Physician Assisted Suicide Should Be Illegal

Physician assisted suicide, also know as PAS, has always been a very controversial topic. Physician assisted suicide has been exercised throughout history and still is today in a few states in America. These states include Washington, Oregon, New Mexico, Montana, and Vermont. Physician assisted suicide is similar to euthanasia except instead of the physician performing the act of ending a life the patient does. At the patient 's request, a physician may help someone in extreme pain or suffering by helping them to end their life peacefully and without pain. While reading through some research I came across an interesting statistic. According to the website Edlink an informational site about issues related to PAS which is hosted by Northwestern University, “57% of physicians practicing today have received a request for physician assisted suicide in some form or another” (Physician-Assisted Suicide - Introduction). Fifty- seven percent, that is over half of all physicians. If so many patients today in our society are requesting physician assisted suicide, why isn 't it legal? I believe all individuals and patients should have the right to physician assisted suicide if they choose. Individuals will claim that PAS is socially acceptable for a person with a terminal illness or a person in suffering. In addition, it is a physicians obligation to ease a patient’s suffering, which could possibly mean ending their life if they choose to do so. The argument of PAS relies a lot on the patient’s respect for themselves, which identifies the rights of capable patient’s to decide how and when their death should occur when they are suffering and or have a terminal illness. Others have contended that PAS is not socially acceptable. They say this because they believe it interferes with physician’s and their job to save and preserve life to their best ability. In addition, many believe that if PAS is legalized it will eventually lead to the abuse of the right. Individuals of the opposing view believe that if physicians and other practices condone PAS that it will be more forced onto the elderly, terminally ill, and disabled rather than providing costly palliative care (Physician-Assisted Suicide - Introduction). While these disputes continue, the terminally ill still cry out in pain for help to put an end to their prolonged suffering. The argument of PAS, like many others, is a choice issue. People are quick to judge this practice as unethical or wrong with knowing close to nothing or very little knowledge about the topic. Doctors and physicians have the knowledge and experience to know when a patients will die so why shouldn 't a patient have the right to end their own life in a respectable way if they choose to do so? Why let a patient die in agony through their last months of life with things such as constant vomiting and seemingly endless pain and suffering? Its also important …show more content…
Nobody wants to be remembered as sitting sick in hospital bed waiting to die. They want to be remembered for who they once were, healthy and happy something they unfortunately can never be again. It astounds me that in a country which is supposed to represent freedom, in this case, does not. We are given all these freedoms except one very standard one, the freedom and right to our own bodies and to choose to live or not. Since America is all about freedom this should be a fundamental right. Why should the government choose what we do with our own bodies because its exactly that, ours. There is no statement in our countries constitution which forbids us of committing suicide for any reason so why is it illegal to do it for a very good reason. These reasons include to stop suffering, pain, and to overall die peacefully and in a respectable manner. After throughly researching the debatable topic of physician assisted suicide my view on PAS is finite. I believe everyone deserves the right to physician assisted suicide if they choose to do so. Its your body not the governments. You should have the right to do with it as you please. If an illness is terminal or becomes terminal you should be able to die respectfully. After all you are not harming anyone else or putting anyone else 's life at risk besides your own. I hope that sometime in the future people will realize that PAS is a respectable practice. Nobody should have to live a life of pain and