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The Need for Physician Assisted Suicide
Man is born with death in his hand. We all will
die. We may be able to postpone death but we cannot avoid it. We all die of
something, somewhere, somehow. Although we cannot avoid death, we can control
the death caused by a terminal illness. We can determine how, when, where, and
with whom we die.
Right now at this time, there are over 10,000 patients in
the United States that are in a permanent vegetative state. Also there are
thousands of handicapped infants born each year. With the technology we have
today, we are able to help people survive for long periods. About two million
Americans die every year. About 85% of them are in an institution. 80% involve
a decision by someone to try to prolong life or to let it go. It is estimated
that around four of every five Americans will die of lingering, chronic
illness, which cannot be cured but can be artificially prolonged. Odds are not
in your favor to die naturally at home.
The following are some thing to clear
up any confusion about assisted suicide and euthanasia. Euthanasia is act of
mercifully ending the life of a hopelessly suffering patient; taken from a
similar Greek word meaning "easy or good death" Physician-Assisted Suicide -
assisted by a qualified medical practitioner in fulfilling the wishes of a
competent, terminally-ill patient to end his/her own life, usually by means of
lethal injections. The difference between the two is during euthanasia is when
death itself occurs, it's carried out by the doctor but in doctor-assisted
suicides, the patient fulfills the final step of terminating his/her own life.
"Passive" Euthanasia is ending a patient's life by withholding or withdrawing
life-sustaining treatments, and "Active" Euthanasia is causing a virtually
painless death by means without which life would continue naturally, usually
referring to lethal injections and lastly, suicide is the act of taking one's
own life voluntarily and intentionally.
A very well talked about doctor who
assists in suicide is Dr. Jack Kevorkian. He has pointed out the benefits of
assisted suicide. Some of those are that it reduces patient's suffering family
and friends of patient. Dr. Kevorkian also asks his own patients to donate
vital organs or undergo a critical medical experiment, which helps science,
medicine, society, and the lives of others.