Euthanasia: Suicide and Patients Essay

Human euthanasia, also known as assisted suicide is a controversial topic that has affected countries worldwide for an extended period of time. Assisted suicide is legal in four countries and the states of Washington and Oregon in the United States of America. Many people would argue that the decision to kill oneself is strictly a private choice that society should not have control over. That opinion assumes that suicide results when competent individuals make independent, reasonable decisions to die that society should not be interfering with. Experts whom have studied suicide found the basic assumption being made in regard to assisted suicide are incorrect. A British study involving the examination of medical records determined, “93% of the patients studied whom either committed suicide themselves or went through with a physician assisted suicide, were mentally ill at the time of their death.”1 This suggests that the majority of people who undergo this treatment are not in the proper state of mind to make a life altering decision. Assisted suicide goes against the beliefs held in several religions and those generally accepted in regard to human morality. Individuals that may be depressed or whom are suffering from mental disparity due to illness may wish to die at the moment, but may change their minds further down the road, an error the doctors cannot undo. With the advancements made in current medical technology and medicine, the road to recovery for a terminally ill patient is possible. By rendering assisted suicide illegal it may prevent many unnecessary or immoral deaths from taking place thereby opening the road to recovery for patients suffering with an issue that would lead them to seek death as the sole solution. Ending a person’s life by way of murder is a practice frowned upon across the world. Suspects who commit murder may face charges and possible jail sentences, thus why shouldn’t a physician who assisted in a suicide face the same potential punishment? People believe that it is morally wrong to commit suicide; therefore it is also morally wrong to aid someone in the act of taking their own life. The decision to take away someone’s life should be entered into with significant consideration and not completed utilizing a procedure in which the individual drinks pentobarbital, a drug, that when ingested or injected will end ones life. Assisted suicide goes against the beliefs held in many religions that suggest God created human life and therefore God is the only figure who should be permitted to end a human’s life. Most religions believe that those who become vulnerable through illness or disability, deserve special care and protection, and that the proper end of life should be in a comfortable, monitored environment rather than allowing the act of euthanasia to occur. Christianity beliefs are that, “Human life is a sacred thing, which should be protected and preserved no matter what state of health that person is currently in since God has a plan for all living and interfering with the plan should not be tolerable”.2 Allowing physician assisted suicide to be legal goes against Christian beliefs and human morality and values as life is viewed as a privilege that should not be taken away so easily. Virtually all religions state that God forbids any form of death sentence or the assisted killing of an innocent person as that is unlawful. There is also the argument of an individual choosing death over life as not being in the proper state of mind. The majority of terminally ill patients whom have suffered for a long period of time may have an underlying mental illness. Some psychologists state, “An attempt at suicide is often a challenge to determine if anyone really cares for the involved person. Seeking physician assisted suicide, rather than just acting solely to kill oneself, may well be a subconscious manifestation of that precise issue.”3 By giving people the choice for a physician assisted suicide

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