Should everyone have the right to die at a time of their own choosing? Why or why not?
watch this filmhttp://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/suicide-plan/
read articlehttp://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2010/03/death-becomes-him/307916/
(example of what I’m looking for please do not copy this)Should everyone have the right to die at a time of their own choosing? Why or why not?
Assisted suicide is suicide committed with the aid of another person, sometimes a physician. The term is often used interchangeably with physician-assisted suicide (PAS), which involves a doctor “knowingly and intentionally providing a person with the knowledge or means or both required to commit suicide, including counseling about lethal doses of drugs, prescribing such lethal doses or supplying the drugs. Physician-assisted suicide is similar to but formally distinct from euthanasia. In cases of euthanasia the physician administers the means of death, usually a lethal drug. In physician-assisted suicide, it is required that a person of sound mind voluntarily expresses his or her wish to die and requests a dose of barbiturates that will end his or her life. The distinguishing aspect is that physician-assisted suicide requires the patient to self-administer the drugs.
Should everyone have the right to die at a time of their own choosing? I believe that if a person is terminally ill and medication would only prolong their suffering they have every right to want to have a peaceful death. Who are to say when someone can or can not die? If it is the sane choice of the person, then we are no one to make judgment. The mistake of many people is that we try to push our own beliefs and morals onto others and expects them to abide by them. In no way do I believe in someone taking their live because they had a bad day because, in reality we all have those days when everything goes array. I agree to the point of someone battling terminal cancer, a person who is paralyzed from the neck down and on a feeding tube, for instance. When a patient asks for PAS a doctor should always explain to the patient all the steps and how their body will react to the medication if any reaction is to occur. There is a controversy for the patients in that definition. The definition states a patient must make a request on their own volition as well as, be competent. Defining competency can be challenging and not forthright. Many cases when a patient requested for PAS it would be due to a terminal illness or persistent suffering. The patient could be suffering from depression or guilt. Even when the law is behind the physician as they are in Oregon, if sued these arguments can be brought up. On the other hand, witnessing someone to die a painful slow death can lead people to argue the legalization of PAS. States besides Colorado, D.C., Hawaii, Vermont and Washington should follow Oregon’s lead in legalizing Physician Assisted Suicide due to the role it plays in our freedom of choice as demonstrated in the Right-To-Die or Death with Dignity laws(Physician-Assisted Suicide Fast Facts 2018), how humane we can be as stated in the Natural Death Act Of California in 1977 (Jones 1978) and the amount of toll our sickness can have on our loved ones as demonstrated in the Terri Schiavo case from 1990 to 2005 (Nordqvist 2017).
COUNTERARGUMENT Still other people argue that if the right to assisted suicide is given, the doctor-patient relationship would encourage distrust. The antithesis of this claim is true. Cheryl Smith, in her article advocating active euthanasia (or assisted suicide), says that “patients who are able to discuss sensitive issues such as this are more likely to trust their physicians” (409). A terminal patient consenting to assisted suicide knows that a doctor’s job is to relieve pain and giving consent to that doctor shows great trust. Other opponents of assisted suicide insist that there are potential abuses that can arise from legalizing assisted suicide. They claim that terminal patients might be forced to choose assisted suicide because of their financial situation. This view is to be respected. However, the choice of assisted suicide is in the patient’s best interest, and this interest can include the financial situation of a patient’s relatives. Competent terminal patients can easily see the sorrow and grief that their families undergo while they wait for death to take their dying loved ones away. The choice of assisted suicide would allow these terminally ill patients to end the sorrow and grief of their families as well as their own misery. The choice would also put a halt to the financial worries of these families. It is in the patient’s interest that the families that they leave will be subject to the smallest amount of grief and worry possible. This is not a mere “duty to die.” It is a caring way for the dying to say, “Yes, I am going to die. It is all right, please do not worry anymore.” Further, legalization of assisted suicide will also help to regulate the practice of it. “Legalization, with medical record documentation and reporting requirements, will enable authorities to regulate the practice and guard against abuses, while punishing real offenders” (Smith 409).
EXPERIENCE:
In 2008 my mother was diagnosed with liver failure, the doctors said that she would be able to live life just fine as long as she was on a heavy healthcare regimen. A year later other organs in her body started to malfunction she was placed on wait list for transplants, eventually she was placed on a respirator and ended up in a coma. The doctors had to resuscitate her several times in one week, eventually we made the choice to remove the feeding tubes and respirator and let her go.
In conclusion, death is a touchy subject that many people choose to avoid. Death is a part of life and must come at some point in our lives young or old no one knows when they will take their last breath. However, for those who are terminally ill and see death as their only escape from pain and feeling free then I support PAS.
RESOURCES:
Nordqvist, C. (2017, December 12). What are euthanasia and assisted suicide? Retrieved from https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/182951.php (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.
Physician-Assisted Suicide Fast Facts. (2018, August 13).
Smith, Cheryl. “Should Active Euthanasia Be Legalized: Yes.” American Bar Association Journal April 1993. Rpt. in CQ

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