Pettaway 1

Amber Pettaway
Mrs. Kathryn Vincent
CTAC 124-023
4 December 2014
Physician Assisted Suicide
I.

Introduction
A. To be able to have the choice of deciding whether you want live the rest of your
life on a hospital bed under an oxygen mask or relieve yourself from suffering
should be an option that everyone is able to choose from themselves.
B. Physician assisted suicide is when a doctor is intentionally and knowingly
providing a person counselling and supplying lethal doses with the means to
commit suicide. This term is usually confused with Euthanasia which is to a lethal
drug that relieves suffering when dying. Though these two topics are similar they
are also very different. PAS (Physician Assisted Suicide) is only legal in four
states which are Oregon, Washington, Vermont, Utah and New Mexico. I think
that it should be entirely up to the patient on how they want their life to end
therefore it should be legal in all states.
C.
1. Brittanys Message and the religious views on PAS
2. The nurse or doctor can move onto another patient that has a chance at
living instead of spending their time helping a terminally ill patient.
3. Vital organs can be saved and used to save other patients.

II.

Body

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A. First and foremost Physician assisted suicide ties into the category of dying with
dignity and is shared with and often confused with euthanasia. It gives terminally
ill patients the opportunity to die without suffering through the supplies need from
a physician.
1. It takes a lot for a patient to make this decision with the thought of
everything they will be leaving behind. One person who has recently made
a movement with PAS is 29-yeard old Brittany Maynard. She suffered
from brain cancer and with the prognosis of only having six months to live
she decided to move from California to Oregon so she could die with
having to suffer from what this type of cancer normally did to patients.
She posted a video on YouTube and it went viral with nine million views.
Brittany Maynard is a great example of how difficult and beneficial PAS
really is. I commend her and others for making such a huge decision by
and for herself without letting anyone holding her back.
2. On the other hand, those who are religious would see that the decision
Brittany made was more of a sin than a way of dying with dignity. Clive
Seale found that Independently of specialty, doctors who described
themselves as nonreligious were more likely than others to report having
given continuous deep sedation until death, having taken decisions they
expected or partly intended to end life, and to have discussed these
decisions with patients judged to have the capacity to participate in
discussions. In the article Religious Perspectives on Assisted Suicide
Cristina shares the views on death with dignity from many religions. Many

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religions seem to be against the idea of death in general. Roman

Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy likewise oppose PAS/euthanasia, for
strenuous efforts either to hasten death or to prolong life interfere with
God's plans for the soul.
B. Second, though it may sound harsh many physicians dont have time to give their
full undivided attention to every patient especially in nursing homes. PAS is a
great way for physicians to care patients who have a chance in surviving.
1. Today in the U.S the lack of staff in the medical field is really high and for
those who have apply to be CNAs (Certified Nursing Assistants) are not
usually passionate about their jobs or patients, but just the paycheck.
Hospitals with only little staff make way more mistakes than those who
have full staff. This is because nurses, and doctors are on a time based
schedule of providing care for every patient. If a terminally patient decides
that they no longer want live through their suffering then the best decision
is provide them that. Because theyre terminally ill these patients require
more attention due to the fact that the nurses job is to provide them with
as much comfort as possible until they take their last breath. While
patients who have a chance of surviving are getting worse by the minute
as time continues.
2. Many believe that with PAS doctors may have too much power with ones
life. Physicians have a very strong control over how a patients lives.
Because of this many believe that physicians can just automatically throw
a prognosis and decide what is best for the patient at that moment. The

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New York health department states that When health care professionals
engage in a dialogue with patients about treatment, they manifest respect
and care for patients and enhance patients' sense of dignity and self-worth.
In addition, patients' participation in the decision-making process fosters
decisions that promote their interests and personal values, enabling them
to guide their course of treatment and to refuse unwanted medical
interventions (154). Regardless if the pain is relieved from the patient the
fact that they still wont recover and will be spending the rest of their time
in a hospital would make them feel even more hopeless and depressed. If
they decided that they want to pass on in a certain area surrounded by their
loved ones who is to stop them. Brittany Maynard made that decision and
even though it was a difficult one she made a huge impact to society so
that other terminally ill patients can get this same relief.
C. Third and final reason why PAS is also not only gives terminally ill patients to die
with dignity, but patients who are seeking an organ transplant can receive one
from the terminally ill patients if there is a match.
1. There are thousands of people on a waiting list in hope for an organ match.
Terminally ill patients who are organ donors can have their organs
preserved by a doctor in hope that it can save another persons life. The
need for artificial organs in the U.S can decrease significantly if PAS was
legal in all five states. In order for the organs to work the original owners
disease must not affect the entire body.

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2. However, many would argue that allowing Physician Assisted Suicide

breaks the Hippocratic Oath which is basically a promise that as a Health
care worker you must treasure the art of medicine and to prescribe for the
good of patients and do them no harm. The need for confidentiality is
emphasized. The physician promises that when visiting houses, he or she
will refrain from mischief, particularly sexual relations with males or
females, whether free or slaves. (Isaacs, 321) No harm is being done to
the patient through PAS if it by their request. In fact New York health
department states that physicians are often bad at judging what would be
the best treatment for a patient. This is because they decide based on their
own views and value of life with mental and physical impairment. (156)
Deciding on the treatment alone without the patients input can cause
more harm to them in the long run.
III.

Conclusion
A. Overall I think Physician assisted suicide should be legalized in all 50 states. Sure
there may be some problems that can occur in the process, but that occurs in
anything that involves medicine in law.
B. With physician assisted suicide doctors can spend more time caring for patients
who have a rate of surviving, artificial organs are easier to obtained for those in
need of a transplant, and health care cost will be reduced even more rather than
the average hospital bill
C. Everyone should have the choice on how they want to live out the rest of their life
instead of leaving it to the hands of family members and the law.

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Works Cited
"Brittany Maynard, a 29-year-old with Terminal Cancer, Announced That She Plans to Commit
Suicide in November." National Review 3 Nov. 2014: 12. Infotrac Newsstand. Web. 4 Dec. 2014.
"The Brittany Maynard Fund." The Brittany Fund. Compassion&Choices, 2014. Web. 03 Dec. 2014.
"Chapter 8 - Caring for Severely Ill Patients." Chapter 8 Caring for Severely Ill Patients. N.p., n.d.
Web. 04 Dec. 2014.
Isaacs, David. "The Hippocratic Oath." Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health 47.6 (2011): 321. Web.
Seale, C. "The Role of Doctors' Religious Faith and Ethnicity in Taking Ethically Controversial
Decisions during End-of-life Care." Journal of Medical Ethics 36.11 (2010): 677-82. Web.
Traina, Cristina L.H. "Religious Perspectives on Assisted Suicide." Journal of Criminal Law and
Criminology 88.3 (1998): 1147-154. Web. 4 Dec. 2014.