Branson's Arguments Against Physician Assisted Suicide

Upon being questioned regarding his stance on, “The Right to Die”, Richard Branson stated, “an assisted suicide law would not result in more people dying, but in fewer people suffering.” Though modern medicine is truly a marvel to behold, it has yet to unlock the secrets to curing all of the diseases that plague this world and as a result, a countless number of patients are forced to be imprisoned within a body that is not only withering away, but is the source of much suffering. For patients that have passed a mental health assessment, physician assisted suicide is a viable option for when the agony from a terminal disease becomes too unbearable. The reasoning behind why physician assisted suicide should become law stems from the right of
For this case, take the example of George Zygmaniak, a victim of a motorcycle accident, who was left permanently paralyzed from the neck down. He was reported to have begged witnesses at the site of his accident, his physicians and ultimately, his brother to kill him, to “please not leave [him] like this.” Unable to bear hearing his brother’s pleas for mercy, Lester Zygmaniak went home and returned to the hospital with a shotgun smuggled under his clothes. Lester then consented to George’s request and shot his brother point-blank in the head. Here is an extreme example of the mentality a family member experiences when they have a loved one who is either terminally ill, or in this case, permanently in a vegetative state. When backed into extreme emotional corners, it is evident that family members are willing to commit one of the greatest sins, in order to grant the loved one a final act of mercy. According to Harvard’s HelpGuide.org, grief is a family matter, rather than an individual one for the patient, and that the massive amount of stress of watching the person they love deteriorate can lead to psychological trauma such as depression,
Some of the most vocal against these laws are the Seniors Against Suicide, who claim that illness is never a reason to commit suicide and that assisted suicide is simply the easy way out of caring for a terminally ill loved one. The issue with this is that, while these members of this organization are more than welcome to have their own opinions, this is no basis to deny someone of their final wishes. The beauty of the Death with Dignity laws is that they are an option for mentally capable adults who fear the debilitating effects of their disease; it is not an enforced rule that applies to all people with six months to live. Not everyone follows the religious guidelines that proclaim suicide to be a sin, nor does everyone have the stamina to allow their infliction to overwhelm their being, but more importantly: no one should be forced to suffer when they do not have to. Now, to this, many would claim that instead of dying, the sufferer could substitute it with palliative care, which would ease the pain. However, this only alleviates a fraction of the problem; morphine does not stop the body from withering away, does not prevent the shadows under their eyes from forming, or eliminate the immense burden from everyone involved. As was mentioned previously, patients can also develop a resistance