Physician assisted suicide is “the voluntary termination of one's own life by the administration of a lethal substance with the direct or indirect assistance of a physician” .
This kind of medical practice, just like any other controversial issue, has its pros and cons. Its pros include ending the patients’ as well as their families’ pain and suffering, awareness among patients that their death was their choice, reduced health care expenses, the doctor and nurse can focus on patients who have more chances of survival, preservation of vital organs to save other patients, and restrains patients from committing suicide. On the other hand, physician assisted suicide is a violation of the Hippocratic Oath, devalues human life, encourages patients to just give up on recovery, and creates guilt among the religious and morally convicted families of patients .
Generally, in the United States, physician assisted suicide is considered manslaughter or felony .
Given my religious beliefs and moral principles, I am not in favor of physician assisted suicide. I still believe that human beings are made alive for a specific and sometimes mysterious purpose. Ending the life of a terminally ill patient eliminates his chance to recover. If I were put in the position of the patient, I would not resort to this process either. Suicide is by itself wrong. Doctors are supposed to help people back to life and not encourage them to commit a wrong act.
For incapacitated patients, the immediate families or closest friends may make the decision for them. That is considerably legal and quite logical. If I were the patient, I would feel at peace knowing that they share the same convictions that I have.
References
Physician Assisted Suicide(n.d.). Retrieved from http://physician-assisted-suicide.weebly.com/index.html
Patients Rights Council. (2012, February 6). Retrieved from www.patientsrightscouncil.org: http://www.patientsrightscouncil.org/site/assisted-suicide-state-laws/
