Euthanasia and Physician Assisted Suicide

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With the legalization of physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia, the overall suicide rates should drop according to the results that were obtained in Switzerland where it is legal to perform physician-assisted suicide. “In Switzerland, the number of assisted suicides has risen steadily over the past decade, but the total number of suicides has declined” (Biller-Andorno, Boudreau, and Somerville). This can help a patient feel as if there are options out there for him besides ending his life in a car crash off of a bridge or by blowing out his brains. There are legal, less threatening options if physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia are legalized. This can then allow the patient to be able to communicate with the physician about his thoughts and curiosities, rather than letting them toil and tumble within his brain. This can help a patient feel as if he is not alone. “Physician-assisted suicide is, in this view, an act of compassion that respects patient choice and fulfills an obligation of non-abandonment” (Snyder and Sulmasy). Because of the open dialog with a physician, a patient can back out of the decision to go through with physician-assisted suicide or euthanasia at any time. Back to the data from Switzerland, “only a minority of persons who inquire about suicide assistance actually complete the process” (Biller-Andorno, Boudreau, and Somerville). This allows the patient to take the driver’s seat in the discussion about deciding when, where, and how everything will go. Therefore, this will let the patient be the center of focus.

“The decision to end one’s life is intensely personal and private… and ought not to be prohibited by the government or medical profession” (Snyder and Sulmasy). Physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia should be legalized. One reason why it should be legalized is because many patients are capable of making rational decisions about how they want their life to end because their intellectuality has not been compromised by their illness. People also deserve to die with dignity and with the peace of mind that they are not being a burden to those that they love. They also should be able to make their decision without feeling uninformed or isolated, the physician and the patient should keep an open dialog at all times. And last but not least, the patient should be the main concern of everything involving euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide. The patient is the one that is making a life decision and that should be the main point of focus.

Work Cited

Biller-Andorno, Nikola, Dr., J. Boudreau, Dr., and Margaret A. Somerville, Dr.

"Physician-Assisted Suicide." The New England Journal of Medicine. The New England Journal of Medicine, 11 Apr. 2013. Web. 7 Apr. 2015.

The New England Journal of Medicine described the pros and cons of having euthanasia allowed to be available for patients. It also discussed a man who wanted euthanasia to put the patient’s view in perspective. I used this article for its facts and for its patient perspective and for its research that it mentioned about Switzerland.

Boudreau, J. Donald, and Margaret A. Somerville. "Euthanasia And Assisted Suicide: A

Physician's And Ethicist's Perspectives." Medicolegal & Bioethics 4.(2014): 1-12.

Academic Search Complete. Web. 7 Apr. 2015

Kuhse, Helga, PhD. "Euthanasia Fact Sheet." Euthanasia Fact Sheet. The World Federation of

the Right to Die Societies, July 1992. Web. 18 Apr. 2015.

This article provided a very cut and dry look to euthanasia. It helped get the facts away from the emotions, which helped strengthen my paper’s logos. I also used it to verify other information that I read from other articles since the information overlapped.

Snyder, Lois, and Daniel P. Sulmasy. "Physician-Assisted Suicide." Annals Of Internal Medicine

135.3 (2001): 209-216. Academic Search Complete. Web. 7 Apr. 2015.

This article was a position article on euthanasia. It provided facts and concepts of both sides of the argument and gave its own opinion at the end. The article had many fantastic quotes in it that I imbedded within my paper and had a lot of facts that I used as well.

Quffa, Wedad-Andrada, and Dan-Valeriu Voinea. "Assisted Suicide - Between The Right To

Life, The Obligation To Live And Social Acceptance."Contemporary Readings In Law & Social Justice 5.2 (2013): 261-266. Academic Search Complete. Web. 7 Apr. 2015.

This article talked a lot about what euthanasia is, what it is meant to be, and what people take it to mean. It talked a lot about the stigma that shadows the action, of which was my opponent’s stance, therefore I was able to gather knowledge of her views as well. This was helpful in order to create a counterargument.

Zagorski, Sarah. "Pushing Death: L.A. Times Says We Should Call Assisted Suicide “Justifiable

Suicide”." LifeNews.com. Life News, 24 Feb. 2015. Web. 19 Apr. 2015.