Physician Assisted Suicide Should Not Be Legalized Essay

It is known by many names, physician-assisted suicide (PAS), death with dignity, assisted death, but all center down to one concept, the taking of one’s own life, who is terminally ill, with the assistance of a physician. In order to respect an individual’s self autonomy over their life; in order to respect an individual’s suffering, and in order to create more equality when it comes to the treatment of terminally ill patients, we must make physician-assisted suicide legal in the United States. When it comes to personal liberties, the right of self autonomy, deciding how one’s life should end should not be infringed to the dying, people who were just told they have six months or less to live. Multiple surveys given by reputable organizations such as Gallup have shown astonishing results. According to the survey hosted by Gallup, support for assisted death has gone up back to its prime record of 68 percent in 2015. This means “nearly seven in 10 Americans say doctors should be legally allowed to assist terminally ill patients in committing suicide… the highest level in more than a decade.” (Dugan). Even more surprising, when Gallup asked two different versions of the same question, “When a person has a disease that cannot be cured, do you think doctors should be allowed by law to end the patient’s life by some painless means if the patient and his or her family request it” and “When a person that has a severe disease that cannot be cured and is …show more content…
After Cruzan v. Director, Missouri Department of Health in 1990, it was ruled that it is legal in the United States for terminally ill patients to refuse treatments in order to hasten death, though the states would be allowed to make the guidelines for how that would work. This right however, would only be available to “competent” patients (Cruzan). “Competence,” according to John Hodgson, can be distinguished