The right to die isn’t something talked about lightly.

Physician assisted suicide receives countless amounts of criticism from people with common misconceptions about the process. Many see it as a religious matter, claiming that their faith is opposed to this idea. But isn’t it a terminally ill and mentally competent patient’s right to determine for him or herself whether or not they want to end their already ending life?

Oregon first made the decision to make physician assisted suicide legal on Nov. 8, 1994. There are several requirements in order to attain life ending drugs in Oregon: you need to be a resident, 18 or older, diagnosed with terminal illness and have six months or less until expected death, capable of making and communicating mentally competent health care decisions for yourself and finally need to request for the process at least twice (written and oral) from a physician.

Since Oregon passed this decision, California, Montana, Vermont and Washington followed and legalized assisted suicide with similar requirements. The 45 other states still consider assisted suicide illegal and classify it as a crime along with crimes such as manslaughter and first or second degree murder. These are serious crimes that are given to felons; helping a terminally ill patient receive the death he or she desires shouldn’t be classified among these crimes.  

Jack Kevorkian, nicknamed “Dr. Death” by the media, is physician who first believed in assisted suicide and first started promoting the right to die. The first patient that Dr. Kevorkian assisted was Janet Adkins, a 54 year-old Alzheimer’s patient from Michigan. Since Michigan has an indecisive stance on assisted suicide, Dr. Kevorkian’s murder charge was dismissed. Although his medical license was revoked and Michigan declared physician suicide illegal, Kevorkian didn’t stop his campaign. He was prosecuted a total of four times, but was never imprisoned.

Although Kevorkian died in 2011, his right to die campaign is still prominent in today’s society. The website Dignity in Dying, provides the public with information on physician assisted suicide and the ways to take action. The steps to become involved include joining the campaign and donating to the cause. This website isn’t telling terminally ill patients that they need to undergo physician assisted suicide, but rather provides information for patients and the public. It clarifies the law, gives patients someone to talk to about their decision and names helpful organizations that provide patient support. Dignity in Dying’s latest survey showed that 44% of respondents would break the law in order to help a terminally ill loved one die. There shouldn’t be a need for people to break the law in order to help a loved one; this act should be legal everywhere.

Dignity in Dying also gives the opportunity for patients to share their personal stories. One anonymous entry, given the pseudonym Jane Stephen, explains that she was diagnosed with terminal cancer and didn’t want to suffer any longer:

“It is not a slippery slope – it is not for the disabled, elderly or those suffering dementia. It is for the terminally ill who have utterly no hope of living. And it is NOT, NOT obligatory. This is about choice, for goodness’ sake, from the very start.”

A common misconception with assisted suicide is that it is a “slippery slope.” Opponents believe that it directly leads to euthanasia, the act of mercy killing which implies involuntary death. Euthanasia is a completely separate topic from physician assisted suicide; this act is still illegal in the five states that have legalized Death with Dignity laws and will not become legal if these laws are expanded to other states.

Religious conservatives believe that God gave us this life, and God is the only person who can end it. But does God want patients to suffer?

Letting assisted suicide become legal doesn’t force you or anyone you may know to die this way if diagnosed with a terminal illness. Physician assisted suicide simply gives individuals the choice to do what they want with their final days, which is everyone’s right.

Love, compassion, kindness; these are the values that we as children were brought up understanding. Such values are essential to our lives and our well-being. However, these values have also seemingly become void and decrepit in our hospitals. Are we so dehumanized that we even dare to consider the legalization of physician assisted suicide? If one is to think for a second that this act of mercy on patients is right or even logical, then one is to abandon the values listed above.

Physician assisted suicide is a practice that was legalized in Oregon about 20 years ago. It’s also been adopted by states such as California, Montana, Vermont and Washington. To put it in simple terms, terminally-ill patients are given the option of allowing their doctors to prescribe lethal amounts of medicine to kill them without any pain.

An intriguing yet incredibly flawed concept.

While patients, and humans for that matter, are entitled to their own choices and free will, this is not a decision they or their family members should be allowed to make. Just as if a friend or family member of yours wanted to commit suicide out of depression, you wouldn’t let them do it purely because it’s “their decision.” Physician assisted suicide is now being looked at as a massive opportunity for the terminally ill around the nation; an immediate death is appealing for some.

Come on, is this the best we got? What I mean is that as a country we can come up with better ways of helping our patients than assisted suicide. It’s a cop out. They should be getting immediate care and treatment, not aid with their suicide. They see one end to their life and we cannot grant them that wish, even if they truly believe it’s what they desire.

The American Medical Association as well as the American Nurses Association both oppose physician assisted suicide. For each group, ethical reasons are mostly behind their discomfort with the idea. The American Medical Association in particular operates under a strict code that doctors are meant to be none other than caregivers and healers. A portion of their code directly states that “allowing physicians to participate in assisted suicide would cause more harm than good. Physician-assisted suicide is fundamentally incompatible with the physician’s role as healer, would be difficult or impossible to control, and would pose serious societal risks.”

Another valid yet somewhat harsh point that needs to be stated is that patients do not necessarily need a doctor in order to commit suicide. It’s a terrible act and one does not need to involve anyone else in it. If the patient is that determined, he/she can do it themselves without complicating it and adding their own doctor into the mix.

Also, legalizing physician assisted suicides would send a terrible, terrible message to children and teenagers. Assisted suicides tell our children that suicide is necessary sometimes and a very viable option to depression and mild illness even when treatment is available. Children can interpret this in so many horrible ways. Want proof? Teen suicide rates were actually found to have increased after physician assisted suicides were legalized in Oregon and Washington.

Finally, perhaps the most important reason why physician assisted suicide is wrong: it gets better, there’s always hope. Committing suicide is giving up and PLENTY of people recover from terminal illnesses. Doctors make mistakes, sometimes the patient may not even be ill when he/she are diagnosed with a serious and terminal illness. Doctors are not superhuman, they can only make predictions, they never know for sure if someone is to live or die. The point is, people who are sick can overcome their illnesses and become healthy again. As obvious as this may be, it is something that doesn’t occur to patients when they are making the decision. They don’t know what the future may hold in store for them, they continue to believe life has nothing left for them. Assisted suicide rips hope away for patients and offers something much more sinister.

The legalization of physician assisted suicide is a foolish topic to discuss as it offers very few pros and a substantial amount of cons. Insurance companies will continue to support the movement as heavily as they can as there is serious money to be made in the business, but I digress. Understanding the lack of logic in is crucial as it continues to grow into quite a popular and upcoming topic between doctors and our government. If there is no pushback then this law may as well be legalized today. Right or wrong, all life is precious, our country would do well to take note of that.