Arguments Against Physician Assisted Suicide

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Once an individual reaches late adulthood, many physical, cognitive, and health changes occur. There is an increased vulnerability to disease and illness. This is something any person must be aware of when entering late adulthood. You are reaching the end of your life and you have to accept the possibility of developing health problems or illnesses that may be incurable. One of the most controversial issues in society today is the topic of physician-assisted suicide. Physician-assisted suicide is the voluntary termination of one's own life by administration of a lethal substance with the direct or indirect assistance of a physician. They provide a competent patient with a prescription for medication for the patient to use with the primary …show more content…

I think arguments opposing it are the most compelling. Physician-assisted suicide would violate human dignity, viewing disabled family members as burdens would increase, and it would corrupt the profession of medicine by permitting something that is supposed to be used for healing to be used for killing. Death assisted with medication from a doctor and dying alone in a hospital bed is a heartbreaking concept to me. It pains me that patients with terminal illnesses would make the decision to end their life because they are miserable or believe they are a burden to their family. Life is a precious gift we have been given. No one should be able to assist in taking that away from someone even if it seems like the only solution to that person. I have never had a family member, friend, or myself experience a terminal illness or disability so it may seem easy for me to not support this. I cannot imagine what someone with a terminal illness or disability has to endure everyday for months and years at a time. However, I do know that life is a sacred thing that we were not meant to terminate ourselves. Doctors are meant to help save lives and discover cures to diseases. They are not meant to assist in making the decision to take them away. People deserve society’s assistance in living and not their assistance in