Personally, I do not believe in assisted suicide. I believe that its immoral but in some cases, assisted suicide may be an alternative to eternal suffering.
The pro side of this debate feels that assisted suicide is perfectly okay and is and should always be a choice for any patient with an eternal illness. In a recent study, 2/3 of Americans approve of assisted suicide. When one has less than six months to live, has requested to have assisted suicide three or more times, and has family or friends present they can then apply for assisted suicide. Nevertheless, the assisted suicide is only legal in Oregon and the Netherlands.
The law in Oregon that allows this is known more commonly as the Death With Dignity Act. Most of the patients that apply have an uncontrollable amount of pain and would rather not put any more of a damper on their family. Many feel that when the pain is so unbearable, one cant control their own bodily functions, addicted to meds, and spending all of the familys retirement or college funds, they feel its time for them to move on. Furthermore, 85% of cancer patients polled said they were in pain 100% of the time. In conclusion, assisted suicide relieves the patient of their immense pain and misery and the families of their suffering and financial strain.
On the opposing side are those who feel that assisted suicide is a violation of all religious beliefs and a devalue to life. This type of death goes against what all doctors have been trained to do, to save lives, not to help end them. If assisted suicide becomes legal in more states there will be pressure on the elderly and those who are just seriously ill and the disabled to end their lives along with the terminally ill. By a study completed by ABC in March of 2002, 40% of those polled supported assisted suicide and 48% opposed it. Once this type of murder becomes legalized in more states or countries, what will the limit be? How far will it be stretched? The issue of assisted suicide becomes more and more prevalent in homes today and it puts too much power into the hands of the families and doctors involved. Assisted suicide is causing an innumerable amount of unnecessary lives to be lost.
Assisted suicide in my opinion after the debate is still the same. I believe its wrong but there are always exceptions to any rule. There are some cases in which patients are in so much pain that they are better off to die then to keep on living and suffering. As long as assisted suicide is going on, it will be abused and illegally used. But as long as there are suffering patients, some will be relieved of their terminal illness once and for all.Bibliography:
