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Physician Assisted Death

Physician Assisted Death in the United States
An Analysis of Morality and Legality
Caleb Stewart
Liberty High School
Disaster can strike at any time in an individuals life, greatly complicating their physical
or mental standing. If this is a terminal infirmity and you are a resident of Oregon, Washington,
or Vermont you have the option to participate in Physician Assisted Death. This option is
viewed very differently among its supporters and its protestors and for good reason. There are
really two schools of thought, which is to account for the two very different terms used to
describe them. The Death with Dignity act is generally how it is used when writing in support of
the bill, and when opposed it is generally referred to as Physician Assisted Suicide. It is almost
comical the blatant discrepancy in the tone of those two titles. These laws allow mentally
competent, terminally-ill adult state residents to voluntarily request and receive a prescription
medication to hasten their death (Death with Dignity Association, 2013).
States that allow physicians to provide mentally sound, and terminally ill people with
death-hastening medication are very few, but are perhaps going to increase soon. Oregon,
Washington and Vermont consider it legal, but Hawaii, Nevada, Utah and Wyoming have no
real law for or against it. Bills to make the Death with Dignity Act legal have been made in
Connecticut, Hawaii, Kansas, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, and lastly
Pennsylvania but these bills have yet to be put to vote. Though most of these will quite possibly

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be rejected, the fact of them being considered on the ballot is promising news for people in
support of the bill.
Since there are only three states in which this is actually legal there is obviously some
great opposition. In fact, it is illegal in 45 states to provide a patient with medication that will
accelerate their death. People who are opposed to the Death with Dignity act generally refer to
religious complications with the law. Suicide is always as morally objectionable as murder. The
Church's tradition has always rejected it as a gravely evil choice: To concur with the intention of
another person to commit suicide and to help in carrying it out through so-called "assisted
suicide" means to cooperate in, and at times to be the actual perpetrator of, an injustice which
can never be excused, even if it is requested (Physician-Assisted Suicide: The Wrong Approach,
2013). Some religions consider this greatly immoral and depending on your upbringing and your
religious views you could possibly deem it unjust as well. Though religious complications play a
large part in the legality of Physician Assisted Death, there are other factors that play a part as
well. One of which is the risk of inadequate diagnosis. With the advancements in modern
medicine it is without doubt much easier to diagnose a terminal illness, but it is still not
foolproof. If someone is under the impression they are inevitably passing away, they might wish
to take part in Physician Assisted Suicide, but if the diagnosis is incorrect, they would be losing
their life for nothing. Another large risk that might be brought about with the legalization would
be professional integrity. Professional integrity refers to a doctor wrongfully prescribing death
accelerating medication to someone that isnt diagnosed with a terminal illness, but rather no
other way to restore their health. To someone who has no money, a medication to end their

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life would be much easier than the debt they would have to deal with if they accepted the
treatment needed to become healthy once more.
With the legalization of Marijuana in Washington and Colorado, and the legalization of
same-sex marriage in Oregon, the United States is seemingly becoming less religious oriented in
certain places. Due to the rapidly changing beliefs of some of the more modern religions,
people are subject to have many different interpretations of what is moral. Not only is religion
changing in some parts of our country, the freedom of speech is becoming more literal than
ever. People are free to say, and believe what they want more than ever before. This is making
the supports of this bill incredibly optimistic, as it should. A large portion of the opposition
believes the Death with Dignity Act is immoral because of religious views that disagree with
suicide in any sense. With the United States becoming less religiously based, the Death with
Dignity Act has a greater chance of having a bill passed, but it will most likely be in the distant
future.
Generally, stories of individuals deciding to partake in Physician Assisted Death are
those with close friends and family that dont want to put their peers through the turmoil of
seeing a loved one die. Ethan Remmel died in June of 2011 at the age of 41; nearly a year after
being diagnosed with terminal colon cancer. As a father of two he said he didnt want his young
kids to remember their father as the weak person chemotherapy would have turned him into.
One of the things that Ethan kept saying is he didnt want to deteriorate to the point where he
couldnt interact with his kids says Grace Remmel, his partner. Ethan opted to use
Washingtons Death with Dignity Act. A blog was made by Ethan to chronicle his fight against

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cancer titled Living While Dying. In this blog one of his most powerful entries said, So I have
the medication now, it is safely locked up. I have not decided if or when I will use it, but it gives
me great relief to know that I have some control over my dying process. As previously stated
this is generally the situation people are in when they choose to partake in Physician Assisted
Death. Another example would be in the case of Aja Riggs. Riggs is a 49-year-old woman
diagnosed with advanced uterine cancer, and is undergoing chemotherapy. The 49-year-old
Santa Fe resident remembers the feeling of her skin burning, all the medication, the nausea and
the fatigue so immense that even talking sapped too much energy...She said she wanted to live
but also wanted the option of ending her life with dignity if her condition worsened (Living
with Dying, 2014). Morris v. Brandenberg was brought to the Supreme Court and they ruled
Riggs could receive lethal medication to end her life if she chose to do so. The court also stated
the physicians that prescribed Riggs with the medication could not be prosecuted under the
states assisted suicide law.
With the changes in United States laws that have been rapidly appearing, the
legalization of the Death with Dignity act will probably be surfacing soon in many states.
Though the act may be considered immoral to some, others feel it is someones natural right to
determine the time and manner of their passing. The two schools of thought will always be a
constant struggle because it is really two completely different views. There is no real middle
ground in this situation because it is either allowed, or illegal. The reason it is referred to as the
Death with Dignity Act, or Physician Assisted Suicide is because there are two majorly differing
schools of thought behind the legality of it, and though the laws may be changing soon, the
contradictory views of the United States population will not.

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References Page
1) "Physician-assisted Suicide: The Wrong Approach to End of Life Care." Physician-assisted
Suicide: The Wrong Approach to End of Life Care. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 May 2014.
<http://www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/human-life-and-dignity/assisted-suicide/to-
live-each-day/physician-assisted-sucide-wrong-approach.cfm>.
2) "Doctor-assisted death: A dad's choice sheds light on national issue - NBC News." NBC
News. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 May 2014. <http://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-
news/doctor-assisted-death-dads-choice-sheds-light-national-issue-f1C9299977>.
3) "Death with Dignity Act." Death with Dignity Act. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 May 2014.
<https://public.health.oregon.gov/ProviderPartnerResources/Evaluationresearch/death
withdignityact/Pages/index.aspx>.
4) "Death with Dignity Acts." Death with Dignity National Center. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 May
2014. <http://www.deathwithdignity.org/acts>.
5) "NM Judge Rules in Favor of Death with Dignity." Death with Dignity National Center.
N.p., n.d. Web. 20 May 2014. <http://www.deathwithdignity.org/2014/01/14/nm-
judge-rules-in-favor-of-death-with-dignity>.