Why Is Physician Assisted Suicide Morally Wrong

While some people, mainly those with terminal and mental illnesses seek relief from living in this debased world, does not give a physician the right to perform assisted suicide. This is a procedure where a person uses another, generally a physician, to kill themselves. The doctor does not kill the individual but that person administers the lethal dose themselves. Such a controversial issue has garnered international attention; in some countries, and even some states in the United States, have made physician assisted suicide legal to perform. While each person has a right to decide whether to live or die, assisted suicide is morally wrong. The moral question comes down to why would assisted suicide be acceptable? That is tantamount to premeditated murder, as another person is sanctioning the death. Just because in general the accomplice is a physician that does not make assisted suicide an acceptable act. There are arguments for both sides of this issue, and both have valid claims. On one side, the person does have the right to choose whether to live or not. Seeking advice from a physician is a good route to go down, since the act will be monitored and more apt to succeed. Oregon has shown that if …show more content…
There is the possibility of assisted living, hospice, and of course hospitalization. Craig Paterson says in his book, “As agents, we are concerned to assess the structural make-up of morally significant actions and are not content to rest with the description of an action that is only focused on its further objective or consequences” (75). Paterson is telling us that as moral agents, we need to understand the action, not only the consequence. This is the fundamental reason why assisted suicide should not be condoned. Therefore, any action to terminate another life is morally unacceptable, even if society has sanctioned such