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Marc Lund
Professor Kelley Turnbeau
English 1010-073
April 4, 2016
Physician Assisted death: Cause and Effect and the Moral issues surrounding the
Death with Dignity act
Picture yourself waiting in a hospital room next to your parents or spouse, the
doctor comes in with charts containing the results of the tests you have had done. He
tells you that the pain and fatigue that you have been experiencing is caused by
Mesothelioma, one of the deadliest cancers in the world. He explains that a benign
tumor is beginning to spread over your lungs and stomach lining and it is expected that
your life will end within twelve to eighteen months. Within six months the pain
becomes too much to handle, you need to use a walker to get around your house, it hurts
to do anything, even to just lay there in bed. The medical bills are starting to come, the
cost of medical and physician care is becoming too much for your family to afford, you
are miserable and you just wish to die. You arrange a meeting with your doctor and he
explains that under the Death with Dignity act, because of your condition and life
expectancy you have the option to die under physician care either by a prescription or
by injection. Under the circumstances and considering the fact that you will never
improve, only degenerate until the day you inevitably die, would you take this option?
Physician assisted death has been in the United States since the late 1990s with
the first state to legalize it being Oregon. Throughout the entire U.S. this topic has
proved to be very controversial, though it may not be as big a topic of debate as

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abortion is, both seem to coincide and cover very similar moral issues. The topic
proves so controversial on such a broad range of factors including political preferences,
religious and moral principles and even the simple freedom to choose for ones self. I
am very intrigued by this topic personally because there are so many aspects which test
ones morals and raise the questions, Is this worth the risk vs. reward? Should this be
legalized in the United States? How does this affect me? What is the defining line
between the ethical and immoral?
Physician assisted suicide is defined by the Miriam Webster Dictionary as, suicide by a
patient facilitated by means (as a drug prescription) or by information (as an indication
of a lethal dosage) provided by a physician aware of the patient's intent, also defined
as Euthanasia or, the act or practice of killing someone who is very sick or injured in
order to prevent any more suffering (Miriam Webster). Both definitions are different
but mean the same thing which is to choose death over suffering in the midst of a
painful and terminal illness. This subject, among many others such as gun control,
abortion or minimum wage is highly controversial and is cause for excessive argument
and debate.
As with all political issues, there are a wide variety of opinions on the subject of
Physician assisted death: some people are strongly pro, regardless of the circumstances, others
say it should be outlawed and should never be an option and some are in the middle saying it is a
viable option depending upon the circumstances. Those in the middle suggest that there are
circumstances under which physician assisted death is all right, generally suggesting the patient
has a terminal illness such as cancer which inhibits them from doing more than lay on a bed all
day in the most horrendous pain imaginable. Those who argue against the concept suggest that

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doctors are trying to play God or that they are terrible people for killing another human being.
Some compare this subject to that of abortion suggesting that both are evil and manipulate life.
Despite what people suggest, are we not, as a human race, trying to manipulate life and play God
equally so by attempting to keep people alive through modern medicine?
In my attempt to see what other people know about the subject and where they stand I
took the liberty of asking several volunteers a list of five specific questions on the subject:

1. What do you know about this subject?

2. What is your opinion on this subject?
3. What are the ethical and moral principals in consultation of this subject?
4. What are the pros and cons?
5. Should this practice become legalized in the United States?
I found a pattern, specifically those of whom are against physician assisted death seemed to
bring a more religious aspect into their arguments. As I said in my last paragraph, doctors are
trying to play God, which upsets a lot of people. The moral issue here is not necessarily that
doctors are just evil people trying to kill others, the issue is the reasoning behind someone who
wishes to die at the hand of a doctor. If the patient is just depressed or has an emotional disorder
and simply wishes to end his or her life then obviously there are many things that particular
person should consider before ordering to become euthanized by the hands of their doctor; they
could attend counseling to break down their situation better, they could speak with the doctor
about starting to take anti-depressants or other medications or even get a registered emotional
support animal to help them get around and to feel the unconditional love they desperately need.

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One aspect that I found interesting is that many of the more religious people of whom I
thought would be against physician assisted death were entirely in favor of legalizing it. Those
of whom argued in favor of physician assisted death followed more of a pattern of saying it
should be a viable option under terms of physical pain and/or terminal illness. I personally am in
agreement with these people as I have seen many people in my life struggle with such medical
problems. The burden is not only upon the patients but upon their families as well. The family
struggles emotionally, financially and physically as well. By allowing these particular patients to
choose euthanasia by the hands of their doctor they can be freed of this pain much sooner rather
than suffer through it in a state of complete agony. Economically it makes sense as well because
of the astronomical costs of doctors and hospital stays. Some families would have to take a
second mortgage in order to be able to pay the cost.
There is a song written by the group Metallica in 1988 titled One which originates from
a story written by an author named Dalton Strumbo in 1938. In this story a World War I soldier
steps on a land mine which results in the complete decimation of his body loss of his appendages
including his face. He basically became lifeless but is still alive. He has no way to communicate
with others, he basically and physically cannot do more than lay there and breathe. Many
months back my best friend and I were talking about this as we are both fans of Oldies Rock. It
was his wish that if he was ever in this particular situation where there was nothing left of him
but he was still alive in this paralyzed, vegetative state of pain where he couldnt even tell the
doctors where he hurt and lived constantly in a state of pain, blindness and silence, that his
family, quote, Would have the decency to put me out of my misery. If I was in such a state I
would probably say the same thing.

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A friend of mine whom I asked for her input on the subject said that is depends on the
circumstances and depends on if the person is in their right mind. She suggested that the whole
subject was a slippery slope and that there is almost no reason for such action and that physician
assisted death should not be legalized in the United States. I would iterate in this particular
argument that just as with abortion, there are circumstances under which there may either be
little or no choice. In the case of abortion if a woman becomes pregnant because she was raped
then it stands to reason that she should be able to have an abortion. In some other cases the
infant may be dying already and has no chances for survival or the mothers life may be in
danger unless the child is aborted. In the same manner there are circumstances under which one
should have the right to choose to end their life for medical purposes, just like how a patient is in
a coma for years, his or her family must choose to pull the plug and end their life held together
only by special machines.
Apart from all of the arguments for and against physician assisted death, there is some
good that can come out of this. One thing in particular comes to mind that this could
tremendously and rapidly improve our currently knowledge and application of stem cell
research; people who are euthanized under the care of a physician could donate their bodies to
science so that we as people can advance medical technology and learn more about the human
body. One thing that most people dont understand about history is that most of what we know
in terms of medicine and treatment of the human body came from what Adolf Hitler did to the
Jews in the Concentration camps. Because of him we know the limits and tolerances of pain in
the human body as well as the most humane and effective way to cure or end peoples pain and
suffering, including though means of euthanasia.

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No matter where one stands on the subject there is much that needs to be considered in
the world of medicine and politics. A dear friend of mine and I were talking about this subject as
both of us could agree on one thing: prohibition never works. Although we are politically
opposite we both know a lot about history. One event in particular is a perfect example of why
prohibition doesnt work is the eighteenth and twenty first amendments. The eighteenth
amendment passed on January 16th, 1919 prohibited the public from making, selling or even
transporting alcoholic beverages in the United States. After the passing of this law people started
creating bootleg alcohol like moonshine and bathtub beer. People were rioting in the streets
and it became a mess until January 17th, 1920 when the twenty first amendment was passed
which repealed the eighteenth amendment. It is not to suggest that with or without passing
legislation to legalize physician assisted death that people will start rioting in the streets, but
people will still find ways to either commit suicide or have doctors euthanize them illegally or
under the table as it were. Some would even venture to foreign countries where it is legal such
as Switzerland, Belgium, Luxembourg or the Netherlands.
I dont feel personally that I am particularly radical about the idea of legalizing physician
assisted suicide but I do feel strongly that this is a practice that should become legalized in more
States of North America. Some people will argue that the idea is Messed up that we would
legalize the voluntary Killing of another human being. Many people will try to vote against
the legalization for the same reason that many wish to defund organizations such as Planned
Parenthood. Though I dont agree with the idea of a woman getting an abortion simply because
she got pregnant accidentally and doesnt want the child, Planned Parenthood still does things
like cancer screenings as well as experimenting to find a cure for STDs. I agree with my friend
whom I interviewed for this essay in saying that we need to raise more awareness in society

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about the terms and conditions as well as the reasoning behind the legalization. There is a
slippery slope defining the line between the ethical and immoral principals associated with the
concept of physician assisted death, the biggest consideration would be simply the conditions of
one who is suffering immensely and inevitably facing death. Should it be left for society to
decide to let a terminally ill patient suffer until the bitter end or should the patient be allowed to
decide for his or her self to be put down in an ethical and gentle manner at the hand and care of a
trusted physician?

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Bibliography
Wilson, Allison R., Debbi L. Edwards, Isaac Crockett, Melissa P. Thomas, and Greg Edwards.
"Online Instant Message Survey Conducted on Behalf of Others Understanding of Physician
Assisted Death." E-mail interview. 11 Apr. 2016.
Hale, Christopher J. "Theres Nothing Progressive About Physician-Assisted Suicide." Time.com.
Time Inc, 15 Oct. 2015. Web. 9 Apr. 2016. <http://time.com/4068423/physician-assistedsuicide/>.
Joe, Messerli. "Should an Incurably-ill Patient Be Able to Commit Physician-assisted Suicide?"
BalancedPolitics.org. Balanced Politics, 1 July 2012. Web. 15 Apr. 2016.
<http://www.balancedpolitics.org/assisted_suicide.htm>.
Webster, Miriam, ed. "Physicianassisted Suicide." Def. 1. Miriam Webster. Miriam Webster
Online Dictionary, n.d. Web. 20 Apr. 2016. <http://www.merriamwebster.com/dictionary/physician%E2%80%93assisted%20suicide>.
Breslow, Jason M. "FRONTLINE." PBS. PBS, 13 Nov. 2013. Web. 16 Apr. 2016.
<http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/the-shadow-side-of-assisted-suicide/>.

Chase, Johnathan, and Christopher Chase. "One Metallica." The Story behind the Song.
Hetfield/ulrich, Fall 2004. Web. 24 Apr. 2016. <http%3A%2F
%2Fwww.learningfromlyrics.org%2Fone.html>.

"Oregon Death with Dignity Act: A History - Death With Dignity." Death With Dignity.
Deathwithdignity.org, n.d. Web. 26 Apr. 2016. <https://www.deathwithdignity.org/oregondeath-with-dignity-act-history/>