Physician Assisted Suicide Argumentative Essay

Imagine this: being diagnosed with a terminal illness, with nothing but intolerable pain felt at all hours; wasting money on treatments to ease the pain of not only a disease, but also of the knowledge of having a limited lifespan; and not knowing when to tell families and friends final goodbyes, as patients could be greeted by death at any given time. This is what patients who are terminally ill or mentally ill feel on a daily basis. Physician-assisted suicide, or PAS, also referred to as physician-assisted death, or PAD, could be the only solution to put physically or mentally incapable people out of their misery at this time where no cure currently exists. PAS is described as the practice of intended death at the hands of a physician or

There are four reasons discussed in this paper in support of physician-assisted suicide. First and foremost, patients not having the right to their death at their own will brings into question where the patient’s autonomy lies. Respecting patient autonomy is critical, not having the right to die endangers a patient’s autonomy. Medical ethics support a patient’s right to refuse treatment, which can include life sustaining treatment (Sulmasy and Mueller). Logically, if a patient can legally refuse life-sustaining treatment, which will consequently end their life on their own terms, they should also be able to take a prescribed lethal dose to end their life on their own terms. The second argument in support of physician-assisted suicide considers not only the patient, but also considers the patient’s family, friends, and loved ones. When a patient is terminally ill, sometimes in and out of the hospital, when their life will end is unknown, it can be stressful to the patient, their friends, and their family in fear of not being there to physically or emotionally support the patient. If a patient is in control of when and how their life will end, the family and friends of the patient can prepare to take precaution for the patient’s death. The third argument given in support of assisted death involves the cost of living. Most people will say people are worth more than any financial

Those in opposition of physician-assisted suicide believe that dying should medically happen less, not more. An avid organization against the practice, the American College of Physicians (ACP), fears the problematic effects of physician-assisted death on the physician-patient relationship, and they believe that the practice raises ethical and clinical concerns (Sulmasy and Mueller). To opponents of PAS, the procedure can greatly alter the medical profession’s role in society. Another common argument against physician-assisted suicide concerns the quality of adequate palliative care and the responsibility of medicine. If assisted suicide was legalized nationwide, the responsibility of the medicine to completely take the patient’s life would be sufficiently raised. Opponents believe that if our medical field placed more focus on making terminal illnesses less painful and providing better end-of-life care, the desire for physician-assisted suicide and suicide in general would decrease. Finally, PAS raises the possibility of minorities and low income families unable to provide medical bill payments choosing assisted death because they may feel obligated to take the less expensive route as opposed to paying the expenses of keeping a sick person alive. Although they are reasonable, none of the arguments in