One of the most controversial topics in the world of healthcare and medicine is the act of dying under the supervision of a physician. Some people have very strong thoughts and opinions on this topic. There are those who support the right to die and those who are opposed to it and both have several reasons why they feel this way.
What Is Physician-Assisted Suicide?
According to the American Medical Association, physician-assisted suicide takes place when a physician provides “the necessary means and /or information” to facilitate a person’s choice to end his or her life. Other terms for this act include death with dignity, doctor-prescribed death, the right to die, and physician-assisted death. These terms don’t contain the word “suicide”, making them less associated with the connotation of the term, and stressing the focus on the medical practice of the event.
Is It Like Euthanasia?
In the United States, physician-assisted suicide has always been carefully differentiated from euthanasia, which may be regarded as mercy killing. Euthanasia involves the administration of a lethal medication to an incurable and suffering individual. Euthanasia can be voluntary and the person requests it, or it may be involuntary. While it is illegal in the U.S., it is legal in Belgium, Columbia, Luxembourg, and Canada. It has also been decriminalized in the Netherlands.
Arguments for Physician-Assisted Suicide
In general, there are three strong and common arguments supporting the practice of physician-assisted suicide. They are respect for the individual’s autonomy, relief of suffering, and that it is a safe medical practice under the supervision of a medical professional. Ethically speaking, it seems hard to argue with these reasons. If a person lives the way he or she wishes, shouldn’t he or she die the way they wish? If animals are put out of their suffering, shouldn’t humans have the right to decide? Since the person is dying and the practice is safe, why not?
Arguments Against Physician-Assisted Suicide
Just as individuals have very strong attitudes and opinions for the act of suicide-by-physician, there are those who intensely oppose it. Themes among those against it include suicide contagion, the slippery slope, and the role of depression in advanced illness. Suicide contagion is a term coined by the sociologist David Phillips and refers to high-profile suicides causing a spike in more suicides, especially when individuals have similar circumstances. And if this type of dying is appropriate for cancer, for instance, shouldn’t it be alright for other diseases or reasons? Isn’t losing one’s autonomy, being a burden, lack of joy in living and loss of dignity all good reasons to die by the hands of a doctor? And what about being so depressed, that one can simply not go on living? Aren’t these all ethically sound reasons to die?
Take Away
One of the most troubling and controversial issues in medicine today is physician-assisted suicide, regardless of what it is called. Since its beginning, there are those who have strongly supported and opposed it, and for sound and ethical reasons. The ethics involved in physician-assisted suicide are complex. Who is right and who is wrong? Only time and circumstance will tell.