According to the current requirements for physician aid-in-dying, Zachary is eligible for this practice. Eligibility to death with stipulates that a person wishing to follow this procedure must be from the states that have legalized the practice. According to Death with Dignity (2020), these states are; Washington, Oregon, Hawaii, Colorado, California, District of Columbia, New Jersey, Vermont, and Maine. An individual must also be 18 years of age, be mentally competent, and diagnosed with a severe illness. In proving residency, people must provide either; voter registration cards, tax returns, living documents, or identification cards, and driver’s licenses. Zachary is qualified under the age and state requirement since he is 20 years old, a resident of Oregon. Zachary is also diagnosed with a terminal illness, brain cancer, which gives him six months to live, thus qualify for physician aid-in-dying practice. OHA (2020) states that a person wishing to undergo this process must be mentally competent. This implies that an individual must be able to communicate health care matters with a doctor and make care decisions. Under this requirement, Zackary is qualified for the practice because he has been attending routine scans and making decisions on his health in the past. Thus, by meeting the age criteria, being a member of Oregon State, being capable of making decisions, and being diagnosed with brain cancer, Zackary qualifies to undergo the practice.
Mental health is a condition that is evaluated and considered during the death with dignity legislation. I strongly support this aspect of the legislation because it helps prevent patients from making impaired judgments on ending their lives. According to OHA (2020), the consultation and counseling section involves psychiatrists who engage the patients to determine their mental state. These psychiatrists help in determining the presence of psychological or psychiatric disorders. In essence, this stage is crucial in ensuring that people make sound decisions. Mentally ill patients are characterized may have suicidal thoughts, hence allowing them to enroll in death-with-dignity programs that could encourage them to commit suicide (Muller, 2018). Mentally ill patients must be evaluated to determine their qualifications in practice due to the complexity and nature of their cognitive and psychological processes.
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Surrogacy is allowed in most medical practices; however, in the physician aid-in-dying with dignity, the legislation stipulates that only the patient can initiate the move. For instance, the Oregon state legislation states that only an adult residing in the state, and who is terminally ill can apply for the practice. In this legislation, the patient must voluntarily express their wish to end life (OHA, 2020). The patients who meet the stipulated requirements must make formal requests for a dignified or humane end of their life. Surrogacy involves letting someone else make medical decisions for you. This practice is highly prohibited under the legislation as only an individual can make this decision. Since a person makes this decision when they have less than six months to live, they must voluntarily decide to make the decision (OHA, 2020). The physician aid-in-dying with dignity involves a long process that must be followed by the patient to reach the final decision of ending life. A patient obtains the oral request, which is done during the discussion of end-of-life options with a physician. A surrogate cannot discuss your-end-of life with a physician because one has to make the oral request formally. After evaluation of the request, the physicians approve or deny the request, whereby a patient can write a request to the physicians. Due to the nature of the requests made, and the evaluation needed for the practice to take place, a surrogate cannot be held responsible for someone’s life.
The current state of the physician-aid in dying legislature shows numerous weaknesses, and changing these sections could yield effectiveness in reaching patients. The legislation prohibits family members from being witnesses to the written requests. Hence, family members and relatives understand one’s condition; therefore, they should be allowed to witness these formal requests rather than rely on other people. The argument on mental health patients should be improved to cater to respect for the rights of the people with mental health conditions. While these people could be suicidal, their condition could also be severe, just like the other people. Suffering from immense pains and the inability to survive from the disease is a critical condition that must be examined. The evaluation to determine the health of mentally ill patients must take into account their sufferings just like it considers the condition in other people. Secondly, I would like to see other states following the suit and legalizing the practice to accommodate the terminally ill patients. Secondly, this legislation should consider surrogates who could help in deciding for the terminally ill. For instance, some people could be in critical conditions that make them unable to request for the practice. However, allowing surrogates will help this group of people. Surrogates should include family members, friends, and personal doctors. Banning surrogacy is unfair for the people who are unable to make formal requests due to medical conditions. Thus, I would like this practice to change and accommodate surrogates.
References
Death with Dignity, (2020). How Death with Dignity Laws Work. Death with Dignity. Retrieved from https://www.deathwithdignity.org/learn/access/
Muller, T.R. (2018). Should those with Mental illness have the right to die? Psychology Today.
Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/talking-about- trauma/201809/should-those-mental-illness-have-the-right-die
OHA, (2020). Oregon Revised Statute: Oregon’s Death with Dignity Act. Oregon Health Authority. Retrieved from https://www.oregon.gov/oha/ph/ProviderPartnerResources/EvaluationResearch/Deathwit hDignityAct/Pages/ors.aspx
