Doctor Assisted Suicide

In the past years, reliable evidence has been shown to not support the claim that legalization of doctor assisted suicide has a negative impact on either the availability and/or quality of palliative care (Health Law Institute, Assisted Suicide). On the contrary, the opposite has occurred. The legalization of assisted suicide has increased the development, availability, and quality of palliative care (Health Law Institute, Assisted Suicide). Patients are becoming more aware of the medical treatments available to them including both palliative care and doctor assisted suicide. In fact, some countries where assisted suicide is legal, such as Belgium and the Netherlands, have have better quality end of life care then others that prohibit assisted …show more content…
There have been no cases to support that doctor assisted suicide has been done involuntarily to the elderly, or to patients with disabilities. Specifically, evidence from the Netherlands supports that the vulnerability of patients will not be affected by decriminalising assisted suicide (Dying with Dignity Report). Risks leading to medical professionals abusing doctor assisted suicide can be reduced and eliminated by defining strict and clear guidelines for them to follow (Dying with Dignity Report). It is essential to set guidelines to govern the practice of assisted suicide and prevent the risks of abuse where vulnerable patients are concerned (Dying with Dignity …show more content…
Some of the debates on doctor assisted suicide have raised the question whether people would refuse to fund palliative care when assisted suicide was legal (Health Law Institute, Euthanasia). However, no evidence supported that the fear of that has become reality where assisted suicide is legal. On the contrary, evidence has shown if doctor assisted suicide were legal, public officials and/or health care providers would not reduce resources for palliative care services (Health Law Institute, Euthanasia). After looking at the evidence relating to the relationship between legalizing doctor assisted suicide and the quality and availability of palliative care, there is no reliable evidence to support that assisted suicide will have a negative impact on palliative care. Prohibiting doctor assisted suicide also denies Canadian citizens basic fundamental rights such as life, liberty and security of the person, and the ability to die with dignity (Assisted Dying is a