My Views on The Issue of Assisted Suicide

Assisted suicide is defined as the suicide of a patient suffering from an incurable disease, effected by the taking of lethal drugs provided by a doctor for this purpose. This topic has been on the rise for many years and will not slow down. The reason behind this, it is inhumane to assist in taking another person's life. It is also illegal to help with or take part in killing someone. Now I understand it might sound wrong, but if you were to witness the suffering of a dying patient, you would fully understand. I believe a person should have the ability to die with dignity and assisted suicide has done just that for numerous people. It is awful to look at a loved one while they are in horrific pain because of a terminal disease. It isn’t fair to anyone being affected by the illness to watch that happen and this is why people have chosen to end their life. I feel assisted suicide should only be allowed in a special circumstance, when a person is suffering unbearably.

Four states have already chosen to legalize assisted suicide, Oregon, Washington, Vermont, and Montana. I agree with their reasoning completely. Before going through with the assisted suicide they go through an assessment. The patient needs to be mentally stable and understand fully what is going to happen, the patient has requested this to happen, and finally the patient has been given a definite statement that they will die within 6 months or less. To those who say the patients don't know what they are thinking, that is completely wrong. A physician will not let a person die without taking the proper precaution to be positive this is what the patient wants to happen.

In Oregon a test was conducted on the people who wanted to die by assisted suicide. They turned down almost half of these people because they were suffering from depression thanks to their terminal illness. This is why I believe their needs to be more of a focus on helping those patients cope with their feelings. Although, the other half of the patients were truly suffering and could not take it anymore. This is why i agree with assisted suicide, to help with the pain and suffering of all of those poor patients who have to live like that. Suffering every waking moment of your last days on this Earth is not the way to live. Even though ending your life earlier than needed doesn't sound great. it is worse to put yourself and your loved ones through more pain.

The sad thing is, I have witnessed pain and suffering of my grandpa who battled cancer until he died. It is no joy watching someone you love die in front of your eyes. I’m almost positive if he wanted to end his suffering he would have. This is why when i watched some videos of people with terminal illnesses who were against assisted suicide because they were just fighting through it, I didn't really believe them. If they were truly suffering I doubt that they would be going through their daily routine like it was just another day. This brings up my next point, I feel that only patients who are truly suffering should be able to take part in assisted suicide. You should be able to live and cherish every moment while you are still healthy. This way when you are suffering and possibly about to die you can look back on a great life.

One argument I would like to bring up is that it is a medical physician's job to preserve and endure life, not help with ending it. A recent study in Washington gave a question to doctors and nurses who care for the terminal patients. The question was, would you want to decide what is best for a suffering patient even if it meant dying? 83% of them said absolutely because of the fact that they are there to make sure they can serve their patients during their last days. This means doing what is best for them no matter what. Sometimes assisted suicide can be a person’s escape of pain and this is why the nurses and doctors said they would help their dying patients with whatever.

Whether you believe it or not, assisted suicide is happening all over by illegal means. A lot of times the ways they die isn’t very humane at all. This is just another reason assisted suicide can be humane, patients can die in the most peaceful way possible given their circumstances. That is the reason most people choose to do it anyway. You should be able to decide when and how you want to die, everyone wants to die with their dignity so let them have it. Just put yourself in their shoes, you have a terminal illness and you are going to suffer immensely and go through a lot of pain . You can either wait it out and suffer until your death or choose to end it before you lose your dignity and go out with pride. It would be the toughest decision you will ever have to make but people should be able to choose what they want to do and what will make them happy.

When I first found out about his next story my jaw dropped. In 2011 a wife and mom shot herself in the head while her family was asleep. She had just found out her cancer came back for the third time and she couldn’t handle going through it again. Since assisted suicide wasnt legal in her state she decided to take matters into her own hands. Instead of things like this happening we can prevent them and give families a chance to say goodbye on their own terms. Finding your loved one with their brains splattered everywhere is not the way to die with dignity. Terminal patients should get the choice of dying on their own time and own manor. No matter what, if someone wants to die they will find a way to do it. Assisted suicide can be the right way to die, it can be the best thing you can do for you and your family. After all, your loved ones are affected by a terminal illness too.

There are many ethical reasons opposed to assisted suicide. Additionally, there are many ethical reasons to make assisted suicide legal. As a terminal patient you have the choice of either fighting through the pain, or end your suffering by taking your life. Personally, i feel that unless you have unbearable pain then you shouldn’t be able to make the choice of ending your life. That should be the one exception of making assisted suicide legal. All in all, assisted suicide should only be an option for those patients who are suffering and cannot take it anymore.