Assisted Suicide Vs Pa

The word “death” holds so much meaning to every individual on this planet. It can strike fear in many, but for others it can be a release. A release from being trapped in a body that can only feel pain or that cannot feel at all. Many beg for death to never come knocking on their door, while others leave the door unlocked. Why should death be denied to those already dying, if their wish is to no longer suffer under the amount of pain they are under? These people should have the right to decide whether or not to end their lives sooner with the help of Physician Assisted Suicide, rather than to wait and be in constant pain.
PAS, Physician Assisted Suicide, can give them their right to die. It is legal in five states, including Washington and Montana. There are studies that prove terminally ill patients do not feel pain due to PAS (Lachman 57). The patient feels as if he or she …show more content…
PAS is a much quicker and less torturous procedure than many that are legal. VSED which stands for Voluntary Stopping of Eating and Drinking, and is a legal way for a terminally ill patient to escape conditions they consider to be worse than death. There is an ethical difference in PAS and VSED; PAS is killing oneself by ingesting prescribed lethal medication. “This is different from refusal of life sustaining treatment or VSED, though the outcome is death” (Lachman 56). VSED slowly kills the patient by removing the feeding tube and allowing the patient to die due to terminal dehydration, which can take one to three weeks. Although VSED is legal, is it truly is more humane? In VSED, research shows that “patients also feel no pain,” but then how is it more acceptable than PAS (Lachman 56)? Nurses and physicians will always have an obligation to inform patients of all options, even in a state where PAS is