The Pros And Cons Of Physician Assisted Suicide

Lou Gehrig’s disease, also known as ALS, is not a pleasant way to go out, especially if the disease progresses completely on its own until its victim falls due to its complications. Thomas Youk was a victim of this killer, however, he knew he didn’t want to die from ALS. He wanted to go with the more painless route of death, euthanasia. However, Youk wasn’t a scientist nor a doctor, so he enlisted the help of doctor Jack Kevorkian to help him end his life before his final stage ALS disease progresses any further so he can be finally released from its pain. So, Dr. Kevorkian, after getting Youks full legal consent, does what he was asked to do and ends Youk’s life as painlessly and quickly as possible. Kevorkian is then charged with second

Kevorkian arguably did not do anything wrong, as he was assisting another human die with more dignity than they would have otherwise. However, this physician assisted-suicide is still considered murder in some parts of the country, despite broad public support for it to be legalized. Throughout the ninety’s, physician assisted suicide has become a larger and larger topic of debate between politicians and citizens alike. Beginning with a few rouge doctors, such as Kevorkian, going out of their way to help patients die with dignity outside of the bounds of the law, the issue has rapidly grown into the mainstream by the late ninety’s, with Oregon first legalizing the practice in the early two thousands (CITE). With legal physician assisted suicide, both doctors and patients know that they always have the ability to do what they believe is the right thing for themselves and their families to do. However, everything comes with a consequence. For doctors, they may never know whether they made the right decision, and they may feel regret it after the fact, thus ruining the rest of their lives. Furthermore, once the deed is done, patients don’t have the ability to change their minds, making this one of the most important, permanent, and impactful decisions they will ever make for themselves and their families. Physician assisted suicide once was widely considered murder, however, with a changing public outlook on how this can benefit patients and their loved ones, it should be considered an asset rather that a breach of the