Argumentative Essay: Dying Is Not A Crime

“Dying is not a crime,” Jack Kevorkian, a pathologist once said, and quite frankly, it shouldn’t be. In a nation as the United States in which one can start a family and give birth to new lives in liberty, why is the freedom to end his or her own disallowed? To choose to give away something of one’s own is not a crime, to choose to give up their lives should also be put in the same class, they are not giving up their soul to the devil, but getting rid of the devil in the name of pain bugging them when conscious. Making the choice of dying shouldn’t be a crime looked at as a cowardly act, conversely, it should be recognized as a start of a peaceful exit. According to the Washington Post, some incurable illnesses, including cancer in the later stages are able to be treated and extend one’s lifetime for a few extra months. “To the science behind the studies, three months of added life expectancy is considered a statistically significant improvement”, but to the elderly patients, the idea of spending the addition few months living in the nursing homes; dealing with the pain, might not sound appealing. To Cope with …show more content…
In The United States, physician-assisted suicide is legal in five states, they are California, Oregon, Vermont, Washington, Montana. According to the Independent Institute, in 1998, 16 residents of the State of Oregon used the Death with Dignity Act, in the year 2013, 71 people did so, only occupying 0.21 percent of all deaths in the state. The increase in the number of recipients is understandable as the knowledge on euthanasia is now more widely spread and the idea itself is more mature, more people are willing to use the Act to die with dignity without suffering through the road ahead. The concern is reasonable, but more or less a slippery slope argument, with no statistics supporting it, any claims stating that euthanasia is being abused are