Assisted suicide or euthanasia has been receiving more attention since the 1990’s, due to Dr. Jack Kevorkian, who assisted in the suicide of over one hundred terminal patients. He was put on trial and charged with second-degree murder, thus state governments passed multiple laws against assisted suicide. The practice of permitting the death of a terminally ill or hopelessly sick individual for a painless form of mercy has been deemed illegal in thirty-four states. Due to the attention, this topic has received, controversy has grown as people are arguing on both sides of the spectrum, for and against euthanasia. In the essay, Individuals Should Have a Legal Right to Choose Death by Thomas A. Bowden, a legal analyst at the Ayn Rand Institute, argues for the legality of assisted suicide with support in the God-given rights of life. In contrast, the essay, Legalized Assisted Suicide May Lead to Legalized Euthanasia by Susan W. Enouen, a pro-life educator at a non-profit organization, argues against the idea of assisted suicide mentioning doubts in the safeguarding of the drugs and the dangers of legalizing suicide to terminally ill patients.
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Enouen argues the immoral aspects of assisted suicides and the dangers of unused drugs. Bowden argues for the rights of all people to choose what path they want to take when patients become terminally ill, showing respect for religious conservatives who choose not to take it but not appreciating them for pushing their values on others who go against them. A common ground can be reached between both of these authors. Although Enoun is a pro-life educator and Bowden is a pro-choice advocate, assisted suicide can be made legal, or acceptable, if the lethal drug can be given only to patients who, themselves, deem fit to take it; and, after the drug is prescribed, if the patient decides not to take it its whereabouts are monitored so it does not fall into the wrong
Enouen argues the immoral aspects of assisted suicides and the dangers of unused drugs. Bowden argues for the rights of all people to choose what path they want to take when patients become terminally ill, showing respect for religious conservatives who choose not to take it but not appreciating them for pushing their values on others who go against them. A common ground can be reached between both of these authors. Although Enoun is a pro-life educator and Bowden is a pro-choice advocate, assisted suicide can be made legal, or acceptable, if the lethal drug can be given only to patients who, themselves, deem fit to take it; and, after the drug is prescribed, if the patient decides not to take it its whereabouts are monitored so it does not fall into the wrong