Physician Assisted Suicide Argumentative Essay

Physician Assisted Suicide or End of Life Care
Marta E. Chavez
PHI103: Informal Logic
Instructor Erik Hudak
March 25, 2013

Physician Assisted Suicide or End of Life Care
Part One – Thesis
Imagine that a family member has been diagnosed with Cancer. Even though they have been told it is terminal, they are currently not feeling ill or any pain. The family member starts having feelings of depression and discusses physician assisted suicide. This is a scary thought because no one wants to think that they may lose someone close to them. There are many alternatives to physician assisted suicide. The first is hospice care, end of life care that treats not only the patient, but the family, as well. Second is palliative
Some people feel that it is an act of compassion and that terminally ill patients should be allowed to die with dignity, others feel that it is not the best choice and it should not be legal because there are too many possible problems that can occur. Suicide is a major problem in the United States, especially with teenagers and young adults who have mental disorders, depression and other problems.
According to Kubler-Ross there are five stages of grief and depression is the fourth stage and the one before acceptance. Even though it does not always happen in any particular order it is likely that depression will happen before acceptance. With a terminal illness it is extremely likely that depression will linger unless treated appropriately (The Kübler-Ross Grief Cycle,
As was stated earlier the poor people and people without medical

insurance can be made to feel as if they are a burden to the people around them. The

elderly are also at risk to this type of treatment. Many family members abandon them and leave

them in nursing homes which makes them feel unworthy to live. Also, if they are

in a medical facility they can be made to feel as if their life is not important and this is not

acceptable. Every life is precious at any stage and mo one should be made to feel as if they are

not worth anything.

Conclusion

Even though many believe that Physician assisted suicide should be legalized because it allows one to make their own choice of when to die, as well as dying with dignity. It also allows better care because of all the rules and regulations. Doctors also need to learn to handle the fact that they helped someone die. That is something that can be difficult to accept and sometimes gets to be too much for the doctor to handle. They also need to be able to handle the situation