Euthanasia and Physician Assisted Suicide

Jordyn Koehn

English 102

Dion Simmons

24 April 2015

Euthanasia and Physician Assisted Suicide

        Euthanasia and physician assisted suicide are two topics within the same. Both acts end up terminating the life of a patient, the difference between the two is that within euthanasia the cause of death is done by someone else whereas in physician assisted suicide the cause of death is done by the patient himself. Typically, both actions are done with in injection of a lethal dose of substances. These topics are very intimate for many people, but why does it have to be? Does a person not deserve to die with dignity that they so desperately desire? “The cultural norm of medicine and of hospital life is to fight hard to preserve life, and in most cases this is the right thing to do. However, inappropriate aggressive care at the end of life can be emotionally, physically, and financially detrimental to patients, their families, and health care providers” (Snyder and Sulmasy). There are many reasons why the legalization of euthanasia and physician assisted suicide should happen including that if someone is mentally competent then they should be able to make a rational decision about his life, patients deserve to die with dignity, euthanasia and physician assisted suicide can allow people to die with the peace of mind that they were not a burden, and it can help lower the feeling of isolation and abandonment in patients. The main objective of why this needs to come into focus is for the patients. The patient is the one that is suffering and is in need of relief.

        Some people may say that the main reason why this needs to come in to focus is for the public. That way the public stigma of physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia will slowly dissipate. This is not nearly as important as the individual himself. The individual is the one that is suffering and if the legalization of physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia does not come into play, suicide and refusal of treatment are still able to be obtained, therefore leading to the inevitable death if the individual. Even though the stigma may be there, the action can still be obtained. Therefore leading to the ultimate reason why the action is still desired, strictly because of the patient’s wishes and judgement. This is why the patient needs to be the center of focus when discussing euthanasia and physician assisted suicide.

        When a patient is mentally competent, but lacks physical capabilities elsewhere that cause him terminal pain, he should be able to decide if physician-assisted suicide or euthanasia is right for him. This can be “used to spare the patient from suffering, to avoid years of anguish, and especially in the case of incurable disease” (Quffa and Voinea). Many people are suffering greatly when they choose to go through with physician-assisted suicide or euthanasia because nothing else has worked to get rid of the pain and suffering. One case specific case of this was expressed in The New England Journal of Medicine’s article over John Wallace. John Wallace was a “72-year-old man with metastatic pancreatic cancer.” His cancer spread throughout his entire body and he was experiencing a lot of pain. He was given narcotics, but the narcotics caused him to have other issues. John understood “the prognosis of the disease, and did not wish to spend his last days suffering or in an unresponsive state.” From there he decided that euthanasia would be the best choice for him. He even talked it over with his family and they gave him their support. This is where the patient is in the lime light. The patient is able to make a conscious decision and should be able to follow through with his decision legally. From all of this, some people would then consider physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia to be a “mercy killing” (Kuhse) because the main focus is on the patient. The patient is the one that has the ultimate choice of living or dying. “According to some opinions, people should have the right to decide the moment of their own death,” (Quffa and Voinea). The ability to be able to choose one’s death allows a patient to have the peace of mind that they will be able to die feeling human instead of looked upon as a vegetable.

Dignity is usually something that people hold at a high value to themselves. Dignity can be defined as pride and respect in oneself. A problem with keeping physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia illegal is that as a disease slowly dictates the life of a patient, it can cause his dignity to slowly dissolve with the disease. By legalizing physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia a patient can feel as if he can die with dignity, by avoiding “the point of human degradation which is embarrassing” (Quffa and Voinea).  Many terminal diseases end up causing the patient to lose basic abilities such as eating, walking, talking, and even breathing by oneself.  Many people will do anything to avoid being seen in such a state, physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia is an option for those where this is a major concern. It allows a person to pass away without loss of these basic functions.

Having to live all the way through the course of a terminal disease can be very devastating to not only the patient but also the family and friends of the patient, but the issue is that the patient typically knows this. At some point in the majority of people’s lives they have had to deal with the illness or major injury of a loved one. Therefore the patient has also, most likely, gone through the situation that his friends and family are now going through. This can cause the patient to feel as if he was a burden to his family and scared that he is causing them prolonged pain. When a patient expresses the desire to go through with physician–assisted suicide or euthanasia “the physician should explore the reasons for the request, trying to understand its meaning, keep dialog open, and affirm that he or she will not abandon the patient” (Snyder and Sulmasy).  Although this may not seem as if it is a “big deal” to the family of the patient, it could cause some serious mental and emotional distress on the individual to feel like they are being a burden (Snyder and Sulmasy). By allowing the patient to feel like he has an option to eliminate the feeling of being a burden on his family, it allows him to be able to think thoroughly about all of his options knowing that there is always euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide if things go too far south for his liking with the other medical procedures. This allows the patient to feel in control of his situation whereas other people, without physician-assisted suicide or euthanasia as an option, may feel as if they are drowning in the burden they are causing their family and out of control. Having it legalized allows the patient peace of mind and comfort in the ending of his life.