Should Assisted Suicide Be Allowed in the U.S?
Should Assisted Suicide be allowed in the U.S? Assisted suicide is when a terminally ill patient decides that he/she doesn’t want to live life anymore (they are ready to die). They will die quicker and less painfully, rather than slow and torturously (Messerli). A person with those conditions should have the right to choose when, where, how, and who’s going to be there whenever they want to die. Assisted suicide should be legalized in the U.S because every human-being should the have “the right to die with pride and dignity” (Humphry), and a victory for individual rights over governments control (Knickerbocker). No one is suggesting that doctors should just kill every sick person, but that every suffering patient should have the choice to go under assisted suicide if they choose to. They are basically taking up space on Earth, and in hospital rooms. Legalizing assisted suicide would give every human-being the right to be free, and live life as they choose to. Assisted suicide is reasonable in situations when a person is terminally ill or in critical condition. A loved one or doctor should be able to carry out the patients wish. As stated by the Chicago Sun-Times newspaper, “lighter punishments should be sought when the person charged with assisted suicide obviously had been acting out of compassion and the victim had reached a clear decision to die (Chicago Sun-Times Edition).” The patient should have a choice, it’s their life, not yours. When a doctor commits assisted suicide it’s out of compassion, not out of malice (The Chicago Sun Times). If a doctor doesn’t have the patient’s permission, it would no longer be assisted suicide, and then cold-blooded murder! Jack Kevorkian (also known as “Dr.Death”, and Dr.Kevorkian) was a doctor who helped at least 45 patients commit suicide, and was sentenced to 10-45 years (Soylent). As mentioned previously, it’s not like he did it out of cruelty; he did it out of consideration. He was trying to help
Cited: Dobbs, Greg. “Assisted suicide as a right.” The Denver Post 6 December 2009:D-04 Print. Humphry, Derek. “Liberty and Death.” Assisted Suicde.org 24 March 2009. Knickerbocker, Brad. “Montana becomes third state to legalize physician-assisted suicide.” Christian Science Monitor 2 January 2010: Print. Mckee, Jenifer. “Dying man wants doctor-assisted suicide.” Billings Gazette 9 April 2009: Print. Messerli, Joe. “Should an incurably-ill patient be able to commit physician-assisted suicide?” www.balancedpolitics.org 4 March 2007. Soylent Communications. “Jack Kevorkian”. www.nn0db.com Copyright 2010 The Chicago Sun-Times Editorial Board. “Assisted suicide: too many risks to legalize. The Chicago Sun-Times 9 March 2010: 18 Print