Physician-Assisted Suicide By: Paige Plate

What I want to See Thesis: Despite the fact it’s illegal in most states for terminally ill patients to choose when they are due, they should be guaranteed this honor and their rights to life, liberty, and pursuit to happiness. Solution: All 50 states need more legislation for Physician-Assisted Suicide

Evolution of Physician-Assisted Suicide Physician-assisted suicide first became legal in 1994, but dates back to the 5 th Century B.C. 5 states have legalized Physician-assisted suicide, but 45 still consider it illegal 4 states legalized physician-assisted suicide via legislation and 1 state via court ruling

Physician-Assisted Suicide The voluntary termination of one's own life by administration of a lethal substance with the direct or indirect assistance of a physician. Physician- assisted suicide is the practice of providing a competent patient with a prescription for medication for the patient to use with the primary intention of ending his or her own life.

The Process Eligibility: a resident of a legal state, 18 years of age, mentally capable to make this kind of decision, & be diagnosed with a terminal illness that will lead to death in 6 months Process: First oral request, second oral request, written request, & then wait 48 hours to pick up the lethal prescription

My Argument Pain and Suffering Money will be saved in the long run It’s their own Life

Issue #1 Terminally ill patients go through so much pain and suffering, so why make them go through this when they know they are going to die? It’s proven that terminal illness leads to depression, suicidal thoughts, and anxiety Example: Brittany Maynard

Issue #2 Not only will families save tons of money, but health care costs will also benefit from this “The average family of such a patient could save twenty-thousand dollars if the patient chose physician-assisted suicide” “Allowing terminally ill people to end their own lives with the help of their doctors would have little effect on the nation’s health care costs, reducing bills by less than one-tenth of one percent, which is about six hundred and twenty seven million dollars”

Issue #3 Terminally ill patients are deciding for their own life, it’s not like they are hurting another person physically. If a person can legally take another persons life, why can’t someone take their own? “It is in the patient’s interest that the families that they leave will be subject to the smallest amount of grief and worry possible”

Objections Against peoples religious views Physician-assisted suicide will increase dramatically, however, from 1998 to 2005, 246 people died in Oregon from physician-assisted suicide which accounted for 32.8% deaths per 10,000 deaths during that time period. Might hurt family emotionally, however what is worse: suicide or physician- assisted suicide?

So why does this matter? Terminally ill patients majority of the time choose physician-assisted suicide because decreasing ability to participate in pleasurable activities, loss of dignity, & the loss of autonomy. In the Declaration of Independence we are guaranteed to life, liberty, and pursuit to happiness. It states in the preamble, if the government gets in the way of these unalienable rights, it is the will of the people to alter it. Therefore, if a terminally ill patient wants to die, they should have this right.

References Cbsnews.com staff. (1998, July 15). Economics of assisted suicide. Retrieved from Definition of physician-assisted suicide. (2012, September 20). Retrieved from Guy, M. & Stern, T. (2006). The desire for death in the setting of terminal illness: a case discussion. The Primary Care Companion to the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 8(5), History of euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide. (2013, July 23). Retrieved from

References continued Mehlman, M. (2000, February 1). Economic motives for physician-assisted suicide. Retrieved from State by state guide to physician-assisted suicide. (2015, October 5). Retrieved from Portrait from Slant News. (2015). [Photograph] Retrieved from to-die-legislation Portrait from The Daily Athenaeum. (2015). [Photograph] Retrieved from

References continued Torre, E. (2016). The right to assisted suicide. Retrieved from suicide.htm Portrait from Vox Policy and Politics. (2015). [Photograph]. Retrieved from

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