Physician-assisted suicide should be legal throughout the United States as a lawful medical procedure for able, terminally ill adults with a limited amount of time, because it is a compassionate response to ease the suffering of dying patients and respect their rights and freedom. Currently, Oregon, Montana, New Mexico, Vermont, and Washington have adopted this policy. It is often offensive to call this suicide, because these patients are physically healthy and are not clinically depressed. “Dying patients who see their lives being destroyed by illness sometimes come to view death as the only way to escape their suffering and, therefore, as a means of self-preservation—the opposite of suicide.” (3) For most of these patients, there are no other options but to wait and stay stagnant in their often poor quality of life. …show more content…
Patients can die with dignity rather than have the illness reduce them to a shell of their former selves. As an adult over the age of eighteen, United States citizens have the right to choose their own partner, decide whether or not to have a child, the opportunity to bear arms, and the right to accept or refuse medical treatment. Abortion above all is the act of terminating a life or what will eventually be a life. Whether someone is for or against this is not the issue, however if a mother can make the decision for the future child, surely an adult should be able to make this decision for his or her own future. All people should have the power of choice and making a decision to die with their dignity, pride, and self-worth intact. Individuals have the right to make life-and-death decisions for themselves without government interference. The illness and sometimes the treatment itself have already made the patients experiences a loss of independence and taking away the option of a choice would be further violate their