i support physician-assisted suicide
I support physician-assisted suicide In March 1998, an Oregon woman dying of breast cancer asked her physician to prescribe a drug that would allow her to end her life. The doctor agreed. Later in the month she took the medication. With that action, she became the first person in the united state to commit suicide with the help of a doctor-legally. This has come to be known as “physician-assist suicide,” which has come to be one of the most controversial topics, right up there with the topic of abortion. Arguments as to why it should be legal are terminally ill patients should have the ability to control their own lives and make their own decisions, is it morally right for a doctor to assist in suicide, and the pros and cons of assisted suicide. In thousands of homes across the nation, victims of terminal illnesses sit in pain due to their sicknesses. Should these people have to go through all of that pain and suffering just for the end result of death? Should these people have the right to assisted suicide, to rid themselves of the unbearable pain? According to Dr. Clarence H. Braddock III, a faculty member of the University of Washington’s departments of medicine and medical history and ethics, the arguments in favor of legalizing assisted suicide generally runs along these lines:
• People should be able to control their own lives
• Some terminally ill patients are allowed to end their lives by refusing medical treatments; in all fairness, those without that option should be allowed to choose death
• Death is a compassionate way to relieve unbearable suffering
• Legal or not, assisted suicides occur, and it would be better if they were brought into the open
The arguments against legalization, Braddock says, usually run around these lines:
• Taking a life under any circumstances is immortal
• Assisted suicide has great potential for abuse. People without family support or adequate finances, as well as depression, could be pressured to
• People should be able to control their own lives
• Some terminally ill patients are allowed to end their lives by refusing medical treatments; in all fairness, those without that option should be allowed to choose death
• Death is a compassionate way to relieve unbearable suffering
• Legal or not, assisted suicides occur, and it would be better if they were brought into the open
The arguments against legalization, Braddock says, usually run around these lines:
• Taking a life under any circumstances is immortal
• Assisted suicide has great potential for abuse. People without family support or adequate finances, as well as depression, could be pressured to