Should We Legalize Assisted Suicide?

According to Phillip Nitschke, author and founder and director of the pro-euthanasia group Exit International, “Does not doing harm mean that we should prolong a life that the patient sees as a painful burden? Surely, the ‘harm’ in this instance is done when we prolong the life, and ‘doing no harm’ means that we should help the patient die” (“The Argument For Assisted Suicide” 2). Euthanasia is one of the most debatable topics in the United States. Assisted suicide imposes many questions including; Will legalizing euthanasia conclude in a “slippery slope”? Does euthanasia ensure a painless death? If they perform euthanasia, are doctors playing God? In a world without euthanasia, the ill would be denied their inalienable rights. They would have to suffer through intolerable pain, and they would die without dignity. Legalizing euthanasia must be given, so that ill patients will be given the right to die with dignity, and put an end to …show more content…
“Tony Nicklinson was a former rugby player who suffered from a stroke in 2005. He then developed locked-in syndrome, and spent seven years paralyzed from the neck down unable to speak, feed himself, and brush his teeth. He communicated through a system that wrote messages on a computer screen by blinking his eyes. He asked to have a doctor administer a necessary dose to die, but was denied in court” (Burns 1-3). In 2012, Nicklinson died a slow, painful death. It is debated that his death was intentional suicide. If that is the case, it is sad the suicide was slow and painful, rather than fast and (almost) painless. Nicklinson’s case proves the fact that if someone really wants to end their life, they will do almost anything to do so. Even if they are denied in court for an assisted suicide, they may just go home and commit suicide themselves, making it slower and more