Assisted Suicide Research Paper

Should We Have the Right to Assisted Suicide?

Assisted suicide is a hotly debated topic within today’s society. With the development of new technology and medications that can ease the physical process of dying, questions have arisen regarding the ethics of assisted suicide. Voices of dissent and agreement are loud on both sides of the issue. Opponents of assisted suicide suggest that assisted suicide is a “slippery slope” that could lead to the erosion of freedom and is open to potential abuse at the hands of doctors or caregivers. They argue that assisted suicide could lead to forms of discrimination, such as the forced euthanasia of disabled persons, dementia-sufferers, or other social groups who are not able to make a choice on their …show more content…
Kevorkian and others like him may have acted unscrupulously, supporters of assisted suicide point to the fact that autonomy and freedom over one’s own person includes the right to make decisions regarding the time, place, and manner of one’s own death. According to the American Civil Liberties Union, “The right of a competent, terminally ill person to avoid excruciating pain and embrace a timely and dignified death bears the sanction of history and is implicit in the concept of ordered liberty” (ACLU 4). The statement by the ACLU goes to state that the exercise of the right to have a dignified death is just as fundamental to personal autonomy the body’s integrity as other as other rights, such as those relating to marriage, procreation, family relationships, child-rearing, and other human activities. To restrict the right of a competent individual to determine his or her death as a form of relief from suffering is to place dangerous restrictions upon that person’s …show more content…
Yet the possibility that a “slippery slope” might occur is not actually the same as it occurring. In order to prevent or restrict assisted suicide, more evidence is needed that will demonstrate a strong likelihood that slippery slope consequences will occur, rather than just the hypothetical possibility (Frey 43). Without strong evidence, this argument is not sufficiently persuasive. In fact, the evidence that is currently demonstrated in the literature strongly suggests that disadvantaged patients are not disproportionately represented in any way in the state of Oregon, which allows assisted suicide (Ganzini 582). With the establishment of clear legal frameworks that prevent assisted suicide in the case of individuals who are not deemed “competent”, or who belong to disadvantaged groups, there is little reason to believe that assisted suicide would evolve into an issue that extended beyond personal freedom and choice from a legal standpoint. Along with questions regarding personal freedom, abuse at the hands of unscrupulous doctors, and the possibility that disadvantaged groups may be targeted, opponents of assisted suicide also argue against the practice on the basis of religious belief. Individuals who use this argument frequently hold the strong belief that

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