I was interested in the debate of physician-assisted suicide at first because my mom was discussing it with me after seeing an article about the debate. It is an interesting topic because the government decided to make it a state law. Only five states right now have made it legal to perform physician-assisted suicide on ill patients. I was shocked I did not hear about this issue before, looking at how little the amount of states was. Obviously it is a highly debated topic that politicians can not agree on. After hearing about the issue I do not have strong values for or against the issue and I could not decide my position. That is also why I was interested in the topic because I have no bias going into my research. Therefore, only the research will help me make my decision to decide if I am for or against physician-assisted suicide. After the research I have done I am leaning towards saying physician-assisted suicide should be illegal in all states. I should be writing about this topic because I am a citizen of the United States and I should have an opinion on the laws being made. It is a current issue in the media now and I need to be able to form my own stance on the issue. 

Dr. Jack Kevorkian assisted in the suicide of more than 130 terminally ill people and he ended up serving eight years in prison. He served time for second-degree murder after he administered a lethal injection himself instead of helping the patients do it themselves.  However, he administered the drug in the back of a van and then called the authorities and told them what he had done. He was fighting to make it legal because when he's older and he says its time he wants to be able to die. Many might read this article and think he did the right thing because this woman wanted to die. But on the other hand he administered this drug illegally in the back of a van. This is why this topic is a major debate because both sides can be seen as the right thing to do. This article was written by Dennis C. McLellan a widely trusted author from Los Angeles Times which is a reliable major news source. 

The New England Journal of Medicine conducted a national survey about physician- assisted suicide. This journal found that for the major public "polls show that most favor legalization". However, this survey was proposed to U.S. physicians who are caring for dying patients. The main factors associated with physicians hastening death are region of practice, religion, and specialty. There is no bias in this article but there are some aspects of the survey that need to be recognized. Some issues with every survey administered are if the physicians are telling the truth since it was sent out in the mail. Also this survey was done in 1998 and a lot has changed since that time period. 

In this journal of church and state, they discuss the religious side to physician-assisted suicide. After the rulings of 'Washington' v. 'Glucksberg' and 'Vacco' v. 'Quill' in the supreme court in 1997, this has been a highly debated topic. The patient has a constitutional right to physician-assisted suicide. Many argue there is a role of religion in the state prohibition of physician-assisted suicide, that these cases should have allowed physician-assisted suicide but church involvement prevented that. There is an obvious bias in this article for the legalization of physician-assisted suicide.  This is a credible source because it is from a reliable database called America: History and Life. 

The research question is arguable because two different groups of people could argue either sides. It is an arguable research question because it is a debatable issue today. I agree with the articles I have found that are against making it legal. I think some of the major argument is that this shouldn't be used on depressed patients. These patients aren't in the right set of mind to be making a decision that costs them their lives. After reading the article about Dr. Jack Kevorkian also known as Dr. Death I think he was trying to do the right thing but his mindset was completely wrong. The fact that he killed a woman in the back of a van can not be excused no matter what the reason. I think after reading all of these articles I am against the legalization of physician-assisted suicide because I don't think that should be the decision a doctor should make. 
