Physician-Assisted Suicide

When it comes to the topic of death, most of us will readily agree that we want to go in peace. Where this agreement usually ends, however, is on the question of physician-assisted suicide (abbreviated as PAS). Whereas some are convinced that PAS should not be an option, other maintain that it is a right upheld by Autonomy. Autonomy is a moral principle by which a human has the right to control her life and make knowledgeable decisions for herself. Throughout our lives, we have the autonomy to make choices in healthy or unhealthy lifestyles. When it comes to medical care, a patient has the right to either deny or accept a surgery or medication. “…they [patients] can refuse life-sustaining treatment. This expression of prior intentions is now widely recognized as a legitimate exercise of autonomous choice” (Vaughn). The essence of Vaughn’s argument is that forgoing a certain treatment may cause a patient to die, yet it remains legal to do so. If a person has the right to end their life through starvation or resisting treatment, then they should have the legal freedom of other means to end suffering. Currently, physician-assisted suicide is illegal in 47 states. Three of the United States, Montana, Washington, and Oregon, have legalized PAS (MT court). Bowden boldly states about the legal right to die, “What lawmakers must grasp is that there is no rational basis upon which the government can properly prevent any individual from choosing to end his own life” (Bowden). Therefore, when a person reaches the end of her life she may be plagued with disease that causes unbearable agony, but the choices are limited to suffering, deterioration, or a hasty secret suicide. Even when a doctor has confirmed that the diagnosis is irreversible and the prognosis is death within a year, how can someone deny the person right to a dignified end? Physician-assisted suicide for a terminally ill person should be a legal and educated choice made between a doctor and the patient after all other palliative efforts have been suggested or made.

Works Cited
Bowden, Thomas A. "Individuals Should Have a Legal Right to Choose Death."
GaleGroup.com. Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center, n.d. Web. 27 Jan 2010.
"MT court rules state policy allows assisted suicide." Medical Ethics Advisor 1 Feb. 2010. Health Reference Center Academic. Web. 28 Feb. 2010.
Vaughn, Lewis. Bioethics Principles, Issues, and Cases. New York, Oxford University Press, 2010. Print. 4 March 2010.