Should assisted suicide be an option for patients who are terminally Essay

Should assisted suicide be an option for patients who are terminally ill, in pain and want assisted suicide in Canada - Essay Example There have been several proponents and opponents of the issue in nearly equal proportion. Many of the opponents argue that it is illegal and unethical to assist someone to take away his life (Snyder 2). In contrast, the proponents of assisted suicide believe that the act is a dignified way to die by ending pain and suffering of persons who are terminally ill and suffer from incurable diseases. While the major debate has been whether legalizing assisted suicide would end suffering and pain, it defies the morality and ethics of the society; thus, it should not be legalized. Besides, legalizing assisted suicide could lead to abuse as people would have their lives ended against their wishes. Finally, legalizing the act would imply or lead to putting a dollar value on human life since the high cost of long-term care for people who are terminally ill would outweigh their right to live. Background Information The practice of euthanasia is generally illegal in the country. Nevertheless, ther e have been debates (most recently in Quebec back in March 2012) on whether the government should legalize it or not, particularly after Dr. Jack Kevorkian in Michigan (Gorsuch 44). The current laws in Canada prohibit any physician from assisting a person’s suicide lest he faces prosecution for abetting the act. The debate on the issue of assisted suicide deepened after 1990 when a retired pathologist in Michigan, Dr. Jack Kevorkian, started to attend a number of suicide requests by patients on the verge of dying (Gorsuch 44). He advised patients who suffered from degenerative or terminal diseases on how to administer carbon monoxide and eventually die. This action elicited mixed reactions from the public as Kevorkian was subjected to prosecution where he would answer to charge of unlawfully assisting a person to commit suicide (Gorsuch 44). The Michigan courts dismissed the murder charges, and Kevorkian was ultimately acquitted in 1994 against expectations of prosecutors and Michigan legislators who were determined to ensure the doctor is convicted of murder. Apparently, a physician-assisted suicide (also known as Euthanasia) concerns people who experience pain and suffering due to terminal illness. Pro Argument #1 According to the scientific study on terminal diseases published in the American Journal of Psychiatry, a very small percentage of patients with such illnesses expressed the wish to terminate their lives. Precisely, only one individual out of four wished to die due to suffering and pain (Gorsuch 44). Incidentally, majority of the cases involved patients who had clinically diagnosable depression. The study proposes psychotherapeutic treatment for the terminally ill. It further reveals that the rate of assisted suicide lies between 2% and 4%, a clear suggestion that very few patients will voluntarily permit termination of their lives (Gorsuch 44). Thus, it proposes compassionate counseling alongside psychological and medical care to provide co nstructive and morally acceptable options to euthanasia. In the end, patients would naturally succumb to the terminal illnesses instead of the controversial assisted suicide. In the same way, scientific study reveals a small percentage of patients wishing to die by assisted suicide. In most Cases these patients were diagnosed with depression. Pro Argument #2 A patient