Questions to Ask the proposing side
- Aren’t the patients going to suffer and die anyway?
- Why do people choose suicide?
- Is it wrong to assist someone in a suicide freely chosen?
- Why shouldn’t assisted suicide be legalized?
- What about competent, terminally ill people who say they really want assisted suicide?
- Will patients be coerced to choose death to keep costs down?
- Why are people with disabilities worried about assisted suicide?
- how can we say suicide is a “free choice”?
- Doesn’t assisted suicide allow people to die when they choose, surrounded by family?
- What is the view of the medical profession?
- What is physician-assisted suicide?
Physician assisted suicide is a situation that occurs between physicians and patients. What happens usually is the physicians facilitate the death of a patient by providing them with the necessary requirements and information that will generally aid a life-ending act. For instance, a physician might find themselves in a position to provide the patients with lethal medication as well as information that would guide the patients through the entire process of how to end life. The lethal medication as well as information might occur as a way of enabling the patients to personally administer the lethal doses that might eventually bring their life to an end. It is critical to consider the fact that there are laws pertaining to the act of assisted suicide whereby evidence is required that proves that the physician intervened to aid suicide. Physicians cannot be linked to have caused a patient to commit suicide if they did not personally have the intention of doing it. As such, it is important to note that physicians might provide medication to relief pain that might increase the risk of death, however, the physicians cannot be prosecuted unless they had the intent of assisted suicide.
On the other side, physician assisted suicide can be defined as the voluntary termination or a particular person’s life by the administration of lethal medication under the direction of a physician. Patients with illnesses that have become unbearable are the most victims that are associated with the act of primarily intending to end their own life. As far as the act is concerned, it is also important to consider the fact that physician assisted suicide has both the opposing and the proposing sides. The opposing side majorly involves the physicians who have the believe that the act goes against the fundamental tenet of medicine. The physicians also believe that their counterparts should not associate themselves with the act in that it goes completely against the sole role of doctors as healers. Notably, the physician assisted suicide is abbreviated as PAS. There are many reasons as to why negating the act should stand out rather than supporting it. As mentioned, the act is associated with the misuse of the fundamental tenet of medicine which is basically treating or rather healing. The other reason as to why it is right to oppose the physician assisted suicide act is that it is typically incompatible with the fundamental role of physicians which is healing. The act can also put doctors in a disadvantaged place in the society. This is because the act makes the doctors do exactly the opposite of what is expected of them.
Rebuttal
Why Oppose Assisted Suicide?
There are many reasons as to why it is advisable to oppose the act that is associated with physician assisted suicide. Some of the reasons stress on the reputation of physicians as well as the right to human life. Some of the viable reasons include the fact that assisted suicide legislation is an act that has been attempted for many years, for close to two decades. Even if assisted suicide has been attempted for long, both legislators and voters consider it bad for healthcare. The other factor to consider is the fact that very often patients tend to outlive the predictions that are set by physicians with accordance to their health. Therefore, it might not be a good decision to take because the patients might have survived. Legalizing assisted suicide for those individuals that are terminally ill and disabled will turn out to be a generally bad example to the society in that it will mean that the lives of the ill and disabled have no significance in the society. It will also be against anti-suicide activities. It is important to note the fact that most suicide attempts are as a result of depression and mental illness.
Therefore, terminating the life of a particular person without knowing the reason that has made them contemplate suicide is bad. Instead, the mental illness and depression patients should be given the right direction on how to deal with the issues that they have beforehand. Moreover, terminating the lives of such patients with depression and mental illness will mean that they are not the same people as the rest of the population. The other factor is that there is no requirement that anyone should be with the patient during that time when the medication is taken. As such, there are cases when the medication taken tends to lead to complications and discomfort. There are places such as in California whereby physician assisted suicide do not require for the patient contemplating suicide to inform a family member of the request for suicide, therefore the act should be greatly opposed. The other factor is that during the action, there is a requirement that states that there must be two witnesses whereby one is an heir and the other one a representative of the nursing home. It is therefore important to note that it is difficult to safeguard against coercion. Sometimes, the amounts of overdose medication or rather the lethal medication to be administered can arrive at the home of the patient through a mail. As such, there is no safeguard as to who will accept the package. There is no evidence whatsoever that either a sick or a disabled person will ingest the medication on their own or they will get assistance.
Closing remarks
In conclusion, it is important to consider the fact that physician assisted suicide is to be negated at all costs. There are many reasons as to why it should be opposed as much as possible. The primary reason as to why it should never be accepted is that it goes completely against the reputation of physicians as they tend to do exactly the opposite of what is expected of them. Most importantly, instead of saving lives, the act is associated with the doctors ending lives. Therefore, this is a bad action for doctors to take. The other major factors as to why the physician assisted suicide should be greatly opposed is that the act goes against the right to human life. Also, the reasons as to why the patients might be contemplating suicide might not be associated with healthcare as the patients might be having personal reasons. For instance, the patients might be experiencing depression and mental illness, therefore instead of assisted suicide, physicians might consider looking for alternatives to suicide.