Assited Suicide Essay, Research Paper

If you had incurable disease that gave you six months to live and you were in incredible pain and were suffering, would you want to hang on for those last moments of torture? Assisted suicide is a very controversial topic. There are many people supporting it and many people opposing it. Assisted suicide should be legalized.

There are laws prohibiting assisted suicide in thirty-six states. The main reason that the states oppose assisted suicide is because they don’t fully understand it. People think that anyone can be assisted in suicide, not just the terminally ill. That is not true. There are many rules that a physician needs to follow before they can proceed with the suicide. Here are some of them:

1. Patient must be terminally ill

2. Patient must have six months or less to live

3. Patient must make two oral requests for assistance in dying

4. Patient must make one written request for assistance

5. Patient must convince two physicians that he/she is sincere, is not acting on whim, and that the decision is voluntary

6. Patient must not have been influenced by depression

7. Patient must be informed of “the feasible alternatives, including, but not limited to, comfort care, hospice care and pain control”

8. Patient must wait for fifteen days

People opposing assisted suicide, say that there are other things that can be done besides helping a person die. One of idea is that the pain experienced by terminally ill people can be lowered to bearable levels by a higher dosage of medicine. However, many doctors do not give out higher dosages of painkillers, in fear that the patient may become addicted to the drugs. Also, is it really worth engaging in extremely expensive treatment for the terminally ill in order to extend their life a few weeks against their will? The money used in this care is not available for infant care or pre-natal care, where it would save lives and improve the long-term quality of life for others.

There are many faith groups within Christian, Muslim, Jewish, and other religions that believe that life was a gift from God and that by ending it early, we would be disobeying His wishes. In doing so, we would be rejecting God’s love. This is an important belief for the member’s of one of these religious groups, but should the beliefs of a religious group decide the law for the states? Also, Christianity has taught that their members have a responsibility to support people who are suffering. So, a fitting Christian response to terminally ill people who are suffering would be to help them bear their suffering.

In conclusion, assisted suicide is a choice that should be made by the person, and that decision should not be influenced by religious beliefs nor should states prohibit it.