Physician Assisted Suicide Legalized

Assisted Suicide Should Be Legal Physician assisted suicide is when a person makes the decision to end their own life by a lethal dose of drugs with the help of their physician. Although the patient is the one to actually “pull the plug” or commit the act to cause death, the physician is the one to prescribe the drugs or explain the method of suicide (Young 10). Physician assisted suicide is a hot topic that has become the center of debate for many years. The start of the debate began with the Oregon Death with Dignity Act that legalized the act of physician assisted suicide in 1994 after a long legal process. Three years later it was in danger of being repealed; however the movement to repeal failed, and the act is still in place today (Yount …show more content…
The author persuades her audience in order that they will support the right to die movement. Harrow uses examples of court cases and suicides to solidify her argument. She also references the Wiccan Golden Rule, “An it harm none, do what you will” (Harrow 9). This rule is the basis of the point Harrow is proving; as long as a person does not inflict harm upon any others, they are allowed to take actions as they see fit. To help develop her argument, the author uses a very blunt tone and is slightly indignant that the courts are prolonging death rather than promoting autonomy in the final days of suffering and terminally ill patients. She establishes pathos by using satire to point out the obvious flaws in cases were she believes there has been injustice for the victims. In a certain case that Harrow references, a sixty two year old man, George Delury was sentenced to time in jail after feeding his quadriplegic wife a deadly potion, at her request, so she could fall asleep for the last time. His wife, Myrna Lebrov was also entering dementia and had only another ten to fifteen years to live while her mind to deteriorated until she passed away of a natural cause. Judy Harrow comments on the case, “ May we all find lovers as devoted!”(Harrow 9). Although Delury was saving himself and his wife years of emotional, mental, and physical pain, the act he committed was illegal in the ruling of the court. Harrow wants to use this case as a demonstration to explain why the legalization os assisted suicide would benefit everyone. Not only those suffering with an illness have to worry about the consequences, but also their loved ones, if they choose to aid them in death. Many laws, like the one that was used to file charges against Delury, prohibit a hasty death for individuals in