Assisted suicide - Research Paper Example

Assisted Suicide Assisted suicide takes place when an individual helps another person “voluntarily bring about his or her own death (Jamison 4).” Assisted suicide encompasses many aspects of aiding an individual in committing suicide, from buying the equipment or drugs required to physically helping the person end their life. While assisted suicide has similar characteristics to euthanasia and even physician-assisted suicide, what sets assisted suicide from the rest of these is that suicide is the result. The person wants to end their life. With euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide, the individual is usually in a lot of pain or is suffering, and these options are available to them in most states. Assisted suicide is no different than basic suicide, except that it requires the help of others to go through with it. Like suicide, assisted suicide is undergone when a person is unable to handle being alive anymore. They are having problems in life with their family or friends, or are simply having problems with themselves that they feel unable to solve. Some people are even in positions of being ill or in pain, yet live in a state that does not sanction euthanasia or physician-assisted suicide, so they take it upon themselves and the help of another to end their life. Each person that contemplates suicide, assisted or not, has their own reasons for why they want to end their life. It all comes down to the fact that they do not want to continue living. Similarly, each person has their own reason for deciding against suicide by self for assisted suicide. In some cases of assisted suicide, the person wanting to end their life is afraid of going through with it, even though they know that it is what they want, without any doubts or second thoughts. They resort to the help of someone else to do the dirty work, which can sometimes have consequences that will be discussed herein. In other instances, the individual needs help in getting the items they need to go through with the suicide on their own. If they need a particular drug or piece of equipment, like a gun or rope, the person assisting them would obtain these items. In assisted suicide, it is more common for the assister to get the required items as opposed to helping physically bring an end to the person’s life. There has been, and remains to be, a lot of speculation in regard to the legality of assisted suicide. The issue lies primarily with the person doing the assisting. While suicide is no longer considered a crime in many places throughout the world, assisted suicide is a different story and is looked at differently because it involves the participation of another person. Currently, only three states in America have legalized assisted suicide, and they are Oregon, Washington, and Montana. Outside of the United States, some of the jurisdictions that have legalized assisted suicide includes Switzerland, Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands. Quite a few of these locations have specialized facilities that can aid in assisted suicide, from providing information and literature to offering medical facilities that assist in the suicide. Though it is rare, a few countries do not consider assisted suicide illegal if it is undergone at one of these specialized locations where doctors and specialists can oversee what goes on. While most states in America and countries across the world have clear laws governing assisted suicide, there are some places that do not have laws for or against assisted suicide. However, this does not mean that an assister will not face issues should a suicide be completed. “A great many people instinctively feel that suicide and assisted suicide are such individual acts of freedom and free will that they assume there are no legal prohibitions (Paterson 27).” Unfortunately, this is seldom the case, even in places where suicide is legal. In the majority of the places that do not have concrete laws about assisted suicide, anyone found having assisted someone in committing suicide is charged with murder or manslaughter, regardless of the fact that they had the permission of the person committing suicide. Hundreds of people each year are charged with murder as a result of assisting someone with suicide, and many doctors end up losing their licenses when they are found helping an individual commit suicide. The reason for this is that states and countries believe that people have every right to end their own life, that they have the freedom to do so, yet someone else does not have the right to help end a life, but should have a responsibility of talking the person out of committing suicide. It is only suicide for the person dying; it becomes murder for the person helping. This brings along a plethora of ethical concerns in regard to assisted suicide. When it comes to suicide, as previously mentioned, it is believed that people have the free will to decide when they should die. As long as they do not inflict harm on others in the process, they have the moral right to do what they want with their lives. This is the primary reason why most places throughout the world have legalized suicide. It is nobody’s business but the individual’s to determine when they should die. Furthermore, “we ourselves have an obligation to relieve the suffering of our fellow human being and to respect their dignity (Dworkin 84).” If a person wishes to commit suicide and wants someone to help them, they should be within their right to do so, and the assister should not be punished for helping a person die with dignity. On the other side of the ethical argument, though, it is believed that society has a moral duty to protect and preserve all life. “To allow people to assist others in destroying lives violates a fundamental duty we have to respect human life. A society committed to preserving and protecting life should not commission people to destroy it (Dworkin 89).” There is no question that people should try to talk friends and loved ones out of suicide, or to find them the help that they may need in an attempt to get them to change their minds. However, in the minds of the people who support assisted suicide and suicide in general, if a person wants to end their life, that is their decision. A friend can try to talk another friend out of suicide, but that does not mean that the friend has to bend and change their mind. If they want to commit suicide, that’s that. Other concerns about assisted suicide deal with personal opinions and religious speculation. Each person has their own thoughts about suicide and assisted suicide. While some think that the action is selfish, others feel that a person has every right to end their life if they are tired of suffering, whether it is a physical, mental, or emotional suffering. In a religious context, suicide and assisted suicide are considered sin as many religions believe that only God can determine when someone should die. As there are so many views of suicide and assisted suicide, it can be said that there is no right or wrong view; every individual and every state and country holds to their own beliefs in this matter. Assisted suicide takes place when one person helps another person commit suicide. The assister’s responsibilities can range from gathering the needed drugs or equipment to actually having a hand in the execution of the suicide. Each person that contemplates suicide or commits suicide has their own reasons for wanting to do so, and this can sometimes include having someone else help them. There are many states and countries that consider assisted suicide to be illegal, though there are some that support the thought that people have the free will to do what they will with their lives. Ethical concerns also govern the acceptability of assisted suicide, but it all comes down to the individual, who will do to themselves what they feel they are capable of doing. Works Cited Dworkin, Gerald. Euthanasia and Physician-Assisted Suicide: For and Against. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1998. Print. Jamison, Stephen. Assisted Suicide. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1997. Print. Paterson, Craig. The Contribution of Natural Law Theory to Moral and Legal Debate on Suicide: Assisted Suicide. New York: HarperCollins Publishing, 2011. Print. Read More