Legalizing Assisted Suicide

Legalizing Assisted Suicide

M. Garcia

PHI 103: Informal Logic

Instructor: Webster

April 4, 2011

Legalizing Assisted Suicide

Part I: Thesis

Jack Kevorkian did not invent assisted suicide, he just happened to be responsible for bringing it out into the open. The practice of assisted suicide is not a modern experience. Lester Zygmaniak, 23, shot and killed his brother George who was paralyzed from the neck down in a motorcycle accident in Freehold, N.J. Lester was found not guilty by reason of temporary insanity after only 2 ½ hours of deliberation. He walked out of court a free man. In the United States, the practice of assisted suicide is also nothing new. As of today, assisted suicide is illegal in every state except Oregon. In 1997, the U.S. Supreme Court issued rulings on physician-assisted suicide and sent the issue back to the states to decide. The Court decided that it could not identify a right to request a physician’s help in dying. Therefore, the merits of state laws that bar physician-assisted suicide are appropriate for the states to decide. (Lynn & Harrold, 2006)

As a human race, we feel that the preservation of life supersedes everything else, including ones dignity, quality of life, or quantity of life. We will euthanize our animals because it is the humane thing to do. There is no reason for the family pet to suffer unduly. However, when it comes to our loved ones we will hold on to them until the end, regardless of the pain and suffering their continued living causes them. There was a time when assisted suicide was frequently seen as a way to preserve one’s honor. For the past half century, the views on assisted suicide have changed with the advancements in modern medicine. The technology that has been developed will now prolong a person’s life. However, that same technology has also prolonged the dying processes. Some believe that all we have accomplished with this new technology is force our loved ones to live in...