Physician-assisted suicide (PAS) refers to the procedure whereby a physician supplies the means for a patient to end their life, typically using a fatal dose of prescription medication. The patient is the one who administers the drugs. The typical patient requesting this procedure has a terminal illness. Patients are normally trying to avoid the extended suffering, torment, and loss of independence and dignity that comes with this type of diagnosis (Introduction to Physician-Assisted Suicide: At Issue). Physician-assisted suicide is only right in certain circumstances, but these fluid terms cannot be put into law, so PAS should not be legal. Physician-assisted suicide is categorized as a form of euthanasia, specifically an active form. This …show more content…
These advancements have kept patients who have terminal illnesses alive longer than they normally would have be. Advocates of physician-assisted suicide argue that this has also prolonged the suffering of such patients. For this reason, they say that these patients have the right to control the timing of their death. There are many sides of PAS. They range from the morality of taking a life, even your own, to the potential societal consequences. The bottom line of both sides, though, is a disagreement over the holiness of life and the meaning of …show more content…
They claim that this fear is unsubstantiated. They contend that laws regarding PAS could include essential provisions that would ensure the safety of dying patients. They believe that denying patients the choice of a quick death could further their suffering. They claim that patients are no more likely to choose this procedure over end-of-life care by asserting that there is no evidence that it would be more expensive, nor that more people would choose this option, essentially speculation. They insist that the legalization of PAS would not lead to non-terminally ill patients choosing this option because the law could be “tailored to eliminate this possibility.” (Brock,