Effects of allowance of Physician assisted suicide on society
Elyass Bin Alsheikh
Exploratory Writing
7/28/2017
English 101-005
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There were several requests for euthanasia in Washington State, but physicians
always responded with the rejection. The reason why Physicians were rejecting assisted
suicide is that they wanted to know what was pushing people to make such a decision like
euthanasia. Then, after couple surveys, the common answer physicians received is
patients According to Washington State Department of Health 2010 Death with Dignity
Act Report people felt there is no solution to their situations, or there are much worse
states than death, where they cannot participate in entertaining activities (et al, Shariff, M
J.). However, doctors at all times have the hope to find a sufficient medicine for any
illness. Furthermore, the act of euthanasia will lead to the abuse toward patients, and may
lead to doubt doctor’s integrity, which is significant problem if there is no trust between
patient and their healers. In addition, Euthanasia contrasts the Hippocratic Oath “First, do
no harm”, which every doctor has to swear by, and by ending a patient life the harm
begins not only to the patient, but also to the society. Allowing this immoral act under
firm circumstances and complicated rules will be followed by easier rules, which is an
excellent example of the Slippery Slope argument that is presented by lawyer Eugene
Volokh in his article The Mechanism of the Slippery Slope.
To every idea people will take two sides, supporters, and opponents. Assisted
suicide idea has divided people to more than two side. There are the people who support,
against, and there are doctors who have been separated from the rest of the society, where
they have the final decision on whether to assist ending one’s life or not. There are no
rules to permit assisted suicide in all over the world due to ethical, religious, and moral
reasons. However, there are some places where assisted suicide is legal and allowed. For
instance, in Belgium, Physician Assisted Suicide (PAS) is permitted only to those who
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are having somatic/non-somatic diseases which is called “Benelux laws” (ea. Al, Shariff,
M, J.). Furthermore, According to Shariff in his article, “Assisted death and the slippery
slope—finding clarity amid advocacy, convergence, and complexity”. The Author claims
that the request of PAS is on the rise since 2002 to 2009, where the number rose from
259 to 1526. In Belgium which is only one example of countries that allow PAS,
according to Dr. Benatar, to be forced to live a life that is full of pain and intolerable is
inexpressible violation of one’s freedom to live or to die. Still, Dr. Benatar claims that
people who argue the slippery slope have failed to justify their rejection to PAS.
Benatar states that if we can think of a patient suffering and how hard their lives
when it is ending on a slow pace, we would re consider PAS as an appropriate solution to
end the suffering. Also, there are several states in the U.S that allows people to end their
own life such as, Oregon, and Washington. Moreover, one of the biggest burdens on
permanent ill people in places that do not offer free healthcare for the public. High costs
and the amount of debts that accumulate on patient’s shoulders contribute to make the
decision of PAS. Per Dr. FRIEDMAN from the American Journal of Medical Research,
the healthcare system in the United States is “mess” compared to many different
countries; in addition to the costs that are rising, while patient’s outcomes declining. In
2009 the U.S wasted about $750 billion on healthcare systems, while there was 75,000
people who died because of inadequate healthcare system (Fox, 2012).
On the other hand, we get to people who do not favor PAS and do not consider it
as a solution at any cause or cost. Opponents to PAS always finding solutions to avoid
ending one’s life whatsoever. Therefore, they propose Palliative care to permanent ill
people. Referring to the article “Discussing Palliative Care with Patients” by Dr. Lo, B in
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Annals of Internal Medicine. Palliative focuses on the physical and psychosocial support
as it relief their pain and save their dignity as many patients may feel they are humiliated
when asking people to clean after them, or being presented in front of friends and the
community as unable individuals. At the same time, palliative care deals with Physicians
and doctors in term of teaching them how to respond to difficult statements and
questions. Palliative care continuously tends to utilize family members as a part of the
nursing team, where a study indicates that family members often raise extra issues, which
might be important to patient’s healthcare. For example, Mrs. A’s concerns about the
final stages of her dying husband, helped to elevate major part of her husband’s suffering.
Moreover, Mrs. A’s fears and concerns were important to her husband’s health situation
before they address physician’s treatment plans (Quill, T. 1999)
Opponents to PSA or in other word euthanasia believe the act of ending
someone’s life is unethical, and immoral. They discuss PAS in terms of religion and how
it contradicts almost all known religions in the world. Moreover, it breaches the first
amendment of the Hippocratic Oath, where it exactly specifies doing no harm. According
to Dr. Leiva, R. in “Death, suffering, and euthanasia”, Dr. Leiva states in her article in
response to Dr. Boisvert “euthanasia is a is a betrayal of our ultimate mandate not to
cause harm and it reflects misguided compassion”, which declare his clear opinion
against PAS. Additionally, Dr. Leiva claims with allowing euthanasia more crimes would
occur by doctors toward their patients which lead to the loss of trust between doctors and
patients; for illustrations Dr. Leiva mentions that there are many lives that have been
terminated without the patient’s consent, or even the family’s agreement. However, she
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claims that there are fewer death situations in Canada by cancer than losses in Hollande
without a clear request.
Personal stakeholder.
What I believe is, there are many situations and circumstances that only patients
themselves know about. The pain and the hardness of the treatment they receive make me
think that I cannot have an opinion on the decision of whether doing PAS or not. I never
known the struggle of a harsh disease yet, that leads an adult human begin, conscious to
choose death over treatment. There must be good reasons behind patient’s choices.
However, I can relate to PAS from a religious perspective, where in Christianity in many
places in Bible PAS or Killing the self is forbidden “for with you is the fountain of life; in
your light, we see light” (Psalm 36;9, Holy Bible). Moreover, Bible considers killing self
a murder. Therefore, is clearly states “You shall not murder” (Exodus 20:13, Holy Bible).
Also, in Islam killing self is forbidden in many places in Holy Quran for example “And
do not kill yourselves. Surely, God is Most Merciful to you.” (Alnisa 4:29, Holy Quran).
In addition to many religions that forbid killing self. Furthermore, I can relate to PAS
from the medical field view, where the process of making new drugs, and new
medication depend on trails and experimenting. Therefore, if people will always think of
PAS as their ultimate solution, it will affect the process of creating new medicine.
In conclusion, I have displayed the different points of views on Physician assisted
suicide (PAS) or what is called euthanasia and how it might affect society, doctor’s
integrity, and people trust. Additionally, I state both supporter’s opinion, which is clearly
indicated and their demand for freedom to die as well as their freedom to live. On the
other hand, opponents to PAS, which includes proposed solutions to be taken instead of
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euthanasia. Finally, my personal opinion on what effect, and how it’s important to keep
the one’s life until the last day of it. In addition to religious beliefs about PAS, how it’s
forbidden in Christian or in Islam.
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Work cited.
1) Bernard Lo, MD; Timothy Quill, MD; and James Tulsky, MD, for the ACP–ASIM
End-of-Life Care Consensus Panel 4 May 1999 • Annals of Internal Medicine
2) Benatar, D. "A legal right to die: responding to slippery slope and abuse
arguments." Current Oncology. Multimed Inc., Oct. 2011. Web. 28 July 2017.
3) FRIEDMAN, DEBORAH, et al. "Us Healthcare: A System in Need of a
Cure." American Journal of Medical Research, vol. 3, no. 1, Jan. 2016, pp. 125-141.
EBSCOhost,
search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=114705456&site=ehost-live.
4) Leiva, René A. "Death, suffering, and euthanasia." Canadian Family Physician.
College of Family Physicians of Canada, June 2010. Web. 28 July 2017.
5) Shariff, M.J. "Assisted death and the slippery slope—finding clarity amid advocacy,
convergence, and complexity." Current Oncology. Multimed Inc., June 2012. Web. 28
July 2017.
6) Warraich, Haider Javed. "On Assisted Suicide, Going Beyond ‘Do No Harm’." The
New York Times. The New York Times, 04 Nov. 2016. Web. 28 July 2017.
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