LEGALIZATION OF ASSISTED SUICIDE IN THE U.S. Currently, physician-assisted suicide or death is

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 is controversial in healthcare and political realms alike. Currently, this end-of-life option is practiced in five states within the United States. Social concerns regarding assisted suicide revolve around ethical quandaries; providing the means to a patient’s death is contradictory to ethical principles of healthcare providers. Political concerns surrounding the legalization of assisted suicide include disparities in healthcare that may lead to certain populations choosing assisted suicide and the stagnation of current care options. While there is no succinct manner in which to declare assisted suicide right or wrong, each individual must address the social and political concerns surrounding the issue when voting for legislation to legalize assisted suicide or pursuing the option for themselves.

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.

Additionally, the term “euthanasia” does not mean the same thing as assisted suicide. Often people confuse these processes when they differ immensely. Despite this, they remain similar in their resulting death of a human life through the help of a physician. Euthanasia is the direct killing of a patient by a physician by means of lethal injection and it is completely controlled by the doctor. On the other hand, patients in assisted suicide have full control over the process that leads to their death. For this reason, procedures of these sorts must be eliminated as medical treatments and should not be authorized. Consequently, physician assisted suicide has been proven to lead to euthanasia in some cases. Assisted suicide should become illegal in all fifty states of the United States of America because it raises religious concern, endorses legalized murder, puts vulnerable people at risk of abuse, and

1. (problem – PAS): In today’s society, Physician Assisted Suicide is one of the most questionable and debatable issues. Many people feel that it is wrong for people to ask their doctor to help them end their life; while others feel it is their right to choose between the right to life and the right to death. “Suffering has always been a part of human existence.” (PAS) “Physicians have no similar duty to provide actions, such as assistance in suicide, simply because they have been requested by patients. In deciding how to respond to patients ' requests, physicians should use their judgment about the medical appropriateness of the request.” (Bernat, JL) Physician Assisted Suicide differs from withholding or discontinuing medical treatment, it consists of doctors providing a competent patient with a prescription for medication to aid in the use to end their life.

Since 1993, Compassion in Dying, which is a nonprofit charitable organization, has provided information, consultation, and emotional support to patients that were terminally ill and wanted to consider assisted dying by self-administration of medication as one of their end of life options. The team for this organization includes nurses, psychologists, physicians, and clergy as was as laypeople from the community who help patients, their families, and their physicians examine the choices available to achieve peaceful and humane deaths (Lee). To be eligible to use this Act a person must be a resident of Oregon, 18 years or older, capable of making and communication health care decisions for him or herself, mentally competent, and diagnosed with a terminal illness that will lead to death within six months. This article uses data from the files of Compassion in Dying, and they describe 34 individuals who approached Compassion wanting to use the Death with Dignity Act and who died during the first year of the Act’s implantation. A downfall to this Act that has caused some problems is delays in processing a

Choosing to die with the assistance of a physician is a much debated controversial issue in the states. Assisted suicide is where a patient with a terminal disease choose to take their life to relieve their suffering, sometimes with the aid of a physician, and is legal in only five states. Assisted suicide is “legal in Washington, Oregon, California, Vermont and Bernalillo County,New Mexico(Death with).” This option should be available to patients in all states, because terminally ill patients should have the choice to end their suffering if their pain becomes unbearable. Terminal patients should be able to die on their own terms.

The United States is a nation founded on freedoms and liberties, giving each citizen the ability to make their own life decisions. This freedom includes all aspects of one’s life, including medical care. With freedom comes responsibility, and this is true in terms of physician-assisted suicide. The ongoing struggle between those in favor and those opposed to this subject has ravaged the medical field, bringing into question what is morally and ethically right. The fact of the matter is that physician-assisted suicide is neither morally nor ethically acceptable under any circumstance. Not only is it a direct violation of a doctor’s Hippocratic Oath, but it is not constitutionally binding. Physician-assisted suicide would also lead to

The legalization of physician assisted suicide (PAS) in Oregon in 1994 changed the face of the argument between those who believe in death with dignity and those who believe in letting nature take its course. It was a major victory for PAS advocates as the first state in America had legalized PAS in the country’s history. In 2008, the neighboring state of Washington followed suit with a similar law and legalized PAS by a 58-42 margin. Vermont legalized it in 2013. PAS has also been decriminalized in the state of Montana. The assisted suicide of a 29-year-old Oregon woman with terminal brain cancer named Brittany Maynard in late 2014 brought light to the debate again.

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.

In a case where assisted suicide takes place in a courts decision for a patient who cannot speak for their selves who initially wanted to stay alive compared to a terminally ill patient wishing to die on their own terms are restricted from making that decision due to laws than both seem unjust depending on one’s perspective. Based on the National Right to life Committee (Kenneth. "Right to Die."). there are Forty states that generally allow physicians to refuse to comply with patients request when it comes to life- sustaining measures also making assisted suicide a criminal defense. which is why state laws that are against physician – assisted suicide can be seen as unconstitutional. There are only 5 states were measures for assisted suicide has been approved in Oregon, Washington, Vermont, Montana, and California (Kenneth. "Right to

The U.S. Supreme Court upheld court decisions in Washington and New York states that criminalized physician-assisted suicide on July 26, 1997.12 They found that the Constitution did not provide any “right to die,” however, they allowed individual states to govern whether or not they would prohibit or permit physician-assisted suicide. Without much intervention from the states individuals have used their right to refuse medical treatment resulting in controversial passive forms of euthanasia being used by patients to die with dignity such as choosing not to be resuscitated, stopping medication, drinking, or eating, or turning off respirators.9

If the first oral request is accepted, there must at least be a 15 day period until they make the second oral request. A written request then proceeds after the oral ones in which at least one of two witnesses required must be unrelated. In a measly waiting period of 48 hours, the patient can then pick up their prescription from a pharmacy (Death with Dignity). After a patient has possession of his or her lethal dose of medication, they can wait as long as they would like to consume it. Although not required to consume the medication at all, if a patient lives past their prognosis, it makes the Death with Dignity Act seem even more unfavorable. The whole purpose of the Death with Dignity Act is to allow terminally ill patients who are suffering greatly to take control of when they would like to go into their peaceful inevitable death instead of being taken by surprise. Although some may see physician-assisted suicide as a more peaceful means to end their suffering, the process can be taken advantage of, undermining the laws that allow for it.

Taking a pro approach for physician assisted suicide, Jones’s article delivers the facts to why physician assisted suicide becomes legal. Physician assisted suicide is indeed legal in five U.S states such as, California, Oregon, Washington, Vermont, and Colorado. Rather than the article being good or bad, this text is highly biased. Jones provides facts to why physician assisted suicide should be legalized. Applying this article helps provide factual evidence about the Death with Dignity laws.

Receiving physician-assisted suicide is not an easy task; patients must first complete a long series