Katie Overstreet

Weathersbee
8B
12-5-2014
Assisted death
Assisted death is death with the help from another person, generally a physician. Today,
the argument on the legalization of it is argued on the behalf of, if we as a society, should
be preserving and protecting life. Although, theres no protection of dogs when they are
sick and we put them down. They have no choice, we decide for them and people in the
United States should be able to decide whether they carry on their life. If a person is in so
much pain where they want to end life and not go on, they should be able. I do not
believe the government should be able to interject and say it is wrong to not want to be in
pain.
Dying is not a crime (Jack Kevorkian). Why are we telling people it is
a crime basically a crime through the restriction of assisted death? It
shouldnt be treated as a crime when all people are doing is trying to
not be in pain? Montana, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington have all
legalized assisted death within the past 10 years. Death with Dignity,
Oregons start to assisted death, was passed November 8, 1994 which
allowed adults to obtain lethal drugs that would shut down the body.
Washington was the next to legalize Death with Dignity in November
2008, then in December 2008, Montana granted permission to a
trucker who was diagnosed with leukemia which sparked the
legalization there. Vermont, the last state to legalize in 2013, granted
An Act relating to patient choice and control at end of life which
allows patients to choose what they choose is right and best for them.
All states should allow assisted death because people shouldnt have
to be in pain and have to to dread when they are going to pass away.
Why not just allow them to know and get it over with? People already
know the outcome when they have a short amount of time in their life
and if they feel as if they should go ahead and end it, they should be
able to. Brittany Maynard, a 29 year old who was diagnosed with an
untreatable brain tumor, decided to move to Oregon in order to die
peacefully. Ive had the medication for weeks. I am not suicidal. If I
were, I would have consumed that medication long ago. I do not want
to die. But I am dying. And I want to die on my own terms (Maynard)
I will die upstairs in my bedroom with my husband, mother,
stepfather, and best friend by my side and pass peacefully. I cant
imagine trying to rob anyone else of this choice (Maynard). This is not
a physician or a politician who is saying not to rob anyone, its

Katie Overstreet
Weathersbee
8B
12-5-2014
someone who actually went through with Death with Dignity.
Someone who is understanding of the situation and is making her own
choice based off of how tragic the situation is. Others dont understand
because they havent gone through with it but Brittany put it into to
perspective that she doesnt want her family to see her suffering in
hospice care throughout the months, she wants them to see her go
peacefully and wants them to be at rest that she was going to be okay.
Assisted death may not be what you want to do with your life if
you come to be in the position but that doesnt mean you should be
able to stop other people if they want to choose that path. I think that
if people want to, they should. Obviously they have a reason behind it
and let them go through with it, they know themselves and what is
best for them. People are different in all sorts of ways, why are we
trying to make people the same and make them live through what they
dont want to? Dogs do not have many advantages over people but
one of them is extremely important: euthanasia is not forbidden by law
in their case; animals have the right to a merciful death (Milan
Kundera).

Katie Overstreet
Weathersbee
8B
12-5-2014

Bibliography
Assisted Suicide - Information on right-to-die and euthanasia laws and history. (n.d.).
Retrieved December 09, 2014, from http://www.assistedsuicide.org/
Quotes About Euthanasia. (n.d.). Retrieved December 09, 2014, from
http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/euthanasia
State-by-State Guide to Physician-Assisted Suicide - Euthanasia - ProCon.org. (2014,
April 17). Retrieved December 09, 2014, from
http://euthanasia.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=000132
Maynard, B. (2014, November 02). My right to death with dignity at 29. Retrieved
December 09, 2014, from http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/07/opinion/maynardassisted-suicide-cancer-dignity/