"Every story has a beginning" (Drum, 27). Kevin Drum's opening words instantly pique his readers' interest by indicating a discussion of a struggle. Even though he continues the article with the heart-breaking story of his father-in-law's seven-year battle with cancer, the readers realize throughout the remainder of the article that Drum's opening is also describing the path for the legalization of physician-assisted suicide (PAS) that Drum details. Throughout his timeline, Drum effectively uses all three appeals of ethos, logos, and pathos to make his argument that PAS should be legalized to enable those who are experiencing horrific suffering to have a dignified death. However, Drum relies most heavily on his use of pathos to emotionally draw his readers to his argument. His use of pathos masks PAS as a merciful natural killing instead of as a suicide, which decreases the readers' dislike of the idea of an accepted suicide.  

Throughout his article, Drum uses specific phrases that touch the readers' emotions to convince them that PAS should not be considered suicide but as a kindness to the suffering population. In his article Drum describes the timeline for the fight for legalized PAS in America. When explaining the current movement for legalized PAS, Drum describes how the legislators in several states are debating "aid-in-dying bills" because PAS is nothing more than "aiding the natural dying process" (Drum, 29). This description causes the reader to envision a doctor mercifully helping a patient who is close to death to quicken the dying process. By using this label, Drum attempts to convince his readers that PAS is not actually suicide, which is considered a sad and horrific action in today's society, but actually a merciful end. Changing the meaning of PAS allows readers who consider suicide an unsupportable action to support Drum's cause because he describes PAS something that can be an morally upright action. 

Drum's opens his article effectively by using pathos by sharing a personal story that emotionally prepares his audience to receive his argument that PAS is not suicide. In the opening of his article, Drum shares his father-in-law's painful battle with cancer. Drum describes the immense pain that his father-in-law, Harry, experienced towards the end of his life.  The readers feel immense pity for this decrepit man who can no longer even walk (Drum). Drum then shares Harry's decision to commit suicide due to his seemingly sub-human life. Harry is forced to die alone as entire family stood outside the room because "assisted suicide was illegal" (Drum) in California. This story evokes deep sympathy because even though some readers may not approve of Harry's actions, they understand because of his physical condition. This story also makes some of the readers upset because it is sad that someone who is greatly suffering must die alone. With these emotions aroused, Drum's pointed comment causes a feeling of slight outrage that at Harry's death in isolation because releasing himself from immense pain was illegal. Already, readers have unintentionally begun to align themselves with Drum's position because the emotions that have been induced. 

During his use of logos through a detailed timeline of the growing support for and legalization of PAS, Drum connects PAS to socially acceptable deaths that change the way that the readers interpret PAS. He describes how the beginning of the legalization of PAS movement started when a young woman, Karen Ann Quinlan, was declared to be in a "persistent vegetative state" (Drum, 28). Her parents had to go to the state to get permission to remove her ventilator and allow her to die. Drum claims that her death caused the evolution of legal ways to end one's life, such as end of life directives and DNR orders. By connecting this story and its implications to the beginning of his timeline of PAS legalization, Drum is trying to emotionally convince his readers that PAS should be considered similar to these socially acceptable ways to escape the sub-human existence that a patient is dealing with. This change allows the readers to support PAS because PAS appears to be different than suicide. 

Drum describes another story towards the end of his timeline that emotionally affects his readers, which protects them from the fact that they are supporting suicide. He employs logos by describing how the support for PAS had stalled for several years. Then Bethany Maynard was diagnosed with cancer in 2012. He describes how Bethany desired to perform PAS rather than die from cancer. Since she lived in California, where PAS was illegal, she and her husband moved to Oregon, where it is legal, and she became the new face of PAS movement. This story of Bethany Maynard is affected by Drum's description of Bethany: " young, attractive, articulate, [and] dying of brain tumor" (Drum, 30). Most readers believe there is a special tragedy in someone dying at a young age, especially someone who has the physical and mental attributes that Drum has described above. Readers are sympathetic to her choice to die. Many of the readers may not even consider her death as a suicide but as an acceptable action in the face of a horrific illness. Drum educates the readers by emotionally connecting them with a woman who was given a horrific diagnosis. Due to their emotions, many readers soften their opinion that PAS is suicide to the idea that it is a merciful death. 

Drum ends the article with ethos and pathos by sharing his own connection to PAS, which emotionally leads many readers to believe that PAS is a merciful way to prevent  suffering. Drum ends his article by describing his personal battle with cancer. He gives great detail about his treatment, which allows the readers to see how much he endures. Knowing his experience causes readers to feel sympathy for Drum. He then becomes deeply personal with the reader.  He describes the way that the cancer, if not stopped, will eventually destroy his body in painful ways. He informs the reader that he does not want to die in horrible pain in a hospital while connected to several machines. He writes that instead, "When the end is near, I want to take my own life" (60). Because most readers do not enjoy other people's suffering, some remain sympathetic to his situation instead of the horror that normally readers would feel at reading someone's intention to commit suicide. These readers have been manipulated by the use of emotions to accept Drum's argument. Drum has masterfully evoked emotions in the readers that cause them to overlook the fact that PAS is actually suicide and instead support it as a way to escape suffering. 

Throughout his entire article, Drum employs pathos to convince the readers to support his argument. Several times, Drum shares stories of immense suffering and uses specific descriptions that cause the reader to feel sympathy, sadness, and even indignation. He also employs a different label that changes the idea that PAS is suicide to the belief that it is simple quickening a natural death and preventing further suffering. Many of the readers are so overcome by these emotions that they fail to accept that PAS is a form of suicide. Instead, these emotions that Drum masterfully evoked cause them to believe that PAS is a kind, merciful action that frees others, and maybe eventually themselves, from horrible suffering. 

