Assisted suicide in healthcare is a kind of suicide that is committed with the help of a physician (Suicide, 2013). It is the process through which a doctor provides a patient with means that they can use to commit suicide which in most cases involves providing them with advice and prescription on the available lethal drugs (Suicide, 2013). Instances of this nature are common to terminally ill patients.
The position I take concerning this issue is the non-affirmative. From a religious perspective, there is the realization that human life needs to be respected. This is in line with the sanctity of human of life argument which has historically been on the forefront in prohibiting suicide. As such, assisted suicide is viewed as a challenge to the sacredness of life (Cohen-Almagor, 2015). Secondly, in a situation where a physician withholds a particular treatment regime for a terminally ill patient due to the underlying side effects associated with the treatment, it is equated to committing passive assisted suicide which is morally unacceptable.
There are also possibilities that this form of death may be abused in the sense that vulnerable populations for instance the ones with limited financial muscle power may be pushed into this vice in addition to physicians misusing the powers that they have to act against the rights of some individuals in the society for example the mentally disabled persons (Sjöstrand et al., 2013). Furthermore, the medical profession code of ethics is strongly opposed to taking life as outlined in the Hippocratic Oath. Taking human life willingly is likely to dent the image of the medical profession to the general public thus compromising the healthcare delivery services to patients.
The concept of assisted death may also be misused by physicians in the sense that they may commit mistakes in their diagnosis and prognosis processes mostly in the treatment of depression and alleviation of pain (Sjöstrand et al., 2013). As such, physicians are likely to use this situation to have leverage in asking the patients under their care at that particular juncture to allow them to participate in committing suicide.
Conclusively, in as much there may be arguments that exalt and promote assisted suicide in healthcare settings, the need to respect human life and personal liberties override any arguments brought forward for physician-assisted suicide. It is both morally and ethically wrong to assist human beings to commit suicide since it goes against the sanctity of life. Therefore, as health practitioners we ought to be advocates for protecting human life.
References
Andre, C., & Velasquez, M. (2015). Assisted Suicide: A Right or a Wrong? - Resources - Bioethics - Focus Areas - Markkula Center for Applied Ethics - Santa Clara University. Retrieved from https://www.scu.edu/ethics/focus-areas/bioethics/resources/assisted-suicide-a-right-or-a-wrong/
Cohen-Almagor, R. (2015). An argument for physician-assisted suicide and against euthanasia. Ethics, Medicine and Public Health, 1(4), 431-441.
Sjöstrand, M., Helgesson, G., Eriksson, S., & Juth, N. (2013). Autonomy-based arguments against physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia: a critique. Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy, 16(2), 225-230.
Suicide, P. A. (2013). Physician-Assisted Suicide.
