The Pros And Cons Of Assisted Suicide

Imagine being diagnosed and living with a painful terminal illness for years suffering from loss of autonomy, loss of dignity, and being unable to participate in activities that make life enjoyable. Would you seek assisted suicide if you were in this scenario? Assisted suicide is the act of a person deliberately ending their life with the help of someone, such as a doctor because they are suffering from a terminal illness (Glasper). While taking the life of another is considered murder globally, assisted suicide is sometimes seen as ok because they allow a patient who is suffering from a terminal illness to choose when and how they die (Lee). The discussion and debate surrounding assisted suicide has been around for many years. Assisted suicide

Many people get assisted suicide confused with the terms physician-assisted suicide (PAS) and euthanasia. Physician-assisted suicide is when a physician assists with a patient’s death by providing them with the necessary sources and information to let the patient forgo ending their life (Weaver). Euthanasia is intentionally ending someone’s life to end their suffering; this involves a doctor giving a patient a fatal overdose or stopping all life-saving medical treatment (Glasper and Lee). Euthanasia can occur at either the request of the patient or is done without their consent (Weaver). There are also two types of euthanasia: voluntary passive euthanasia and voluntary active euthanasia. Voluntary passive euthanasia is when a person commits suicide with the best method instructed by a physician (Lee). Voluntary active euthanasia is where the patient requests for a physician to end their life with a fatal substance (Lee). People who seek these life-ending methods have personal reasons for doing

The impact on healthcare professionals from assisted suicide and their views is also something to note in this discussion. It is stated in the Hippocratic oath, one of the earliest codified medical ethics, that physicians should not cause any harm whatsoever to a patient and some still believe that this should still apply and that assisted suicide directly violates this ethical principle (Lee). However, the Doctrine of Double Effect states “[a doctor] is entitled to do all that is proper and necessary to relieve pain even if the measures he takes may incidentally shorten life” (Frost). According to a survey of NHS doctors, 46% would consider forgoing the requests from patients wanting to end their lives while 54% would be required to inform patients that are eligible about assisted suicide as an option, even if they disagree with it ethically (Frost). Whether or not physicians think the act of assisted suicide is a major point in the argument for assisted suicide. Despite all this, many medical associations have adopted neutral stances on the subject; some of these being the British Medical Association, the Royal College of Nursing, and the Royal College of Physicians