Physician Assisted Suicide Persuasive Essay

When it comes to physician assisted suicide, no clear-cut answer is immediately exposed as to whether it should be allowed in today’s society. According to CNN, “Physician-assisted suicide is legal in five US states. It is an option given to individuals by state law in Oregon, Vermont, Washington and California.” (par. 1) The qualifications given to be a candidate for assisted suicide are 1) a terminal illness and 2) a prognosis of six or less months to live. (CNN par.1) While this does make the number of patients who have access to assisted suicide smaller, there is still a large number of people today who meet these qualifications. Overall, this is an extremely difficult practice to either condemn or condone because it borders on both the

Notably, “Physician-assisted suicide differs from euthanasia, which is defined as the act of assisting people with their death in order to end their suffering, but without the backing of a controlling legal authority.” (CNN par. 3) For this reason, some could make a case that assisted suicide is nothing more than a qualified physician helping a patient willingly end his life, no harm, no foul; however, it is rarely considered that all physicians take an oath that they will do all in their power to care for their patients and give them what they need to heal, not what they need to die. Should this oath be disregarded if the patient wishes to die? As an illustration, The Washington Post tells the story of Brittany Maynard, a 29-year-old terminally ill patient wished to end her life with dignity. “Goodbye to all my dear friends and family that I love. Today is the day I have chosen to pass away with dignity in the face of my terminal illness, this terrible brain cancer that has taken so much from me … but would have taken so much more,” said Maynard. Not only did Brittany wish to be assisted in death by a physician, but she also spent her last days advocating for “death-with-dignity”