Rogerian Argument 3.2

Assisted Suicide; A Crime or A Comfortable End to Life

Euthanasia has its roots in Greek it comes from “eu” which means good, or well, and “thantos” which means death, and together they mean “good death” (Medterms). Euthanasia or elective suicide is a highly debated topic; there are many perspectives, from ambivalent to regarding it as a human right to seeing it as a final act of compassion to rejection to seeing it as a violation of the sanctity of human life. There are also many religious people who see it as a violation of God’s will (Foley 3).What both sides of the debate hold in common, despite the range of viewpoints and nuances, is their great respect of life. Both sides care deeply about the lives of the individuals in question. However many times one side calls into question whether the other side cares about the patients who want to be euthanized.

       Because this question strikes at the very basis of what it means to be alive, and what it means to die, the subject stirs very impassioned argument. The age-old question of what happens when we die comes into play, and many very strong, and ingrained emotions and opinions come into play. These questions are thrust into the forefront of everyone’s mind in this debate, not one side any more than another.

There are many arguments against elective suicide that are not purely religious, but are born out of a genuine concern for what the future would look like if euthanasia were to be both commonplace and acceptable nation-wide. One such argument is that if euthanizing becomes commonplace that there will be pressure on elderly people to be euthanized. Because there is such a youth-oriented culture, elderly people are looked at as dependants, and as members of a society that they cannot make any contributions to (Somerville 13). This places a pressure upon them to die quickly, and not be a burden on their families. If an elderly person lives well into very old age, their health care costs rise, there is a continual need for medical attention. Elderly people can cost more on any given procedure than a younger person, solely because of the rate at which they heal (Sommerville 18). Because of all these pressures, some people believe that if assisted suicide became both legal, and common, elderly people would start electing to be euthanized based on their not wanting to put an undue financial burden upon their family. Also people believe that the state, as well as private interests and insurance agencies, would put pressure on elderly people as a way to save costs on Medicare, as well as general healthcare costs.

      Many people also have a problem, or disagree with euthanasia because many terminally ill patients can be quite depressed. After all, being in pain all the time, and knowing that you have only a year to live at the maximum is not exactly an uplifting thought. Through this terrible experience, the thought, “is life worth living” gets introduced into a patient’s head. Harvey M Cochinov MD and PH.D, and Leonard Schwartz LL.B, LL.M, M.D, wrote Case Against Assisted Suicide: For the Right to End-of-Life Care, within one of the chapters, they address this issue, and say:
 After all, every patient whose death is imminent will at some point ponder the question, is life still meaningful and worth living? Depression can influence a patient’s answer. It is thus essential that those who care for terminally ill patients are aware of depression and its influence on one’s sense of meaning and the wish to go on living, even in the face of death (Foley 262).

      The problem that people have with this is that if someone is deeply depressed, then that will influence their decision, and it will not be fully rational and it would be an emotional decision.
      There is a grey area in assisted suicide, which is called “passive euthanasia.” This is where euthanasia is enacted by withholding treatment, such as withdrawing a feeding tube, which can be brought on by a second party or do-not-resuscitate orders, which are given by the patient. These have entered the public forum quite recently, and have stirred up much debate, and legislature itself.
      Because passive euthanasia is so extremely common, and because it is so close to assisted suicide, it says a lot about the industry and euthanasia. Passive euthanasia is also called “allowing to die” (Battin 48) it is so common that “85% of deaths in the United States that occurred in health-care institutions, including hospitals, nursing homes, and other facilities, about 70% involved electively withholding some form of life-sustaining treatment” (Battin 48). Between 1987 and 1993 recommendations for withdrawing life-support have increased from 51% to 90% (Battin 49). This indicates a change of mentality from not accepting the practice to common usage of choosing the way we end life.


       In the United States, besides Oregon, assisted suicide is illegal; however passive euthanasia is very widely practiced, and is quite legal. There seems to be a blurry line between the two. For example, injecting escalating doses of morphine, which slows breathing, is accepted under passive euthanasia, solely because there is a double effect. The side effect is the thing that kills the patient, not the original intention of administering it as a painkiller. The main difference between the two ideas is “causing to die” and “allowing to die” besides the semantics, there is a very blurry line that is crossed with frequency.
      Craig Paterson PhD is a philosopher with an interest in bioethics, he wrote the book: Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia: A Natural Law Ethics Approach. He discusses people’s rights to be able to have access to assisted suicide. Patterson uses basic human rights that are universal to build his claims. He argues that if consent is given and it is to relieve pain and suffering then it is morally right to assist in suicide. He also talks about posthumous benefit, and detriment. He argues that if you are contributing something good, or would have a better existence if you went on living, than suicide would be wrong, because it is directly detrimental to the quality of life. However if you are, for example, terminally ill and all that continuing living would bring you is pain and suffering and you would benefit from not living, then assisted suicide is permissible.

      I believe that assisted suicide is no more than taking an active part in, and deciding the time and place you want to end your life. If patients have been screened for depression, have received counseling on the end of life, know the full ramifications of their actions, as much as humanly possible, and are not considering death as a way to save money, then who are we to tell them that they cannot choose when they die? Another piece of this is that patients who elect for suicide have to be terminally ill, without a possibility of living the rest of their days in relative comfort. Another very important piece is consent the patient has to knowingly give consent without any pressure from family or also, very importantly, from doctors and caregivers.

      After all the arguments are done, I don’t believe that we can fully understand what it must be like to be terminally ill and to know that the rest of your life will be spent in both pain and hospital beds. The desire to not spend the rest of your life in pain, with deteriorating organs, and the conscious decision that you want to die, but you have to keep living with the knowledge that able-bodied people decided that you cannot end your torment.

    
    

      Battin, M Pabst, Ending Life: Ethics and the Way We Die. Oxford University Press 2005, Book.
http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=7365
      Somerville, Margret A. Death Talk: The case Against Euthanasia and Physician-Assisted Suicide. McGill-Queen’s University Press 2001, Book.
      Foley M.D., Kathleen and Hendin M.D., Herbert. Case against Assisted Suicide: For the Right to End-of Life Care. Johns Hopkins University Press, 2002, Book.
Paterson, Craig Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia: A Natural Law Ethics Approach. Ashgate Publishing Group. 2008. Book