Physician Assisted Suicide Argumentative Essay

A Belgian woman, who had been tormented by depression for countless years, decided to end her own life with the assistance of a doctor, and while her son had problems with it, she felt this was the best solution to her difficulties (Aviv). In 1994, Measure 16 was passed by voters in Oregon, making Oregon the first state to legalize physician-assisted suicide (Doyle and Moore 9). While euthanasia and assisted suicide are both procedures that inflict death, the distinction is that, with assisted suicide, the final decision has to be made by the patient, while, with euthanasia, it does not (Rita and Hamlon). Officially, as of 2012, the Netherlands, Oregon, Washington, and Montana all allow physician-assisted suicide (Gibson 55). Physician-assisted

As Robin Gibson states in his article about assisted suicide, “Many [patients] have been rescued from the jaws of death only to lead a diminished existence, often accompanied by pain and suffering” (55). These patients are stuck in appalling situations and will continue to live their lives in agony if given no other option. A physician-assisted suicide law would provide another choice for the dreadful years of aching that a patient might suffer from because of being ‘saved’ from death. “There is almost a perception by both medical practitioners and members of the general public that death is something that can be ‘cured’” (Gibson 55). The idea that the proper thing to do is to prevent a patient from dying can be very problematic because of the trauma it can cause. Sometimes, the death is the

“Both then and now people have been driven to commit suicide alone, in the only ways available to them. These methods are frequently horrendous both to the person concerned and for those who have to deal with the consequences” (Gibson 55). Techniques of suicide such as hanging, jumping off buildings or in front of moving vehicles, or using firearms are so nasty they have become known as ‘splatter suicides’ (Gibson 55). Physician-assisted suicide is not only a better alternative to one of these gruesome suicides, but it is much easier on the family of the patient who is choosing to die. The family does not have to deal with the blood and the mess of ‘splatter suicides’ when a patient chooses assisted suicide. Also, in many cases such as with AIDS patients, “An underground system’ of medical practitioners, health workers, social workers, family members and friends often assisted the sufferer to die” (Magnusson qtd. in Gibson 55). These people endure the burden of personally helping someone die. Medical professionals are much more suited to aid the patients, and those close to the person are more likely to cope with the death of their loved one when a doctor is