Title
Physician Assisted Suicide (PAS) - The Ultimate Right
Author
Marcia Angell
Claim of Argument:
Physician assisted suicide should be legalized.
Author’s reasons/ideas that support her claim:
1. There is an overwhelming support for PAS.
2. Death is usually unjust and often vey cruel.
3. Patients’ autonomy takes precedence over anything else. They have the right to determine what is best for them.
4. Many opponents of PAS consider it to be a form of murder.
5. Hospice movement is unable to alleviate all the pain and suffering of the patients.
6. Opponents argue that legalizing PAS would lead to a ‘slippery slope’.
7. Legalizing PAS would not lead to a widespread coercion of patients as feared by many.
8. Terminally ill patients could be depressed, but depression does not necessarily explain their decision for PAS.
9. Physicians should be committed to their patients’ needs instead of desolating them.
10. Not all terminally ill patients have the ability to commit suicide. The patients, who do have the ability, could use violent methods to kill themselves.
Author’s evidence that support her reasons/ideas:
1. Various surveys indicate that roughly two thirds of Americans and half the doctors in the United States support the PAS.
2. Patients with AIDS, cancer and progressive neurologic disorders, may die slowly and suffer. In worst case scenarios, pain and suffering from such diseases could not be alleviated, despite the best efforts of doctors and nurses.
3. The premise of patients’ autonomy is incorporated into our laws governing the medical practice. Decisions about the time and circumstances of death are very personal. Competent patients, if they so desire, should be able to choose death.
4. There are three methods of expediting the death of a dying patient: withdrawing life sustaining treatment, assisted suicide and euthanasia. The author supports ‘withdrawing life sustaining treatment’ and ‘assisted suicide’, but opposes euthanasia...