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Should Assisted Suicide Be Legalized

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Should Assisted Suicide Be Legalized
Assisted Suicide: Should assisted suicide be legalized?
The term assisted suicide refers to the practice of a physician prescribing legal drugs that allow terminally ill patients to end their own lives. The difference between assisted suicide and euthanasia (mercy killing) is that in assisted suicide the doctor may only provide the drugs, not administer them, while in euthanasia the doctor can provide and administer the drugs. In 1994, Oregon voters approved the Death with Dignity Act which permitted terminally ill patients to obtain a doctor's prescription for medication to end their life. ProQuest Staff. "At Issue: Assisted Suicide." ProQuest LLC. 2016: n.pag SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 25 Feb. 2016. After numerous appeals, the case went …show more content…
"Suicide" is distasteful, so they promote "physician aid-in-dying," "death with dignity" and the "right to die." And yet all of these mean taking action to end one's own life. "Physician aid-in-dying" sounds like giving someone a lethal drug is an extension of hospice and palliative care. As a palliative care physician I aid people in dying by treating their symptoms and supporting them through the difficult practical and emotional tasks of completing their lives. In the 1990s, proponents in Oregon campaigned to legalize physician-assisted suicide in cases of unbelievable physical suffering for the terminally ill. Byock, Ira. "Think Twice About 'Death with Dignity'." Los Angeles Times. 01 Feb. 2015: A.19. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 25 Feb. 2016. Research, showed that more than 75% of those who took that option didn't have pain as a concern. Their issues were emotional or existential: feeling a burden to family, loss of autonomy or inability to do things they enjoy. The Netherlands, where euthanasia -- a lethal injection by a doctor, has been available for several decades. There, people have been euthanized at their request for pain, tinnitus or blindness in non-terminal cases. More than 4,800 people were euthanized in 2013, more than 40 of them for psychiatric illness, according to the Dutch Euthanasia Review Committees. Byock, Ira. "Think Twice About 'Death with Dignity'." Los Angeles Times. 01 Feb. 2015: A.19. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 25 Feb.
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