How would you feel knowing your loved one was diagnosed with a terminal illness and was spending their last moments in excruciating pain and suffering?  Would you attempt to seek medical options in the pursuit of figuring out what is best for the patient in terms of pain relief?  Although the technology involved with medicine has vastly improved, causing an increase in life expectancy with the use of “machines beyond the body’s own natural ability to function, ward off disease and sustain itself,” some believe these advances are unnatural and believe patients should “be allowed to die a natural death, or even be given the right to end their life with medical assistance" (Gittelman).  Physician assisted suicide can be defined as, “voluntary termination of one’s own life by administration of a lethal substance with the direct or indirect assistance of a physician” (Westefeld).  To be put in simpler terms, physician assisted suicide includes, “acts that result in a person’s death so as to relieve pain and suffering” (Gittelman).  The idea of physician assisted suicide was first exposed to the United States with “the use of morphine and ether in the mid 1800s” which started the public discussion over the idea of the legalization but was quickly “defeated by the Ohio legislature in 1906” (Gittelman).  Over time the support for physician assisted suicide has drastically risen from 35% of the public to 60% of the public today (Gittelman).  There is an increasing need for the legalization of physician assisted suicide as our population is heading towards a large proportion of the population being elderly.  The number of people diagnosed with illnesses such as cancer increases and we still have not found a cure.  If a patient wants to die without going through the last few months of pure agony and suffering, they should be able to talk to their physicians and “die with dignity.” “Even in their final days, they should feel welcome and valued, not burdensome and desperate” (Mattlin).  The research question that I plan on studying is, “How would the legalization of Physician Assisted Suicide in all states affect the healthcare system in the United States?”  The regulated use of physician assisted suicide should be legalized in all fifty of the United States in cases of terminally ill patients that have no expectation of recovering from their diagnosis.  

Even with most of the public opinion agreeing with the legalization of physician assisted suicide, there is still a large chunk of the population whose beliefs are very much against it.  If assisted suicide was legalized, many people believe that it would put the patients in a vulnerable position.  Medical professionals could speak to the patients in ways that would make them feel as if their illness was a pain for their friends and family members that were alongside them through this journey.  “It corrupts the profession of medicine by permitting the tools of healing to be used as techniques for killing” and turning something that was once viewed as beneficial to society into a thing which can be used as a detriment instead (Anderson).  If the patient truly does not want to go through with the suffering and pain that comes along with their illness, they do not need the physician to go along with it.  Each patient is given the right to refuse the extension of their life, and with the help of medicine and choosing to end it instead.  

Some patients, even though they are diagnosed with only a few months to live, make a miraculous recovery and get well when they were expected to die.  If the patient goes through with physician assisted suicide, they are not allowing themselves to have the chance to put up a fight and defeat the illness.  Many people who are dying may also be diagnosed with depression.  If the depression is treated, then the patient may not have the desire to end their suffering and they could instead choose the option to go through treatments and procedures to combat their disease.  If physician assisted suicide became legal, it would place an overwhelming pressure on the sick to go through with suicide even if they had not considered the option before.  “In the U.S., the Supreme Court ruled twice in 1997 that there is no constitutional precedent or right to assisted suicide” (Health Research Funding).  “The Hippocratic Oath proclaims: “I will keep [the sick] from harm and injustice. I will neither give a deadly drug to anybody who asked for it, nor will I make a suggestion to this effect” (Anderson). 

While all of these concerns are logical and accurately represent the opposing side of the argument on whether or not to legalize physician assisted suicide, there would be specific limitations on when it should be allowed to be used to prevent the abuse of euthanasia.  To make the legalization of physician assisted suicide helpful to society, instead of something which is hurtful, different guidelines would outline when it can be used and who it applies to.  

Researchers hypothesized that once legalized in the United States, physician assisted suicide “would reduce total suicides and postpone planned suicides” but in reality, the suicide rate for those states it was legalized in started to increase signifying that suicide was becoming a “socially acceptable” concept (Harvey).  If a patient decides that physician assisted suicide is the right option for them, they should have to wait a certain amount of time before going through with it.  This time will be used to reflect whether or not they committed and fully understand the consequences of going through with it.  “Laws against euthanasia and assisted suicide are in place to prevent abuse and to protect people from unscrupulous doctors and others.” (Marker) “Many medical ailments cause significant pain and suffering for a long period of time, even indefinitely, without being terminal” (Yao). So while the diagnosis of a terminal illness giving the patient six or less months to live is considered a necessity to be granted to opportunity of physician assisted suicide, it should be changed to be allowed for patients with extreme levels of pain for an extended period of time.  

Suffering does not only come from physical pain; mental degradation along with psychological suffering are valid factors that should be put into consideration.  “A person’s ethnicity and race affect their views regarding end of life care. According to some research, 65% of white persons say they would cease all medical treatment if they suffered from an incurable disease or had chronic, debilitating pain. However, research shows that over 60% of blacks and some 55% of Hispanics would prefer their doctors to do everything possible to save their lives in the same circumstances” (Health Research Funding).

Many who advocate for physician assisted suicide base their opinion on the medical suffering that the patients go through before having to make this difficult decision.  In some of the states that have legalized it, the death certificates have been “mandating instead that a terminally ill patient’s underlying medical condition be listed as the cause of death” furthermore proving the point that the illness is the reason they have chosen to end their life (Yao). “According to research, some 66% of U.S. adults believe that a doctor or nurse should allow a patient to die in certain circumstances” (Health Research Funding).  Some reasons patients choose to go through with physician assisted suicide include not wanting to be a burden on their families, not wanting to live in pain, to be dependent on life support machines, or to be unable to perform daily activities” (Harvey).  Dying patients who are going through extreme suffering should have the option to end their suffering with the use of medical assistance.  “About half don’t even use their prescription. They are reassured just to know they have this control if they need it” (Marker).  While the argument is made that you do not need physician assisted to end your life, the use of lethal drugs is a quick and mostly painless way to go about doing it.  If a patient attempts to commit suicide on their own terms, there is a chance they could fail the attempt and survive, causing more pain to their loved ones than before. If the attempted suicide was a success, they would also be forcing their families to deal with a more painful and messy death than they would have dealt with if administered a certain dosage of drugs that causes the patient to fall into a deep sleep and pass away peacefully.  One patient, Brittany Maynard, who was diagnosed with a brain tumor said, “There is not a cell in my body that is suicidal or wants to die.  I want to live.  I wish there was a cure for my disease but there’s not…” (Marker).  The option of suicide is calming to those who have no options to increase their chance of survival against the diagnosis of a life ending disease.  Many choose to end their lives before the suffering gets worse for them as well as their loved ones. These patients have been told they are going to die so we should give them control over when this occurs, rather than living life day by day wondering when the end of the suffering will come to them and their families.  The argument that some people live longer than they are expected and estimated to live until after they have been diagnosed with their illness seems like it would be a good point to make for holding off on the suicide, but for them, a longer life means more suffering than they had originally been told they were going to go through.  If the disease does not go away, then the suffering also stays with them.  Some people relate this issue of whether physician assisted suicide should be legal to the topic of abortion; however, the people involved with assisted suicide have the ability to speak for themselves and decide what is best for them in their personal situation.  Nobody knows how much each person suffers except for the patient diagnosed, therefore, they should be given the right to choose if suicide is the best option for them.  Ultimately, the patient is the person who needs to make the decision for themselves and I believe that they should be able to have that right in all fifty of the United States of America.  

Every American has the right to make choices about their own life.  While some people believe that patients should not be allowed to “play God” and have control over when their live ends and begins, the machines used in medicine are allowing the patients to live longer than they naturally would with no help from doctors or nurses.  If they can choose to make their life longer with the help of the practice of medicine, they should be allowed to do the exact opposite; end their life when desired with the practice of medicine.  Under certain circumstances, physician assisted suicide is justifiable for use.  If a terminally ill patient is going though immense suffering and pain, then they should be able to alleviate that pain.  The medicine and services they provide in the hospital often do not get rid of it completely.  They also contribute to memory loss and the inability to complete normal everyday tasks.  Each patient has the right to refuse treatment from a doctor so instead of just letting the patient suffer until death, they should have the option to end their life peacefully rather than just sitting around waiting for death to come.  Not everybody should be given the right to physician assisted suicide but if they are diagnosed with a disease or illness that is incurable and they are going to die a painful death from it, they should be allowed to end their lives before more suffering is brought to themselves and their loved ones.  If the patient decides that physician assisted suicide is the right option for them, then they can decide that, but they must go through a waiting period to make sure that the disease is incurable and also that this is for sure the decision they want to be making.  This will give the patient time to discuss with family and friends why they chose this option and make sure most people are onboard or aware of their actions if they are involved in the patient’s life.  Physician assisted suicide should be legalized in all of the fifty United States of America along with specific guidelines outlining who and when a patient is eligible for this options of alleviating the pain from their terminal illnesses. 
