Essay on Physician Assisted Suicide: Should We Legalize it?

Should we legalize physician assisted suicide? There are two sides people could take; one side people could argue that we shouldn’t legalize because it’s unethical, on the other side people could argue that  we should because it gives people a way to die with dignity. The correct side seems to be quite clear. Physician assisted suicide goes against the Hippocratic Oath that physicians are sworn into, and it’s unethical. The obvious stance is that we shouldn't legalize physician assisted suicide.

Physician assisted suicide directly violates the Hippocratic Oath. when physicians are sworn into the medical field they take the Hippocratic Oath and they're supposed to follow that until they retire. That oath states “I will not give a lethal drug if I am asked, nor will I advise such plans,” and “I will do no harm or injustice to them [their patients].” If physician assisted suicide would get legalized then the foundation that the oath made would begin to crumble. It’d break the basic morals that physicians base their careers on.

Physician assisted suicide is against the American Medical Association code of ethics. The American Medical Association states that “Physician-assisted suicide is fundamentally incompatible with the physician’s role as healer.” Physician assisted suicide is unethical. Unethical is defined as not morally correct, most physicians have wanted to help people’s well being. How is encouraging and guiding people to suicide morally correct? If this gets legalized, it could get misused. Physicians should do anything in their power to keep their patients alive, not lead them to their ultimate end.

Some people will read this and argue the same point that David Goodall gave his life for. They will say that physician assisted suicide gives people a way to die with dignity, a way for people to be remembered for who they are not the shell they would become. David was 104 years old and decided it was his time, he wasn’t sick nor was he a shell. He felt that he had lived his life and that he didn't want old age to take him. Often times people will turn to physician assisted suicide when they get diagnosed with a terminal disease, so they'll decide to skip the pain and leave the earth. But there are cases where a miracle recovery occurs. Brian Wenham was 68 when he was diagnosed with terminal bowel cancer. He was told that he had less than a week to live. He had surgery to try to extend his life a little bit. After eight months he made his miraculous recovery. If he had chosen physician assisted suicide, his body would never have had the chance to make its recovery.

Life is always changing, there's no avoiding it. Health unexpectedly changes all the time, whether it's for the good or bad, it's not okay to just opt out and choose they way that is the least painful. Physician assisted suicide goes against everything, and is unethical.