Persuasive Essay On The Right To Die

Words: 454
Pages: 2

When people hear the term, physician assisted death, they automatically think of horrible doctors killing off their patients for some awful reason, and that they should be punished. The truth is, doctors who assist their patients in dying with dignity are helping their patients, and not committing a crime. Physician assisted death and whether it is a crime has a been a much-debated topic amongst physicians and lawmakers for a long time. There are those who feel that PAD is a violation of the physician’s oath to “do no harm”, while others feel that by ending a terminally ill patient’s suffering, they are helping that patient avoid a drawn out and painful death. In “The Right to Die” author Howard ball writes, “When a competent, terminally ill patient’s pain and suffering is intolerable, using PAD trumps the state’s interest in preserving that patient’s life” (21). …show more content…
Everyone should have the right to decide what is best for them, because not all people handle illness and pain the same way. Ball also notes, “The choice of PAD is a personal one, and the autonomous individual who is dying has the liberty to make such a choice” (20). Physicians who prescribe the lethal doses of medication to help these patients die comfortably are not monsters, they are simply putting their patient’s needs ahead of anyone else’s and should not be punished for doing so. In Oregon, where PAD is legal, doctors helped Brittany Maynard die with dignity and on her own terms. In the article “Medical Aid in Dying”, authors Lee Combs and Grube describe her peaceful passing. “Within thirty minutes of taking the medication, Brittany died peacefully in her sleep with her family by her bedside”