Physician Assisted Suicide Research Paper

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Physician-Assisted Suicide: a form of murder or a form of mercy?
Many family pets are put down daily to end unnecessary suffering, but society is unaccepting of the same mercy being shown to our loved ones. Lewis Cohen, professor at Tufts University, says, “ Death with dignity epitomizes self-determination as a moment when palliative medicine bumps up against its limits, when patients are undergoing irremediable suffering” (162). A patient that relies completely on a machine or person to help perform basic human functions should have the right to control at least one thing: their right to die. Physician-Assisted Suicide (PAS) should be legalized in every American state because research shows that PAS has already been implemented responsibly …show more content…
state because a patient’s decision how and when to die is a personal liberty. Therefore, any state that recognizes individual rights should recognize the right to die as an individual right (Singer 58). An individual's right refers to the freedoms of every person to pursue happiness without interference from government, society, or church associations. Eric Rice, Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review editor, wrote “ The decision of suicide is personal, nuanced, difficult, and traught with emotions, philosophies, and faith. It is not a question the government has any business answering for an individual” (QTD. in “Right to Die…”). Furthermore, Montana Supreme Court Justice James Nelson ruled in the 2009 case Baxter v. Montana, “ Society does not have the right to strip a mentally competent, incurably ill individual of her invoidable human dignity when she seeks aid in dying from her physician” (QTD. in “Right to Die”). Rice and Nelson are in agreement that PAS is a question for only one person- the person whose life is on the table. Likewise, the religious beliefs of a group should not inhibit a person from ending their life in the manner of their choosing (Singer 60). Ultimately, PAS is an intimate decision that should have no interference from outside …show more content…
Alan Marzilli claims that many opponents worry that if PAS becomes legal the elderly, the poor, and the other especially vulnerable groups will be pressured into suicide (54). While opponents’ fears are logical, research proves them invalid. For example, Jacob Appels statement that “Despite predictions that legalization would lead to abuse or to decrease in palliative care, jurisdictions that have sanctioned the process...have shown that a system of assisted suicide can be implemented responsibly” completely discredits the validity of the opponents’ fears (QTD.
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