Morgan Weis

Aughenbaugh
English 12
10 February 2014
Physician Assisted Suicide

People want to die instead of suffering. Assisted suicide has positive effects
because it ends peoples misery.
The eleventh edition of Merriam-Websters Collegiate Dictionary defines the
term euthanasia, which derives from the Greek for easy death, as the act or practice of
killing or permitting the death of hopelessly sick or injured individualsin a relatively
painless way for reasons of mercy.(Suicide, Euthanasia, and Physician-Assisted
Suicide). This present-day definition differs from that of the classical Greeks, who
considered euthanasia simply one mode of dying. (Suicide, Euthanasia, and Physician-
Assisted Suicide). To the Greeks, euthanasia was a rational act by people who deemed
their life no longer useful. Seeking the help of others to end their life was considered
morally acceptable. The movement to legalize euthanasia in England began in 1935 with
the founding of the Voluntary Euthanasia Society by well-known figures such as George
Bernard Shaw, Bertrand Russell, and H. G. Wells. The Euthanasia Society of America
was established in 1938, in 1967 this group prepared the first living will. (Suicide,
Euthanasia, and Physician-Assisted Suicide). Renamed the Society for the Right to Die
in 1974, it merged in 1991 with the organization Concern for Dying. The two became
Choice in Dying (CID). (Suicide, Euthanasia, and Physician-Assisted Suicide). The
organizations goal was to guarantee that Americans have access to quality end-of-life
care. In early 2004, Partnership for Caring merged with Last Acts, a coalition of
professional and consumer organizations that work to improve end-of-life care. The
merged organization was named Last Acts Partnership, and its mission was to provide
education, service, and counseling to people who needed accurate and reliable
information about end-of-life care. (Suicide, Euthanasia, and Physician-Assisted Suicide).
Last Acts Partnership was also an advocate for policy reform in end-of-life issues. Active
euthanasia, also called voluntary active euthanasia by those who distinguish it from the
kind of euthanasia practiced by the Nazis, involves the hastening of death through the
administration of lethal drugs, as requested by the patient or another competent individual
who represents the patients wishes. (Suicide, Euthanasia, and Physician-Assisted
Suicide). By contrast, passive euthanasia involves forgoing medical treatment, knowing
that such a decision will result in death. This action is not considered illegal because the
underlying illness, which is permitted to run its natural course, will ultimately cause
death. The debate about euthanasia in the United States has been expanded to include the
question of whether a competent, terminally ill patient has the right to physician-assisted
suicide, in which a physician provides the means (such as lethal drugs) for the patient to
self-administer and commit suicide. (Suicide ,Euthanasia, and Physician-Assisted
Suicide). The distinction between the two actions, euthanasia and physician-assisted
suicide, is at times difficult to define. For example, a patient in the latter stages of Lou
Gerhrigs disease is physically unable to kill him or herself; therefore, a physician who
aids in such a persons suicide would technically be performing euthanasia. Frileux et al
found that acceptability of euthanasia or physician-assisted suicide by the general public
appears to depend on four factors: the level of patient suffering, the extent to wish the
patient requested death, the age of the patient, and the degree of curability of the illness.
In general, people judged euthanasia as less acceptable than physician-assisted suicide.
Euthanasia was generally less acceptable than physician assisted suicide... (S. Frileux)
People have the right to die. Oregon has passed a law permitting physician-assisted
suicide. Other states, including California, are now to hold referendums on similar programs, the
belief that the people have the right to decide this matter for themselves. Euthanasia can be an
empathetic response from medical practitioners respecting patients wishes and best interests.
Medical practitioners must put patient autonomy and benefit first and a well-regulated euthanasia
act is the logical step to address a specific patient population seeking this end-of-life care. Public
opinion polls show that many people desire to have the option of assisted suicide or euthanasia.
(Assisted Suicide and Professional Responsibilities). Distinguished physicians in the United
States and Great Britain believe that it is permissible to provide aid in dying as a last resort. If
assisted suicide became a legitimate medical service everywhere, medicine would soon reduce
substantially the increasing rate of suicide for all age groups, especially the elderly.
People need to die. The age range that most people request physician-assisted suicide are
years 75-84 representing about 33% of the requests. The race that most requests are
White/Caucasian, representing 98%. The marital status of 50% of requests made are married.
The education level of most who request have Baccalaureate or higher representing 41%.
Western countries represent about 41% of requests. 87% of requests are for malignant
neoplasms. 76% of requests are from people enrolled in hospice. 64% of requests come from
people who have private insurance. (Characteristics and end-of-life care of DWDA).
To believe that mere length of existence, however unbearable and painful, trumps the
kindness of granting someones request for help to end their suffering easily and quickly, is to
have ones priorities utterly wrong.















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