What Are The Pros And Cons Of Physician Assisted Suicide

The debate between physician assisted suicide has gone on for several decades. Physician assisted suicide, also known as PAS, is defined as suicide occurred from self-administration of a lethal dose of prescribed medicine. The question people frequently debate is whether practitioners should be allowed to help patients decide their death? Some people are for it, for their dignity of dying and others are against it because of religious reasons.

By viewing both sides, physician assisted suicide is beneficial to patients and their families.

Physician assisted suicide is very widely known. PAS is legal in five states; Oregon, Washington, Vermont, Montana and California. Oregon was the first state to pass PAS by law on November 4, 1994. In these

A patient from Oregon, who was terminally ill said “Who I was doesn't matter. I'm in pain, I'm tired and I'm finally being granted a small shred of respect.” (qtd. In ???) If a person you appreciate says they are suffering, wouldn't you want the person to have the best option possible for them to be happy? Twordes the last stages of life there is an extreme amount of pain and suffering the patient has to deal with. The brutal amount of pain will never go away but can be tolerable with endless amounts of medicines. Not only pain, but suffering through nausea, loss of appetite, drowsiness, confusion, unresponsive to noise, etc… The patient's blood will move away from the extremities and will move towards the organs instead. There will be a change in the skin color and a person may also see purplish patches on the skin where the blood has assembled in that area. When death is becoming closer, the body may turn a yellow color. Congestion in the throat or lungs can also occur. A patient may have a hard time breathing due to the pooling of secretions and cannot cough them up, making it very challenging for the patient to breath. The sick patient never gets their privacy, because there will always be a doctor around. The patient could encounter a feeling of separation from the world because they aren't able to do the things they enjoyed doing

When a patient is in their last months to live, it is not an enjoyment for the one suffering or the patient's family. With PAS the family has the opportunity to say their last goodbyes. Saying goodbye to a loved one is never easy, but by having the option of PAS the family can travel across the country, if needed, to see the patient. For example, if the patient is in their last couple days of life and lives in a different state, their family can travel to that state and spend the last few days with the person. By having the ability to be with the family before the act is done, the family will know the patient died peacefully. Brittany Maynard, a 29 year old woman, was diagnosed with a stage four glioblastoma and was told she only has six months to live. The doctors performed a surgery to remove the tumor as much as possible, but grew larger. Maynard told People Magazine, “I’ve discussed with many experts how I would die from it and it’s a terrible, terrible way to die. So being able to choose to go with dignity is less terrifying.” She made the choice to move to Oregon, where PAS is legal, and set a date to perform the act. In her last months she traveled around the world with her