The Arguments For The Legalization Of Physician Assisted Suicide

Euthanization for humans has been a controversial topic for thousands of years. In fact, the ancient Greeks and Romans tended to support the idea of physician-assisted suicide (Introduction). Physician-assisted suicide was so widely accepted by the ancient Greeks and Romans because they often had no value for individual lives (Introduction). With this notion, abortions were common; along with both voluntary and involuntary mercy killings. Like any issues that deal with death, there were also ancient Greeks and Romans who did not support the idea of a physician-assisted death (Introduction). Some individuals thought that suicide was cowardly (Introduction). Fast-forward thousands of years later and the debate still rages on. Only this time, …show more content…
These states are Oregon, Washington, Vermont and Montana (Physician-Assisted). In all other states it is illegal and considered a class “C” felony (Physician-Assisted). The main reason as to why there are only four states that have legalized physician-assisted suicide is because there are an abundant amount of argument against it. These arguments, however, are not facts; they are all opinion-based arguments. Out of all of the arguments against physician-assisted death, there are three main ones. The first is that it is unethical for a person to commit suicide. These people also believe that it is unethical to assist a person in committing suicide. The second main argument argues that the pill, which is how a person commits and physician-assisted suicide, causes immense pain and suffering before death sets in. The third main argument is that a person may feel pressured or persuaded into taking their own life. It is not a question of ethics, under these circumstances, whether or not people can commit a physician-assisted. It is a matter of how much pain and suffering a person is going through, that a person would want to take their own …show more content…
There are many, very strict, laws that protect this from happening to a person (Should). In order for a person to obtain the pill in the first place, they must be terminally ill with a prognosis of six months or less (Should). Also, they must obtain two signatures of consent (Should). The first signature must be from a family member (Should). The second signature cannot be from anyone who is a family member or had any financial relationship to that person (Should). The signature also cannot come from your doctor or any of the other hospital staff (Should). These laws are set in place to protect the person who is requesting the medication (Should). Family has to sign one signature for the purpose of not settling a lawsuit with the hospital later on (Should). But, they are not allowed to sign the other one for the protection of the patient (Should). The person who is requesting the pill could be handing off a lot of inheritance to a certain family member and that could be a reason for pressuring someone into killing themselves (Should). It can also not be signed by a doctor or any other hospital employee in case the patient got on someone’s bad side or their doctor and nurses are really busy and just want one less patient to worry about (Should). The patient’s boss also may not sign the paperwork (Should). The boss of the patient may sign the