Assisted suicide, or, euthanasia, is the generally when a physician assists a patient who is terminally ill and wishes to die. Recently in France, there was a case of a woman who has a rare type of tumor that engulfed her entire face, making her eye bulge to 5 or 6 times it’s normal size and mutate her entire face. She was living with constant pain and the only thing she had to look forward to was death, as it was inevitable. The problem was she didn’t want to suffer until it happened, she wanted to die on her own terms, so she pressed the courts to change the euthanasia laws and to allow her doctor to assist her in her suicide by prescribing a lethal amount of drugs. After the court battle, the verdict returned as a no. The law would not change and her Doctor could not assist in her suicide. Two days later her body was found in her house, an apparent suicide, though the official autopsy is not in yet.

This incident has sparked much debate in France over euthanasia and it’s place in law. Currently it is still illegal, however; it is more of front line issue now and there are many debates taking place over it.

In Oregon, more than 300 people have killed themselves under the “Death with Dignity” law that was incited 10 years ago. The problem that occurs is the fact that those who wish to kill themselves with aid from doctors are not subject to a mental evaluation first. This leaves room for people who are depressed, but could be rehabilitated, to die.

Suicide is the choice of an individual to take their own life, I believe one should have the right to death if they so please. If someone wants to die, I do not believe it is unethical to assist them. I believe this because you are not causing harm to any non-consenting parties and in fact could be drastically helping the person who wants to die.

Dr. Kevorkian assisted in the suicides of over 100 terminally ill patients before he was arrested. I do not believe what he did was wrong. He advertised himself as a death consultant, and was contacted by terminally ill people who wanted to die, people who were sick of suffering and living in a hospital bed. He then put an IV in them, and they would push a button themselves, releasing the drugs that would end their own life. Kevorkian never forced anyone to do anything, never sought out people to do this to, they all came to him. He never killed them, as they pushed the button, ultimately, thus he assisted their suicide.

 

One could say; as a person, you gain certain rights, one of them being the right to live. If someone were to infringe on that right, without consent, such as murder, then that person has done something wrong. However, if one has the right to live, why then, can they not also have the right to die? There is absolutely no reason why anyone should not have the right to die. Someone’s life is their own, and though perhaps taking their life may be selfish, they have the complete right to do it, as it belongs to them. If someone is suffering, and wants to ends their life, there is nothing wrong with that. So if someone is suffering, and wants to end their life but hasn’t the means to do it, and another person assists them, there is also nothing wrong with that. I think it is wrong for the state to mandate what we do to our own bodies (so long as it doesn’t harm others.)

Dying a slow, painful death from diseases such as Cancer or Huntington’s disease does not sound very appealing. If one knows they are going to die, and it will be painful, and they will suffer, why wouldn’t they want to end their lives on their own terms, without suffering? Euthanasia; a painless death, A.K.A. assisted suicide is not something that should be illegal. When a terminally ill patient wants to end their life, why shouldn’t they be able to? If a doctor is allowed to stop treatment, why can’t they assist in a suicide? After all, stopping treatment is essentially assisting in a suicide, except the death doesn’t happen as quickly; instead it is painful and drawn out.

We all have the right to live, however; we all have the right to die.

http://www.lifenews.com/bio2370.html

http://www.koin.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=a02a1f99-3621-4b6a-8483-8e53f084df61

 

 

 

 

Advertisement