Some feel that assisted suicide is unnecessary because it is too great of a controversy and will only cause problems in society. However, assisted suicide should be legal in the United States as long as there are strict regulations to accompany it.

Oregon is one of only five states along with Vermont, Washington, Montana and New Mexico that allow medically assisted suicide. In the rest of the country, assisting people with suicide even if they are terminally ill will be accused as a crime. According to the KQED news, ”Advocates of assisted-suicide laws believe that mentally competent people who are suffering and have no chance of long-term

Physician-assisted suicide was first made legal in the state of Oregon. (Hendin) In cases of euthanasia, physicians often give lethal doses of a medication to terminate a patient’s life because they’re experiencing intolerable pain. Patients who wish to use the Death with Dignity law in Oregon must be eighteen or older, must be a resident of Oregon, and they must be able to make their own health care decisions. (Sharp 53) However, the law does not require the patient to be in unmanageable pain, they must just have a prognosis of less than six months to live. (Sharp 54) This law seems to be in place to kill patients more quickly to open up hospital space, instead of compassionately ending someone’s suffering.

Assisted suicide is the suicide of a terminally- ill patient, achieved by using a prescribed drug from a doctor for that specific purpose. It is legal in only six states in the United States of America including: Oregon, Montana, Washington, Colorado, Vermont, and California. Countries such as Germany, Japan, and Switzerland have legalized assisted suicide in past years. It has been disputed for many years and continues to be a controversial issue whether physicians should be authorized to end an individual’s life with their prescription and if this should be done legally.

Assisted suicide is an ethical topic that has sparked up many controversies. Individuals have heated disputes on whether or not patients who are suffering should have the right to die. Some worry that legalizing euthanasia is irrational and would violate some religions, while others argue that it provides a peaceful death towards terminally ill patients who are suffering from pain. Physician-assisted suicide is a contentious matter, in which there are many positive and negative aspects, whether or not it should be committed is a complex decision.

There are currently three states that have adopted legislation supporting “Death with Dignity”, also known as physician-assisted suicide. Oregon, Washington, and Vermont have each enacted laws that enable a terminally ill, mentally competent, adult to decide and dictate end of life decisions up to and including the time of their death. Oregon was the first United States (U.S.) to enact legislation and other states in the union have followed suit.

A woman suffering from cancer became the first person known to die under the law on physician-assisted suicide in the state of Oregon when she took a lethal dose of drugs in March, 1998. The Oregon Death with Dignity Act passed a referendum in November, 1997, and it has been the United States ' only law legalizing assisted suicide since then. According to the New England Journal of Medicine, more than 4,000 doctors have approved of the assisted suicide law (cited in "The Anguish of Doctors,” 1996). The law allows terminally ill patients who have been given six months or less to live and wish to hasten their deaths to obtain medication prescribed by two doctors. The most important thing to notice is that this law does not include those who have been on a life support system nor does it include those who have not voluntarily asked physicians to help them commit suicide. The issue of doctor-assisted suicide has been the subject of the heated dispute in recent years. Many people worry that legalizing doctor assisted suicide is irrational and violates the life-saving tradition of medicine. However, physician-assisted suicide should be legalized because it offers terminally ill people an opportunity for a peaceful death and recognized the inadequacy of current medical practice to deal with death.

Physician-assisted suicide is an extremely controversial issue. Physician-assisted suicide is when a physician assists a terminally ill patient in ending their life by providing the patient with both the information and medicine necessary for them to carry out the task themselves (Ebrahimi 2012). On October 27, 1997 Oregon passed the Death with Dignity Law, permitting terminally ill state residents to end their lives by giving themselves a lethal dose of medicine prescribed by their doctor (Oregon.gov). There are people who believe that the Death with Dignity Law should be implemented across the nation because it gives people who are already dying from a disease a chance to end their life with dignity, while others believe that doctors

The process of assisted suicide, or physician-assisted death, is a hotly debated topic that still remains at the forefront of many national discussions today. Assisted suicide can be described as the suicide of patient by a physician-prescribed dose of legal drugs. The reason that this topic is so widely debated is that it infringes on several moral and religious values that many people in the United States have. But, regardless of the way that people feel, a person’s right to live is guaranteed to them in the United States Constitution, and this should extend to the right to end their own life as well. The reasons that assisted suicide should be legalized in all states is because it can ease not only the suffering of the individual, but the financial burden on the family that is supporting him/her. Regardless of opposing claims, assisted suicide should be an option for all terminally ill patients.

Physician assisted suicide should be morally permissible. Patients who are in constant suffering and pain have the right to end their misery at their own discretion. This paper will explore my thesis, open the floor to counter arguments, explain my objections to the counter arguments, and finally end with my conclusion. I agree with Brock when he states that the two ethical values, self-determination and individual well-being, are the focal points for the argument of the ethical permissibility of voluntary active euthanasia (or physician assisted suicide). These two values are what drives the acceptability of physician assisted suicide because it is the patients who choose their treatment options and how they want to be medically treated. Patients are physically and emotionally aware when they are dying and in severe pain, therefore they can make the decision to end the suffering through the option of physician assisted suicide.

The debate on legalizing assisted suicide is an issue across the globe. It has brought countries to contemplate on the legalities of the matter in their respective legislative branches of government. Assisted suicide is just simply a matter of assessing one's will to perform such act with the permission of the subject or the patient in such way his will be done. The debate now focuses on either the act shall be legalized or not.

Lauren Bacall once said, “A man’s illness is his private territory and, no matter how much he loves you and how close you are, you stay an outsider. You are healthy.” This quote makes the point that no one knows exactly what someone with an incurable illness is going through. We are all outsiders. So, who is to say, for example, physician assisted suicide should be illegal? If a person has the constitutional right to live then a person should have the right to choose to die on his own terms. Also, if a person that is terminally ill chooses to opt for assisted suicide, the potential for vital organs to be saved is much greater. As the sickness starts to take over many patients become too ill to do daily activities on their own but, with assisted suicide, the patient can die with dignity knowing that they saved themselves and their family time, money, and also heartbreak. As assisted suicide is discussed among many groups one must also take a look at the alternatives offered.

This year there will be hundreds of terminally ill people that die with the help of assisted suicide. And the question is should we control it or let people decide at their own risk how they want their last days to be? In this paper we will look at what the common law ,model penal code ,and state codes and statutes have to say. We will also look at some controversial but substantial cases that make assisted suicide legal in some states. And why Wisconsin and many other states believe assisted suicide should still be illegal.

Does a suffering person have the right to end their own life? That is the main debate behind assisted suicide. Assisted suicide is a very secretive, but surprisingly available option for people who are suffering. The documentary The Suicide Plan is largely presented from the point of view of the people who believe assisted suicide should be legal. The documentary takes us inside the hidden world of assisted suicide, as seen through the eyes of the people considering it. Assisted suicide is only legal for terminally ill patients in the states Oregon and Washington. Individuals in other states who consider assisted suicide are generally suffering terminally ill patients who want the same equal opportunity. There are many organizations that people can reach out to for information about the requirements, the step-by-step process, and what to expect. The organizations have very specific guidelines for their client and patients have to understand that they will be killing themselves. Organizations are not physically involved in the suicide, they do not provide any drugs or materials, and very carefully confirm the individual’s understanding. The organizations help people decide if suicide is the right option for them and are there through out the whole process to support the individual and their families.