Life Is Precious

Life Is Precious

It has been argued that it should be made legal for patients to have doctor-assisted suicide, or mercy-killing, which is the term used to describe ending life through the voluntary self-administration of lethal medication, expressly prescribed by a physician for that purpose (DHS-Internet). By approximately a two-to-one ratio, most adults in the US agree that it should be this way. "When read a brief description of the Oregon proposition, allowing physician-assisted suicide for patients who are thought to have less than six months to live, a 61% to 34% majority said that they would favor such a law in their state"(Harris # 2). However, I myself feel, that it shouldn't be approved for several reasons: this matter does not belong upon human beings to decide; physicians and family members, rather than patients are likely to be the real decision makers; terminally ill patients are not sufficiently conscious to make end-of-life decisions.

First of all, no one should have the right to decide about ending lives, even if it is his/her own. For the breath of life was given without being requested, therefore no one has the power to decide upon when it should end or be taken away from a person. Indeed, most Americans feel that it is fine for terminally ill patients to take away their own lives. However, if the suicide is successfully done, who will be able to say that person would not have recovered if they had waited patiently? We have all heard some cases about people who were dying and for some reason, a miracle happened which made them react and live again. I myself have a similar experience in my family. About five years ago, my brother was under no condition to live, due to a serious chronic kidney complication. He got to the point to where the doctors asked for the family's consent to turn the machines off because there was no more chance of survival. For many diverse reasons we chose to wait upon time to see what would happen. Not very long after that, the one who was supposed to be already dead miraculously reacted and started to live again. This shows that many times though doctors seem to know the best escape, time and patience proves them otherwise. According to Stephen R. Katz M.D., the term doctor-assisted suicide may sound reassuring, almost comforting, and maybe even a peaceful alternative to a sometimes agonizing death, but the true meaning is that it is nothing but the act of taking of a life by another human (Doctor Inform-internet).

In addition, many families might, instead of support and show love to their ill member, pressure them to actually seek doctor-assisted suicide. Since the patient is sick, depressed, with very low self-esteem, s/he may feel that s/he should end her/his suffering and does not want to be a burden for the family. In addition, when people become old, confused, depressed, or disabled their relatives will nag them to "do it", then patients will be the victims if the "right" to die becomes the "duty" to die especially for disabilities and serious chronic illnesses (Science Today- Internet). It would grant family members and others close to the patient the authority to decide about the treatment, including life-sustaining measures for individuals who are not able to decide about themselves. In my point of view, as one had the right to be born, s/he has the right to die on their proper time, naturally. Since there is a time to begin, there is a time to end everything on this earth. People do not need to try anticipating anything because in the right time everything has its fulfillment.

Supporters of the right to assisted suicide usually say that physicians will help only patients who are terminally ill or are in great agonizing pain. However, in reviewing the lives of people whose suicides have been publicly linked to Dr. Jack Kevorkian, a pathologist who has been behind bars since 1999, serving 10 to 25 years for second-degree murder, at least 60% of the 47 suicide patients were not terminal. At least 17 of them could have lived in definitively and 13 had no complaint of pain and in at least five of those cases, the people who died had histories of severe depression (Freep - internet).

Dr. Kevorkian argues that every assisted-suicide candidate underwent extensive counseling with himself before hand, but it was found that counseling was often limited to phone calls and brief meetings that included family members and friends (Free press- internet). There should be some requirements for the process of doctor-assisted suicide, for instance, every candidate for assisted suicide must be examined by a psychiatrist. But it was found that there was no psychiatric exam in at least 19 Kevorkian