Death is inevitable, and everyone knows that in one day, in one way or the other, we will have our last breath. The question which has sparked debate across the country and the rest of the world is whether assisted death should be legalized in the state. Before taking any side, it would be paramount to have an overview of what physician-assisted death is all about. The term assisted death is described as intentionally killing oneself with the assistance of someone who has knowledge or means which can help one die. The term physician-assisted or aided suicide is not customarily used as people perceive the term suicide to be immoral and thus illegal. This is the primary reason why the physician-assisted death is also called the physician aided in dying (AHS, 2017). Note; there is the term euthanasia which is also common in the healthcare environment. The two terms are different and should not be used interchangeably. In the physician-assisted death, the physician gives knowledge without administering the drug or the condition which kills the patient. Note, for the physician-assisted suicide, the doctor has to assert that the patient has met some criteria which assure the doctor that indeed, the patient needs to end his or her life. The doctor will simply prescribe a drug which will slowly kill the patient without making them suffer much. On the other side, euthanasia is where the physician is involved directly in killing the patient. In this case, the physician will prescribe and also give the patient the drug which aids in killing the patient. Note, in assisted suicide, the patient has to meet some specific conditions. First, the patient has to be terminally ill. This means that in such condition, the doctor has to believe that such patient has less than six months to live. Secondly, the patient must be in a position where she or he can take the drug themselves. Further, the patient must be mentally sober to make this decision. In this article, the author maintain that physician-assisted suicide is illegal and should not be legalized in the USA and other parts of the world.
Nobody likes the thought of death. Noone would want to associate themselves with death. However, some have argued that physician-assisted suicide needs to be legalized in the country. There are five states where this act has been passed through and is working in the USA. These are Oregon, Washington, California, Vermont, and Montana. However, the plea to have this act legalized in the rest of the remaining 45 states is illogical and incorrect. There are different reasons which justify this assertion. First, the legalization of physician-assisted suicide will become an ethical slippery slope. As a medical nurse, and there are ethical boundaries which guide the profession. Nurses must respect patient autonomy and also must not harm the patient under their care (Orentlicher, 2016). The first condition before the decision to aid in ending one's life is that the patient must be terminally ill. When the law allows the people who are terminally ill and can take the drug alone to help them die peacefully, this will be a chance to offer the same kind of assistant to those who are not terminally ill and those who are not in a position to consent for their death. For instance, there are those who are depressed and are not terminally ill. On the other hand, there are those who have some mental issues and are aggressive. These people are put in danger in case the law allows physician-assisted suicide. In this case, the physician-assisted death will do more harm to the population than good.
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Other than this, it is the right of every citizen of the country to live well before they die peacefully. This is critical to each person in the world. Assisted death may violate this kind of right. There are those people who will force the physicians to help them die just because they are not well taken care of by their family (Downie, 2017). There are those people with a disability who find it difficult to live in the current time due to neglect they get from the society. These are people who need proper support for them to continue living their life with dignity. The best way to help such individuals is to assist them with the means which will help them live for long. It is critical to note that if these individuals are granted the support they need, then they may not wish for assisted death. It is vital therefore to give other alternative priority than ending the life of an innocent soul. Example of the individuals under this category include the old and the disabled individuals. These are people who are in need of support to help them make something out of their life but not to help them die just because they lack alternative for a better life.
Also, there is an alternative to the assisted suicide in the hospital. The unfortunate part of it is that these options are not exploited in the hospital and priority is given to assisted suicide. The palliative care subsystem can be managed in a manner that can help improve the condition of such patient and extend their life instead of terminating their life. Palliative care specializes on issues which concern pain control, shortness of breath or sometimes nausea. There can be a situation where such care is widely available in the healthcare system, then the issue of assist suicide can be over. So, it is apparent that physician-assisted suicide can be controlled in case palliative care is improved in the hospital. Instead of legalizing the assisted suicide, the government should strive to have palliative care in place so that such patient is helped. This will help them overcome the thought of death which will end their life abruptly. The worry is in case this act is legalized, it may not be used as the last option in the healthcare system. For instance, it is known that with palliative care, the patient can be given drugs which can help them control the pain and other condition they are undergoing. However, in case the physician-assisted death is allowed by the law, system which can help the patient recover from their condition such as the palliative care may not be used to treat or help this patient live longer. The doctors will rush into a decision of aiding in death instead of trying to stabilize the patient. This will bring a situation where assisted death becomes the number one priority for depressed patients and those who are undergoing pain. This kind of act thus will be unethical.
The ethical theory of utilitarianism claims that the best action is the one which results in maximum utility. The application of this theory in the case of the physician-assisted suicide shows precisely why it should not be legalized in the population. The theory claims that right action is that which will result to benefit for many people. In this case, assisted death is doing more harm than good to the majority and thus is not in line with the principle of utilitarianism . In many circumstances, these patients are usually the leading figures in the society. Sometimes, they are the breadwinners in their families, and the entire family depends on them for their survival. Killing or assisting a patient die thus eliminates the breadwinner in the family and thus leads to instability in such families and this leads to family issues. This, therefore, does not benefit many people as per the theory of utilitarianism . On the other hand, there is an ethical theory of autonomy. The theory of autonomy states that a patient needs to have the freedom to decide on their life. This theory grants them with a chance to make a decision which may include the choice to live or to die. There are many instances where such rights may be interfered with incase assisted death is legalized in the healthcare system. What may be witnesses in such situation is that for those who cannot decide on their own for instance, the mentally ill patient and the disables, may be killed without being consented by those who are involved. This may interfere with their right to autonomy. The ethical principle also states clearly that as medical professionals, we should try as much as possible to avoid doing harm to the patients under your care. In case physician-assisted suicide is allowed in the country and healthcare system, then such kind of ethical principles will be violated. In such scenario, those patients who are not terminally ill or those who have mental issues may fall victims of these of improper assisted deaths and this may be violating the ethical principle of doing no harm to the patient. Lastly, it is written in the Bible that the human being has no right of taking away a life since they did not create it. What is true is that suicide is immoral by religious belief. Based on the religious faith, life is pure and precious, and the only person who has control over life and can tackle it is God. So, a human being has no right to decide to take away their life. Allowing physician-assisted suicide directly has a negative impact on this belief. Though this should only be tied to those who believe in religion, this point should be considered in this debate.
There are different points which are aired by those who drum for the physician-assisted suicide. They give different reasons and point different issues which they claim that should be considered in the matters of physician-assisted suicide. The first reason which they claim is that in a workable healthcare system, physician-assisted suicide can work only after all the treatment options have been exhausted (Léonard, 2016). They argue that physician-assisted suicide should be legalized and only be used when other options such as palliative care have failed. They try postulate that there are different instances where palliative care has been unable to relieve suffering and pain on the patient, and the only option remaining is assisted death. "Then, with outside opinion concurring, a physician would be permitted to prescribe medication that the patient could use to hasten death at a time of the patient's choice" (Léonard, 2016). This is point critical, and it may be seen on the face of any other person as justification why to legalized physician-assisted suicide. However, this point also has a dot. Note, there are cases where assisted deaths have been prioritized. There are instances where doctor has been forced to assists in patient’s wishful death, not because they will, but because they have less option in life.
Also, the proponents of the physician-assisted suicide claim that there is no need for a person to suffer yet they know they will die after a short period due to the kind of pain or disease they are suffering from. They postulate that people should spend their last days on earth with a lot of joy and pleasure rather pain and agony (CAN, 2017). They, therefore, suggest that, in case of such situations, such people should be assisted to terminate their life and end the pain they are undergoing. What they try to suggest is that some patients are unable to resist the kind of pain and agony they undergo through from certain diseases. More severe, such patients know that they will eventually die from such conditions. The patients though usually have no idea on how they can slowly and peacefully end their life and thus end the suffering there are undergoing which will eventually lead to their death. They thus claim that the physician will be wrong to deny the patient a chance to die peacefully in case they know how they can assist them with the knowledge to do so. However, what needs to be noted in this case is that not all these patient who requests to be assisted to die undergoes pain or agony. There are situations where the people who are not terminally ill have requested to be assisted to die. There are those who suffer from to manageable conditions such as depression, and since they cannot withstand such situations anymore, they end up requesting assistance to die. This is unethical and is one of the reasons why physician-assisted death should not be allowed.
Also, the proponents of the physician-assisted death point at the ethical principle such as autonomy. This is a principle which claims that people have right to make a decision which affects their life (CARNA, 2017). Their conclusion needs to be respected. They thus claim that the decision to end life is also a personal decision which affects life. They argue that people know what is right for their life. If they feel that they cannot withstand the pressure and pain they feel, then they are justified to decide to end their life. The physician thus should help them with a better way to do this. However, this point also has a dot. Even if the principle of autonomy claims that people have control over decision affecting their life and should be respected, this decision should only be granted if there is an extreme necessity to grant it.
In summary, physician-assisted suicide should not be legalized in USA and other parts of the world. Legalizing this act will lead to ethical issues in healthcare system since it may not be used in the right way. Further, legalizing this act is dangerous to other patients who are mentally ill or disable since their rights to live longer on earth can be fringed. The proponents of the physician-assisted death claim that people need to be granted the right to end their life in case the doctors prove that their condition is worse and they may die in the next six months. What these people do not consider is that in case the law allows for such action, then it can be misused. Also, this is act should only be used as the last option when others, such as palliative care have failed. However, this is usually not what happens in the real sense. Mostly, it is given priority even in circumstances where it can be avoided.
References
AHS (2017) MEDICAL ASSISTANCE IN DYING: values-Based Self-Assessment Tool for Health Care Providers https://www.albertahealthservices.ca/assets/info/hp/maid/if-hp-maid-self-assessment-tool.pdf
CAN (2017) National Nursing Framework on Medical Assistance in Dying in Canada. https://www.cna-aiic.ca/~/media/cna/page-content/pdf-en/cna-national-nursing-framework-on-maid.pdf
CARNA (2017) Medical Assistance in Dying: Guidelines for Nurses in Alberta. http://www.nurses.ab.ca/content/dam/carna/pdfs/DocumentList/Guidelines/MAIDGuidelinesForNurses_March2017.pdf
Downie, J. (2017). Medical Assistance in Dying: Lessons for Australia from Canada. QUT Law Review, (1), 127.
Léonard, C. (2016). Medical assistance in dying: What can nurses expect after June 6? Canadian Nurse, 112(4), 25-27.
Orentlicher, D. (2016). International Perspectives on Physician Assistance in Dying. Hastings Center Report, 46(6), 6-7. doi:10.1002/hast.641
