Maria Angeli R. Baygan Grade 12 - St.

Stephen

The Defense for Physician-Assisted Suicide for the Terminally-Ill

One thing humans have in common with other living creatures is the desire to live.
We fight and strive every day to keep ourselves alive. Life, after all, is one of the most
sacred gifts, but what happens when others ask for its end? We have always been told
that it is wrong to take one’s life, but when the terminally ill beg for death, do they have
the right to be released from their pain? Can physician-assisted suicide (PAS), or what is
defined as the voluntary end of one's own life through the use of a lethal substance with
the aid of a medical professional, be acceptable? In cases like this, PAS should be
allowed.
First, PAS can end patients’ prolonged suffering. Patients with terminal illness have
reached a point where there is no longer any hope for recovery, meaning their illness will
likely lead to their death. During that period, patients suffer from intense physical and
emotional pain as the looming date of their death hangs over their heads and those of
their loved ones. Studies show that among patients in end-of-life care, more than 60%
with cancer and AIDS experience persistent pain, with 42% of patients with cancer and
86% of patients with AIDS being under-medicated for their pain (Cleeland, et al., 1994;
Breitbart, et al., 1996). When any of these patients make a decision out of their own
rational mind to end their anguish, is it morally right to force them to continue suffering
because we do not feel comfortable doing giving them relief?
Second, PAS can prevent the terminally-ill from committing suicide on their own.
According to an article in The Telegraph, 7.4% of the suicides in England from 2005 to
2013 were by terminally ill patients (Bingham, 2014). Because some patients become
desperate for a way out of their suffering, they are forced to take matters into their own
hands. They attempt suicide without the aid of professionals which may result in traumatic
and terrible outcomes. Due to the lack of professional guidance, suicide attempts may
end in a slow and painful death. It could even conclude in furthering and worsening the
pain of the already suffering person.
Lastly, patients who are terminally-ill have the right to protect their own dignity.
They have a right to act in a way that retains their honor and respect. Every person has
a right to choose what to do with their lives. With the terminally-ill who are tired of the pain
they are suffering and whose days are marked by the increasing levels of pain felt day to
Maria Angeli R. Baygan Grade 12 - St. Stephen

day, their right to choose one’s way of life must extend to how they can end it. There
exists in the world terminally-ill patients who are aware that what remains of the rest of
their life is only a constant cycle of nausea, pain, discomfort and anguish. They are aware
that their situation will only lead them to a barely-living existence. They will have no control
of their bodies and because of this, they feel trapped in a life they did not want. If a patient
like this wishes to end their suffering in a dignified manner, then it is out of compassion
that we respect their wish to end their suffering in their own terms.
To be sure, a situation like this is not black or white, but only shades of confusing
gray. Yet, when we try to do what is right by others, it is best not to think about ourselves,
but how the others in question feel about their situation. In the case of the terminally-ill,
legalizing PAS provides them with an alternative solution for their pain. It also stops them
from dangerously choosing to end life on their own. Moreover, instead of ending their life
with what they see as prolonged torture and humiliation, PAS helps patients end life
peacefully with dignity and pride. In this way, a patient can be free to choose to preserve
the dignity of their life by upholding the dignity of its end.

References
Physician-assisted suicide. 2017.In MeidcineNet.com. Retrieved June 22, 2017, from
http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=32841
Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life. (n.d.). Euthanasia and assisted suicide.
Retrieved from www.mccl.org/euthanasia-and-assisted-suicide.html
Cleeland, C. S., Gonin, R., Hatfield, A. K., et al. (1994). Pain and its treatment in
outpatients with metastatic cancer. New England Journal of Medicine, 330, 592-
596.
Breitbart, W., Rosenfeld, B., McDonald, M., et al. (1996). Undertreatment of pain in
ambulatory AIDS patients. Pain, 65, 243-249University of Missouri. (n.d.).
Euthanasia. Retrieved from http://ethics.missouri.edu/euthanasia.html
Bingham, J. (2014, October 15). Assisted dying: more than 300 terminally ill people a
year committing suicide. The Telegraph.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/assisted-dying/11163992/Assisted-
dying-more-than-300-terminally-ill-people-a-year-committing-suicide.html