Argumentative Essay: A Right To Die

A Right to Die A patient was diagnosed with a terminal illness: cancer. Doctors considered his condition to be incurable by modern medicines and claimed he had six months to live. For five months, he suffered from the agonizing pain of his cancer, was probed at by many different machines and doctors in the name of research, and watched his family sell away their many possessions to pay for his treatment, and to top it all off, his final days wouldn’t even be spent in his own home. This patient didn’t want to suffer anymore, and requested that the doctor end his life, prematurely. Unfortunately, doctor assisted suicide is not legal in the patient’s state, and he must suffer through his existence for one more month, if he’s lucky. Several states

The article “Physical Symptoms in the Last 2 to 3 Months of Life”, within the American Cancer Society Website written by the American Cancer Society medical and editorial content team interviewed several cancer patients with very few months to live. Patients were asked questions on their physical wellbeing. One man by the name of Scott was asked about his fatigue. He said that he feels like “an engine running out of steam ”, and that he only has enough energy to accomplish one or two small tasks a day (“Physical Symptoms”). Another patient, by the name of John, commented on his pain saying, “I need the morphine to do the things I want to do. As long as I lay still in bed, I’m okay – no pain, but I don’t want to spend the rest of my life flat on my back in bed!” (“Physical Symptoms”). Now consider the fact that each patient diagnosed with terminal cancer feels like this. If they have to be on high amounts of morphine, and have no energy on a day to day basis, why should they be forced to live their lives? Why should they be forced to toil through each day when their cancer slowly kills

However, several safeguards have been implemented for the states that have euthanasia laws. For example, each patient must be of at least 18 years old, have several doctors confirm the patient’s terminal status, and those same doctors must also confirm the patient’s sound and stable mind in the event that the patient has a mental illness such as depression. In those cases, the patient will be referred to a psychiatrist, and not be given the supplements he/she requested. Furthermore, the patient must be physically capable enough to swallow the supplement. After several waiting periods and procedures later, the patient will have the supplement handed to them. The patient can then choose whether or not to actually consume the pill, regardless, the patient can consume the pill at any time. Finally, the patient must swallow the pill themselves, no doctor is allowed to assist, or give it to them, so a sadistic doctor would be tried for murder for forcing the pill on any patient. (“How to