"The care of human life and happiness and not their destruction is the first and only legitimate object of good government.” There seems to be no better time than now during which Thomas Jefferson’s words remain relevant, with a growing majority of the public supporting the legalization of euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide. These terms refer to methods of administering lethal medications by a physician to terminate the life of a patient. It is self evident that good government must care for the life of its citizens and must do anything in its power to prevent assisted suicide methods from corrupting healthcare. The editorial Dying Cause by the Discovery Institute, a public policy think tank, exposes the flaws in current assisted suicide
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The National Review states that the phenomenon of suicide contagion, supported by reports conducted in teens in Canada, can also be applied to a contagion of physician assisted suicide. The piece mentions, “If suicide is ‘contagious’ than so too assisted suicide... When a state or country legalizes assisted suicide/euthanasia, the culture is explicitly stating that some self-killings are A-OK” (National Review). Not only will assisted suicide be more widespread than necessary, but also cases of suicide will increase from the updated stigma. Corrupt practices will also increase through which physicians will tout their willingness to “help” patients to suicide. The National Review continues in its editorial that Jack Kevorkian, a prominent physician and promoter of assisted suicide, was responsible for “vividly illustrating the actual indignity of the so-called "death with dignity" movement. Assisted suicide, advocates had assured the public, would be only a failsafe measure, the rare event to be used "as a last resort" to relieve the suffering of people who were about to die only when "nothing else could be done." Yet, over 70 percent of Kevorkian 's "patients" were not even terminally ill” (National Review). Moreover, as mentioned in the National Review article, “Kevorkian removed the kidneys of a depressed disabled man following …show more content…
Assisted suicides would allow healthcare agencies and the government a tool to alleviate costs margins at the expense of the patients’ lives. In addition, the prominence of passive euthanasia also leads to unnecessary and immoral euthanizations by physicians. Most importantly, allowing assisted suicides to become legal will create the stigma that suicide is a viable option for overcoming problems. It is obvious that Euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide cause much more trouble than they are worth. Considering all the points presented, euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide must be made illegal in all states to protect the liberty of the American
The National Review states that the phenomenon of suicide contagion, supported by reports conducted in teens in Canada, can also be applied to a contagion of physician assisted suicide. The piece mentions, “If suicide is ‘contagious’ than so too assisted suicide... When a state or country legalizes assisted suicide/euthanasia, the culture is explicitly stating that some self-killings are A-OK” (National Review). Not only will assisted suicide be more widespread than necessary, but also cases of suicide will increase from the updated stigma. Corrupt practices will also increase through which physicians will tout their willingness to “help” patients to suicide. The National Review continues in its editorial that Jack Kevorkian, a prominent physician and promoter of assisted suicide, was responsible for “vividly illustrating the actual indignity of the so-called "death with dignity" movement. Assisted suicide, advocates had assured the public, would be only a failsafe measure, the rare event to be used "as a last resort" to relieve the suffering of people who were about to die only when "nothing else could be done." Yet, over 70 percent of Kevorkian 's "patients" were not even terminally ill” (National Review). Moreover, as mentioned in the National Review article, “Kevorkian removed the kidneys of a depressed disabled man following …show more content…
Assisted suicides would allow healthcare agencies and the government a tool to alleviate costs margins at the expense of the patients’ lives. In addition, the prominence of passive euthanasia also leads to unnecessary and immoral euthanizations by physicians. Most importantly, allowing assisted suicides to become legal will create the stigma that suicide is a viable option for overcoming problems. It is obvious that Euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide cause much more trouble than they are worth. Considering all the points presented, euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide must be made illegal in all states to protect the liberty of the American