It is a traumatizing to watch a loved one suffering in pain, because of a terminal disease (Boudreau, & Somerville, 2014). Terminal diseases have no cure. The only source of hope for many patients suffering from such diseases is that doctors have ways to make the disease manageable and less painful as the patient awaits their demise (Karaim, & CQ Press, 2013). The argument, therefore, comes up, is assisted suicide for terminally ill patients moral?
A common church teaching is that life is sacred. As such, life should be protected right from birth, till a natural death occurs (Boudreau, & Somerville, 2014). This is one of the arguments that people who are against assisted suicide for terminally ill patients use. It, however, does not feel right to let a person wiggle in pain as they await their death, just because it is morally right to protect life, as is stated in the Bible (Boudreau, & Somerville, 2014).
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Terminally ill patients who are seriously sick or in severe pain are placed in institutions where a medic can keep a constant eye on them, and try to make them as comfortable as they can be (Karaim, & CQ Press, 2013). In such institutions, the patients get to interact with other patients and volunteers who work in such institutions. Such interactions are important to the patients and can help add more days to their lives (Karaim, & CQ Press, 2013).
On the other hand, it would help save the patient a lot of pain and false hope if euthanasia were allowed (Karaim, & CQ Press, 2013). Assisted suicide gives the patient a decent and painless death, which is something that everyone would wish for their loved one (Eckholm, 2014). More to that, it would save a family a lot of money that would otherwise be spent paying for medical bills.
In conclusion, assisted suicide for terminally ill patients should be legalized in more states because it is a source of relief for the patient, family and friends. People do not have to watch their loved one go through days of pain, and spend a lot paying for their medical bills, when it is certain that after all the suffering, they will eventually die. The authorities should, however, regulate the means of death that physicians use to execute assisted suicide.
- Boudreau, J. & Somerville, M. A. (2014). Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide: A Physician’s and Ethicist’s Perspectives. Medicolegal & Bioethics, 41-12. Doi: 10.2147/MB.S59303
- Eckholm, Erick. (2014, Feb 7). ‘Aid in Dying’ Movement Takes Hold in Some States. The New York Times, A1. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com
- Karaim, Reed, & CQ Press. (2013). Assisted Suicide: Should Doctors be allowed to help Terminally Ill Patients Die? Washington, DC: CQ Press
