Assisted Suicide
Assisted Suicide
Pamela Zipfel
Herzing University
Assisted Suicide
Whose life is it anyways? Is the right to die our own decision or does ones fate lie in the hands of someone else? Should a person with a terminally ill disease be forced to suffer in pain? Physician assisted suicide should be a legal option for terminally ill patients; therefore the government, religious groups, and family members should not intervene. In the United States there are only two that support the Death with Dignity Law. These states are Washington and Oregon. These two states allow a physician to prescribe a patient with a terminally ill disease a lethal dose of medication to end their life. If you assist someone to die in any other state you will be prosecuted for homicide. The laws are very strict on this matter, a patient can only have up to 6 months to live and they have to be of sound mind. These laws are being fought strongly by religious groups. The fifth commandment “Thou shalt not kill,” is what we are taught growing up, by our churches and family. Physicians struggle with something that goes against their beliefs and moral ethics when deciding to participate in assisting a patient with suicide. Even though Washington is a death with dignity state it is hard to find a physician to prescribe the medication to assist with death. The Catholics believe that suffering is a critical piece of life. If someone takes their own life they bypass the chance to experience redemption. However, suffering means more than pain. A terminally ill patient feels they lose a sense of being independent and does not want to burden their family members or friends. Family and friends are just as affected with the disease as the patients. They are the ones taking the patient to and from doctor appointments. Watching them suffer night after night. They are also the ones cleaning up after the patient when no one else is around. Letting go of someone you love is a very hard process. Watching
Pamela Zipfel
Herzing University
Assisted Suicide
Whose life is it anyways? Is the right to die our own decision or does ones fate lie in the hands of someone else? Should a person with a terminally ill disease be forced to suffer in pain? Physician assisted suicide should be a legal option for terminally ill patients; therefore the government, religious groups, and family members should not intervene. In the United States there are only two that support the Death with Dignity Law. These states are Washington and Oregon. These two states allow a physician to prescribe a patient with a terminally ill disease a lethal dose of medication to end their life. If you assist someone to die in any other state you will be prosecuted for homicide. The laws are very strict on this matter, a patient can only have up to 6 months to live and they have to be of sound mind. These laws are being fought strongly by religious groups. The fifth commandment “Thou shalt not kill,” is what we are taught growing up, by our churches and family. Physicians struggle with something that goes against their beliefs and moral ethics when deciding to participate in assisting a patient with suicide. Even though Washington is a death with dignity state it is hard to find a physician to prescribe the medication to assist with death. The Catholics believe that suffering is a critical piece of life. If someone takes their own life they bypass the chance to experience redemption. However, suffering means more than pain. A terminally ill patient feels they lose a sense of being independent and does not want to burden their family members or friends. Family and friends are just as affected with the disease as the patients. They are the ones taking the patient to and from doctor appointments. Watching them suffer night after night. They are also the ones cleaning up after the patient when no one else is around. Letting go of someone you love is a very hard process. Watching
References: Humphrey, D. (2005) Tread Carefully When You Help to Die. Retrieved from http://www.assistedsuicide.org/suicide_laws.html Kaprakos,K. (2009) Death with Dignity: Combatting Religious Opposition to Physician Assisted Suicide. Retrieved from http://www.religiousdispatches.org