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Argumentative Essay On Physician Assisted Suicide

788 Words4 Pages

Physician-Assisted Suicide: A Bioethical Conundrum
Brittany Maynard, a 29-year-old Oregon resident diagnosed with Stage IV brain cancer, has scheduled her death for November 1, 2014. Unable to bear the thought of a natural death, Maynard’s physician wrote a prescription that will end her life (Bever, 2014). In the United States, Montana, New Mexico, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington have decriminalized physician-assisted suicide (Eckholm, 2014). Oregon’s so-called, Death with Dignity Act, implies the natural act of dying is in fact, undignified. Although proponents of the right-to-die eschew the term suicide, taking a lethal dose of physician-prescribed medication, cannot be prettied-up to mean anything other than suicide. While some believe …show more content…

Moreover, witnessing the decline and suffering of the dying person is distressing for both the family and physicians. However, choosing to end a life through physician-assisted suicide (PAS) can bring added grief to the family, and for the medical community, feelings of guilt for violating the Hippocratic Oath’s dictum of ‘First, do no harm.’ Decriminalizing physician-assisted suicide obliterates this long-held ethical tenant. For this reason, in a poll of more than 5,000 physicians, 82% stated physician-assisted suicide should not be legal (New England Journal of Medicine, 2013). Certainly, supporters of euthanasia point out it is a physician’s duty to treat pain and suffering; however, to prescribe death as a reasonable treatment undermines the role of the physician as a …show more content…

This argument is fallacious, as life is not a lone event, but involves a community of family and friends. To state otherwise and end life solely out of fear is a deeply flawed message. Despite this, addressing the pain and anxiety experienced during the dying process is paramount to arguing against physician-assisted suicide. This alternative is hospice care, where the principles of autonomy, benevolence, and nonmaleficence allow terminally ill individuals to be active participants in their final journey. According to the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (2014), hospice is optimum for those facing a life-limiting illness, as it provides medical care, pain management, and emotional and spiritual support according to the wishes and needs of the patient. When patients seek PAS, the benefits of hospice are lost in the quest for a quick end to their discomfort. In a direct condemnation of PAS, Byock (2014, pg. 1) stated, “The difference between what I do and euthanasia is that palliative care does whatever is necessary to alleviate the suffering while euthanasia is focused on eliminating the

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