Right to Die

Assisted suicide, defined by Warren Wolfe, is “helping another person end his or her life. Usually that involves intentionally providing the means, instruction or physical assistance to another person in committing suicide, or encouraging that person to do so. It is illegal.” (Wolfe, 1A+) Assisted suicide continues to be a controversial subject that produces various opinions regarding the ethical issues it raises. Assisted suicide supporters see euthanasia as a means to end suffering for the terminally ill. Assisted suicide objectors see euthanasia as a form of murder. Both sides have reasonable arguments that support their side of the debate whether assisted suicide is wrong or right. This battle has been fought for many, many years. “The first evidence of a tolerance for suicide and voluntary euthanasia comes from ancient Greece. There was nothing blameworthy about choosing to stop suffering at the end of life; sometimes, they believed, it was a worthy and sensible choice.” (Woodman 47) The desire for assisted dying has not diminished at all.

Assisted suicide supporters see the procedure as an end to suffering for terminally ill patients. The Hemlock Society justifies assisted suicide as ethical if the patient has an advanced terminal illness which is causing unbearable pain and suffering or a grave

physical handicap which is so restricting that the individual cannot tolerate such a limited existence. (Bender 18) If a person is physically in pain and incapable of the pursuit of happiness then compassion makes us want to help end their suffering. “As I write, I know there are people dying in hospital beds or (if they’re more fortunate) at home. They’re near the end of life, with nothing ahead but pain and terror. They want out and they can’t

get out. We must not turn our backs on these people. They have a right to die, if that’s what they truly want.” (Rollin 244)

Abortion is a very similar subject to assisted suicide for a few reasons. Both have been attacked as being murder when others argue it as being a right to do as they please with their body. Another similarity is the moral obligation of doctors. When abortion was illegal, doctors still performed the procedure based on their beliefs that a person has the right to choose what to do with their own body. Doctors are now being charged with murder because of their belief that a person should have the right to assisted suicide when the person is in a state of endless pain and suffering. Dr. Jack Kevorkian was recently sentenced to 10 to 25 years in prison for second-degree murder and delivery of a controlled substance. “Dr. Kevorkian had lethally injected Thomas Youk, a 52-year-old Lou Gehrig's disease patient from Waterford Township who sought Kevorkian's help and died Sept. 17.” (Murphy)

Assisted suicide objectors see the subject as being immoral for a number of reasons. Some opinions are based on religious references. “Performing active euthanasia, thereby destroying life created in the image of God, is contrary to Christian conscience.” (qtd. in Wolfe 1A+) Many also fear that if euthanasia were legalized, that it would be

abused and person’s life may be ended with a motive other than ending suffering. Some fear that “frail, disabled elderly people who are financially and emotional burdens on their families may feel some pressure to ask