Physician Assisted Suicide In The United States

Physician Assisted Suicide It is hard to see a loved one suffer, but it is even harder to watch them commit suicide. Physician Assisted Suicide is a very popular topic that has been discussed among many people. “Assisted suicide involves one person providing the means and instructions to help another person commit suicide”(Fast Facts (Assisted Suicide)). This is an option that patients have, if they have a deadly illness and has no cure, to end their suffering. There are various types of assisted suicides, multiple reasons why people believe it should illegal, and multiple reasons why it should be legal. Many people believe physician assisted suicide should not be legal in the United States, because it is considered murder and goes …show more content…
“The law requires that a patient have a ‘terminal disease’ that is expected to ‘produce death within six months’”(AmericanLifeLeague). The problem with that is that you can never definitely know when a person will die. A physician can only give you an estimation according to their research and test, but not every person is the same. One thing may happen with one patient, but not with the other. What happens to one person may not happen to another, but most of the time things are similar with each case. For example, a person has pancreatic cancer for a year and dies, but another patient has the same thing but lives longer. They both had the same illness, but one lived longer than the other. You may not always have an exact estimation every time. “Some of 31% of U.S. adults surveyed believe that doctors and nurses should do whatever possible to save a patient’s life”(HRF.org). It is their duty to do everything they can for the patient no matter what. They should always try to do everything they can without anyone ever considering going down that path, whether it is the doctor or the patient. The doctor or nurse should also make sure there is no other way they can save the patient before ever considering fulfilling the patient’s desire to end his or her life. But if the patient were to chose to end his or her life they should be able to do so. “According to …show more content…
“Allowing people who are not dying of starvation and dehydration by withholding or withdrawing food and fluids is legal in all 50 states”(Fast Facts (Assisted Suicide)). Why is this legal but assisted suicide is not? In many ways they are the same, one just works faster than the other. The goal of both options are the same, to die. It does not make any sense that it is legal that a healthy person can commit suicide using one method, but illegal for a terminally ill patient to commit suicide using another. “Most states have laws which prohibit suicide”(Fast Facts (Assisted Suicide)). But dying of starvation and dehydration is considered to be suicide in a way. It should also be prohibited since assisted suicide is in every state but 3. It is not okay for a healthy person to be able to commit suicide and not a terminally ill patient. “People are taught how to make their own suicide pills”(Fast Facts (Assisted Suicide)). If everyone knows how to make the pills at home, they won’t need to be assisted. It would be harder to keep track of who has taken the pill or not, because they are just doing it themselves. With this happening, it is not just terminally ill patients that are dying, it is anyone who decides to do so. This could also cause a problem with people trying to kill others. People could also sell these pills illegally. This would be breaking the law, because it would