Death with Dignity

Death with Dignity/Physician Assisted Suicide should be an available option for mentally competent terminally ill patients.

Death with Dignity/Physician Assisted Suicide is a very controversial issue. There are religious reasons, legal reasons, ethical

reasons, moral reasons, and cost reasons.

Having this option can lessen one of the many pressures that exist with those who are mentally competent and terminally ill.

Having this option can lessen one of the many pressures that exist with being terminally ill. Very sick people often shorten their lives with doctors helping them, however bringing this desire into a legal framework full of safeguards makes sure these decisions are made with more compassion and less deception. Allowing this as an option is respecting the right of a competent person to make choices about the course of their life, including ending it.

Death with dignity allows for a better chance of a painless or less traumatic death. Today’s medical technology has made a lot of advancements, such as respirators to support patients failing lungs or medicines that can control pain. Medicine is supposed to alleviate the suffering that a patient undergoes, yet the only thing this and medical technology does for a dying patient is to prolong the pain and agony this person suffers with day after day. Terminally ill patients should have the right to end the pain caused by an illness which no drug or medical advancement can cure.

A person’s death brings an end to their pain and suffering, however there can be a large loss of dignity in this process. Terminally ill patients often develop reduced, if not completely removed, physical and mental capabilities. They are often depressed and full of anxiety. With the option of death with dignity, they are able to decide when, where and how they will die. Loved ones can surround them, as well as supportive people, such as a counselor or therapist. They can choose to be in a comfortable...