What Are The Arguments Against The Legalization Of Physician Assisted Suicide

The constant debate on the legality of assisted suicide has been at large for many decades, this procedure has benefits to the patients and to the family of said patient, but with the benefits also comes the downfalls to a procedure as delicate as physician assisted suicide. Proponents of physician assisted death argue mercy killings are justified, especially for patients with terminal illnesses along with uncontrollable pain. They argue the patient has a right to permanent relief by physician assisted death. However, the opposition argues, with appropriate pain management the terminally ill patient should die naturally.
When a dog is in extreme amounts of pain and has a terminal illness, the responsible dog owner takes their pet to the …show more content…
The patient stays in control of their own suffering and decide when the time comes to let go of life. Physician assisted death has been made legal in only five states, Oregon, Vermont, Washington, California, and Montana which the option for people in Montana applies by court decision only. As a healthcare worker and a patient advocate, physician assisted death should be legal in all fifty states. Patients have the right to make choices for themselves, the patients considering this procedure do not want to suffer from uncontrollable pain while other patients consider their quality of life. In the case of Brittany Maynard, a young twenty-nine year old woman, diagnosed with terminal brain cancer was given less than six months to live after being treated with radiation on her head which burned her scalp off. Her life expectancy went from years to months. She explains in a CNN article, “I considered passing away in hospice care at my San Francisco Bay-area home. But even with palliative medication, I could develop potentially morphine-resistant pain and suffer personality changes and verbal, cognitive and motor loss of virtually any kind” (Maynard). Mrs. Maynard made this difficult decision to end her life while her judgement was not impaired. She did not want to get to the point where …show more content…
In cases of physician assisted death, the families continue with the grieving process. How people die irrevocably influences how we remember them. Surely few would wish to be remembered helpless, incontinent, pain racked, or sedated and do not want their family to remember them as such. In “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” by Ambrose Bierce, she writes “Death is a dignitary who when he comes announced is to be received with formal manifestations of respect” (Bierce), she personifies death as a “he” and as a dignitary which commands respect. These patients deserve the right to face death dignified and treated with respect. Not ridiculed or called selfish for their decision to end their life. As death approaches these incurable patients, society must provide respect, dignity, and