Should Assisted Suicide Be an Option for Terminally Ill Patients - Essay Example

Should assisted suicide be an option for patients who are terminally ill, in pain and want assisted suicide in Canada? Introduction Assisted suicide is one of the most controversial subjects in Canada’s health sector mainly because it has a direct impact on individuals’ life and right to life. It is a form of suicide characterized by deliberate termination of life with the assistance from another person (usually a medical doctor) to end pain and suffering from a terminal illness (Snyder 2). The patient, without compulsion or influence by another party, voluntarily permits the doctor to terminate his life to end the pain and suffering in a manner only comparable to suicide. There have been several proponents and opponents of the issue in nearly equal proportion. Many of the opponents argue that it is illegal and unethical to assist someone to take away his life (Snyder 2). In contrast, the proponents of assisted suicide believe that the act is a dignified way to die by ending pain and suffering of persons who are terminally ill and suffer from incurable diseases. While the major debate has been whether legalizing assisted suicide would end suffering and pain, it defies the morality and ethics of the society; thus, it should not be legalized. Besides, legalizing assisted suicide could lead to abuse as people would have their lives ended against their wishes. Finally, legalizing the act would imply or lead to putting a dollar value on human life since the high cost of long-term care for people who are terminally ill would outweigh their right to live. Background Information The practice of euthanasia is generally illegal in the country. Nevertheless, there have been debates (most recently in Quebec back in March 2012) on whether the government should legalize it or not, particularly after Dr. Jack Kevorkian in Michigan (Gorsuch 44). The current laws in Canada prohibit any physician from assisting a person’s suicide lest he faces prosecution for abetting the act. The debate on the issue of assisted suicide deepened after 1990 when a retired pathologist in Michigan, Dr. Jack Kevorkian, started to attend a number of suicide requests by patients on the verge of dying (Gorsuch 44). He advised patients who suffered from degenerative or terminal diseases on how to administer carbon monoxide and eventually die. This action elicited mixed reactions from the public as Kevorkian was subjected to prosecution where he would answer to charge of unlawfully assisting a person to commit suicide (Gorsuch 44). The Michigan courts dismissed the murder charges, and Kevorkian was ultimately acquitted in 1994 against expectations of prosecutors and Michigan legislators who were determined to ensure the doctor is convicted of murder. Apparently, a physician-assisted suicide (also known as Euthanasia) concerns people who experience pain and suffering due to terminal illness. Pro Argument #1 According to the scientific study on terminal diseases published in the American Journal of Psychiatry, a very small percentage of patients with such illnesses expressed the wish to terminate their lives. Precisely, only one individual out of four wished to die due to suffering and pain (Gorsuch 44). Incidentally, majority of the cases involved patients who had clinically diagnosable depression. The study proposes psychotherapeutic treatment for the terminally ill. It further reveals that the rate of assisted suicide lies between 2% and 4%, a clear suggestion that very few patients will voluntarily permit termination of their lives (Gorsuch 44). Thus, it proposes compassionate counseling alongside psychological and medical care to provide constructive and morally acceptable options to euthanasia. In the end, patients would naturally succumb to the terminal illnesses instead of the controversial assisted suicide. In the same way, scientific study reveals a small percentage of patients wishing to die by assisted suicide. In most Cases these patients were diagnosed with depression. Pro Argument #2 A patient undergoing serious pain and suffering due to terminal illness will seldom make a rational decision. Patients will hardly ever begin to consider committing physician-assisted suicide when diagnosed with terminal illness for the first time (Manga 10). Instead, those who have endured a lot of pain and sufferings due to the disease will be swift at making decisions on euthanasia (Manga 10). In this scenario, the patient will be in a hospital bed, conceivably during the worst part of the terminal illness, and will not hesitate to make decisions to end the frustration due to serious pain and suffering. In the same way, the physician will also abuse the medical situation in various ways. Hence, the abuse it is imperative the law provides enough safeguards against abuse of the situation. Pro Argument #3 According to the British study (1974), more than 93% of those who reportedly committed suicide had serious mental disorders at the time. The study involved extensive examination as well as interviews of medical records in various health care facilities (Manga 10). Similarly, a study at St. Louis (published in 1984) indicated that 94% of patients who committed suicide had serious mental illnesses. In general, a great body of psychological evidence point out to insanity as the primary cause of attempted suicides (Manga 10). Hence, the assumption that those who commit suicide or permit the doctor to terminate their lives are competent, and therefore do so voluntarily, is obviously incorrect. In essence, not all people who kill themselves do as a rational decision. Con Argument The decision on whether to commit suicide comes down to one individual-the patient going through pain and suffering due to mental illness. The physician or even families do not have the right to coerce or persuade the patient into committing suicide (Burt 1501). In reality, it would be traumatizing to the physician when a patient dies right before his eyes. Nevertheless, a family that prolongs the suffering of a member in pain is simply unrealistic, especially if the condition of the patient worsens by the day in spite of a painstaking medical intervention (Burt 1501). Physician-assisted suicide has been in practice in Washington since 2009 and Oregon since 1997. According to the ruling of Supreme Court of Montana state in 2009, the practice was legal but it remains a highly contested practice. Refuting Paragraph Though the decision whether to commit suicide boils down to the patient, research shows that most patients with terminal illness have psychological or mental conditions, and thus, are not in a position to make rational decision such as ending their lives through assisted suicide. In addition, the doctor’s responsibility and code of ethics is to save life, and not to end it; hence, it will be unethical to end the life of a patient because it is traumatizing to watch them suffer (Snyder, 2002). Moreover, on the issue of being unrealistic for family members to keep their loved one suffering yet there is zero percent chance of getting better, and they will eventually die, it is common knowledge that family members may have other reasons to end someone’s life other than for compassion. For example, family members may be interested in inheriting wealth and property of the patient, and the only way to do that is when he/she dies. Conclusion The debate about the controversial issue of physician-assisted suicide has triggered law-making organs and law enforcement agencies to swing into action in a bid to establish a legal framework and interpretation. While the practice remains unlawful in Canada, proponents of assisted suicide argue that it is pointless to subject an individual to suffering and pain particularly if he is willing to die (Burt 1501). Proponents of physician-assisted suicide believe that assisted suicide will potentially end pain and suffering of persons on the verge of dying. Opponents of the practice on the contrary argue that it is inhuman and unethical to assist someone to take away his or her life (Burt 1501). Overall, the final verdict lies within the law making organs review their decision on the practices after extensive consultation with relevant stakeholders. Works Cited Burt, Robert A. "Dying justice: A case for decriminalizing Euthanasia and assisted suicide in Canada." The New England journal of medicine 352.14 (2005): 1501-2. ProQuest. Web. 14 Nov. 2013. Gorsuch, Neil M. The Future of Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia. Princeton, N.J: Princeton University Press, 2006. Print. Manga, P. "The Case for Legalizing Physician-Assisted Suicide in Canada." Order No. U129103 the University of Wales, Swansea (United Kingdom), 2000. Ann Arbor: ProQuest. Web. 14 Nov. 2013. Snyder, Lois. Assisted Suicide: Finding Common Ground. Bloomington [u.a.: Indiana Univ. Press, 2002. Print. Read More