Physician+Assisted+Suicide+is+Our+Right

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As Americans, we have the right to bear arms, freedom of speech, and freedom of religion. However, what about the right or the freedom to die whenever and however we please? Physician assisted suicide is legal in only six American states. This means that forty-four states deny people of a treatment that they may someday need. Physician assisted suicide should be legal in the United States due to the right to die, freedom of religion, and living wills.

Why is it not our “right to die”? It is our pain, our suffering, and our life. No one can tell you how severe that your pain is. That is equivalent to a man complaining about the pain of pregnancy; he has never experienced it, so how exactly would he know? This is the same case with the government. If you are experiencing an unbearable amount of pain, how can the government counteract with your statement? The government is not experiencing the same pain that you are.

If the government never legalizes physician assisted suicide, will it stop people from considering it? According to Kevin Drum, a journalist from Mother Jones, his father-in-law, Harry, committed suicide. After fracturing three ribs, Harry realized that an unknown cause was irritating his bone density. Several tests were run to determine that Harry had multiple myeloma, which is a cancer of the bone marrow.

Harry’s cancer was one that progressed slowly. Around ten years later, Harry began to have problems. On the night of January 29th, he fell. This is when Harry realized that he wanted to be in control of how he died. “He was afraid if he delayed any longer he would become physically unable to remain in control of his own destiny (Drum).”

This was when Harry decided to consider physician assisted suicide. However, the only problem was that Harry resided in California. The laws in California stated that physician assisted suicide was illegal. Harry had to figure out his own way to end his life.

Because Harry had to end his life without the help of physicians, he did not want his family members involved in any way. He felt as though his family would feel responsible. Harry notified his family of his decision, and went into his bedroom. He placed a plastic bag over his head, and opened a tank of helium. Harry died within a few minutes.

So, just because physician assisted suicide is illegal in most places, it will not stop suicides from occurring. Harry’s story shows that people will just find an alternate way to die. Alternate ways to die could be more painful than the euthanasia provided in physician assisted suicide. The way that the ill person dies could also affect a family’s grieving process. What if someone decides to take their life by jumping off a building, or shooting themselves? That could leave a family in more pain than just using euthanasia.

“St. Augustine was a fourth century philosopher whose groundbreaking philosophy infused Christian doctrine with Neoplatonism (IEP).” Augustine had many ideas, especially ones that dealt with suicide. Augustine’s ideas on suicide are that it is not acceptable in any fashion or form.

Augustine states that “if no one has a private right to kill even a guilty man, then certainly anyone who kills himself is a murderer (Augustine 27).” Augustine says this as the reasoning behind the Bible’s Book of Job. The book of Job deals with a man who experiences a life of hard trials and tribulations. However, not once did Job ever give up. Instead of wanting to commit suicide, Job placed his complete and total faith in God. Augustine states that if we are going through something, we should do the same as Job. We should put our complete faith in God.

Ironically, however, this is the United States. America is known as a big melting pot, a place of many different races, religions, and ethnic backgrounds. Not everyone’s religion is Christianity. In fact, there are many religions that make up the United States including but not limited to Islam, Hinduism, and Judaism.

Just because one person’s religion disagrees with physician assisted suicide, does not mean that every religion does. Religion should not be a reason why physician assisted suicide is deemed illegal. There are many religions in the United States that may or may not go against physician assisted suicide. Is it fair to make physician assisted suicide illegal for people whose religion has nothing to do with it?

Last but not least, physician assisted suicide should also be made legal due to living wills. A living will is: "…your written expression of how you want to be treated in certain medical conditions. Depending on state law, this document may permit you to express whether or not you wish to be given life-sustaining treatments in the event you are terminally ill or injured, to decide in advance whether you wish to be provided food and water via intravenous devices ('tube feeding'), and to give other medical directions that impact the end of life. 'Life-sustaining treatment' means the use of available medical machinery and techniques, such as heart-lung machines, ventilators, and other medical equipment and techniques that will sustain and possibly extend your life, but which will not by themselves cure your condition. In addition to terminal illness or injury situations, most states permit you to express your preferences as to treatment using life-sustaining equipment and/or tube feeding for medical conditions that leave you permanently unconscious and without detectable brain activity.”

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Living wills provide doctors with the patient’s informed consent of what they would like to happen with their body if they are in a vegetative state. If a person made their living will that agreed with physician assisted suicide as a treatment option, is it our right to go against their wishes and deem their decision worthless?

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">If someone expresses what they would like their treatment options to be, it is not anyone’s right to go against them. Marlise Muñoz, a Texas woman, was placed on life support after collapsing in the kitchen in her home. While on life support, it was determined that Muñoz was brain dead. She was fourteen weeks pregnant with her and her husband’s baby.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Marlise Muñoz’s family decided to take her off of life support, although she was pregnant. However, “officials at John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth, Texas, argued [that] state law required them to maintain life-sustaining treatment for a pregnant patient (CNN).” <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Erick Muñoz, Marlise’s husband, was extremely distraught with the law. He felt that he had a promise to keep to his wife. He stated that, “You know, you want to keep your word to your loved one (CNN).”

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Marlise did not have a legal living will. She instead had conversations with her immediate family of what she would like to happen in circumstances like this. Erick Muñoz stated that him and Marlise were both paramedics. Their occupation allowed them to previously think about what should happen in times like this. Erick and Marlise had formerly professed that life could change in a split second, and one of them could be gone. Erick knew from his wife’s previous statements that she would want to be taken off of life support. Marlise’s family vowed to honor her wishes, regardless of what the state law required.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Due to John Peter Smith Hospital, Marlise’s family decided to go to the court. “A judge in Fort Worth sided with the family on a Friday, ordering the hospital to remove any artificial means of life support from Marlise by 5 p.m. Monday (CNN).” The life support machines were turned off on Sunday morning and Marlise Muñoz’s body was released to her husband.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Although Marlise did not have a living will, it relates back to someone who does have one. Marlise let her family know what to do if a circumstance like hers ever came up. As you can see, it wrecked Marlise’s family to not follow her instructions.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">So, how is this different from a person who has physician assisted suicide on their living will? It causes additional stress on a mourning family to have to go through the government to grant their loved one’s wishes. Is it any government official’s place to tell a family that they know what’s best for their deceased family member?

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Physician assisted suicide should be legal in the United States due to the right to die, freedom of religion, and living wills. The right to die, freedom of religion, and living wills all explain why physician assisted suicide is the person’s choice. The only person that experiences their physical pain, or emotional discomfort is the person going through the illness, or disorder. If we ourselves are not experiencing their pain, are we in any place to tell them that their decision of physician assisted suicide is immoral or unethical?

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">See other related wiki pages:
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">PAS
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Medical Students and PAS

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Works Cited

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Yao, Teresa. "Can We Limit a Right to Physician-Assisted Suicide?." National Catholic <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Bioethics Quarterly, vol. 16, no. 3, Sept. 2016, pp. 385-392. EBSCOhost, ezproxy.gsu.edu/login?url=@http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=120638518&site=eds-live.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Burlá, Claudia, et al. "Alzheimer, Dementia and the Living Will: A Proposal." Medicine, <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Health Care, and Philosophy, vol. 17, no. 3, Aug. 2014, pp. 389-395. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1007/s11019-014-9559-8.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">"Top 10 Pros and Cons - Euthanasia." Should euthanasia or physician-assisted suicide be <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">legal? ProCon, Web. 16 Apr. 2017.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">"What is a Living Will?" Should euthanasia or physician-assisted suicide be legal? Web. 16 <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Apr. 2017.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">"State-by-State Guide to Physician-Assisted Suicide - Euthanasia - ProCon.org." Should <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">euthanasia or physician-assisted suicide be legal? Web. 16 Apr. 2017.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Drum, Kevin. "My Right to Die." Mother Jones. Jan. 2016. Web. 16 Apr. 2017.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">"Augustine." Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Web. 16 Apr. 2017. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><@http://www.iep.utm.edu/augustin/>

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">St. Augustine. Concerning the City of God against the Pagans. London: Penguin Group, <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">2003. Print.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Shoichet, Catherine E. "Marlise Muñoz's husband tells CNN, 'I asked God to take me <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">instead'" CNN. Cable News Network, 30 Jan. 2014. Web. 16 Apr. 2017.