At the Hour of Death

In a document I found in the ProQuest Research database titled "At the Hour of Death," PAS is examined on a few different levels. Information is given about how PAS has been seen throughout the federal court system, and how religous beliefs are thrown into the minds' of people who are against this process.

"On June 26, 1997, 47 states had laws banning assisted suicides." These laws were meant so that physicians could not prescribe medicine to their patients that will ultimately lead to their death. In Washington and New York, lower courts overturned the decisions saying they were "offensive to the liberty guaranteed by the 14th Amendment." On June 26, 1997, the U.S. Supreme Court stated that bans on assisted suicide are unconstitutional under one condition. There cannot be a ban on limiting care "to the merely palliative."

As for the religious debate, the heaviest arguement is that the Catholic Church believes "We are stewards, not owners, of the life God has entrusted to us" (No. 2280). This is what many Catholics believe and to simplify it, it is saying that humans do not own the right to take away their own life. It is only God's decision. You can agree or disagree, but in the end, your choice of death has endless possibilities.

Personal Experience

A recent unfortunate incident just occured in my family regarding my last post. My uncle had to put his dog to sleep because it had a medical problem that could not be treated. He was devastated and did not want to, but with the veternarians medical opinion, it was the only way to stop the continuous pain that his dog was enduring.

My uncle is not married and has no children. This dog was a big part of his life and had been his pet for many years now. Having to go through this so-called physician assisted suicide was harder for my uncle then he thought it would be.

In this instance, I feel physician assisted suicide was the right thing to do even though it ended the life of a cute dog. With the right medical procedures, though, this process was quick and painless for the dog. Knowing the dog is at peace now is helping my uncle grieve, and he is happier knowing the dog is not suffering any longer.

PAS: Regarding Pets

It has been brought to my attention that PAS can be stretched to include pets. Human rights can be argued that one person should not say if it's OK for another to commit suicide, but is it OK for one person to have their pet put down? This is an interesting aspect of physician assisted suicide.

According to Wikipedia, this process is known as animal euthanasia. It is defined as being "killed in a manner deemed to be humane, and in the case of a pet, in accordance with the emotional needs of the owner." This process can be done with inhalant agents, noninhalant agents (lethal injection), or physical methods. The most common practice is lethal injection via a large dose of anaesthetic. "Unconsciousness, respiratory and cardiac arrest follow rapidly, usually within 30 seconds to several minutes later. Pet owners generally consider it to be a quick and peaceful death." As with human physician assisted suicide, this is done to ease and end suffering for the pet.

There is also a morality debate regarding pet euthanasia. Euthanizing a pet is sometimes performed when a home cannot be found for a pet. In this case, I feel it is immoral to put a pet down when there are options such putting them in an animal shelter. There are also so called "no kill" shelters that are run by private animal welfare organizations. These types of organizations have an official policy to never euthanize an animal for non-medical reasons.

To clear up any confusion, I am in agreeance with physician assisted suicide only when it involves medical reason and purpose. As with pets, I feel the same way. If a pet is suffering tremendously, then I feel animal euthanasia is a proper procedure. If there are no medical reasons for this procedure, I feel it is immoral and unjust.

Who's Life is it, Anyway?

In Canada, "Who's Life is it, anyway?" was the plea of a terminally-ill patient named Sue Rodrigues who suffered from ALS. She was helped to commit physician assisted suicide against Canadian law.

Does one have the right to decide when he or she passes on once they have been diagnosed with a terminally ill disease? Something to wonder about is if you were in this position, would you want someone else to tell you what you can or cannot do as far as when you die? Many opinions are different, and it is OK for someone to think that physician assisted suicide is not right. It is also OK for someone to think physician assisted suicide is right. But if you were the one with the terminally ill disease, make the decision for yourself. Your opinion doesn't matter in regards to someone else's life.

A Physician's POV

In the event of a request for a physician assisted suicide, there are two people that this decision directly involves. Many different opinions are based upon whether a patient should decide when they die, but there is another individual that is directly involved. It happens to be the physician. The physician is basically taking on the responsibility of the death of their patient, even though the patient is agreeing to it. To have the power of someones life in your hands can affect the physician on an emotional level that only another physician can understand.

If I was a physician and my patient asked me for a physician assisted suicide, I would try to understand their POV, or point of view. They are obviously in a tremendous amount of pain and know they are dieing in a matter of time. To want to end their life in a peaceful manner is an understandable request. However, to know I would be the one administering the proper dosage of medication for this request which would ultimately lead to his or her death would create a difficult time for myself. Then again, that's why I'm not planning on becoming a physician.

Death with Dignity

Hello again. This post is going to discuss a federal case involving Oregon and physician assisted suicide. Oregon has been dealing with a federal suit about having physician assisted suicide legalized in its state. A recent article about the Death with Dignity Act allows terminally ill patients who end his or her life to be listed as having a physician assisted death, instead of physician assisted suicide. According to the article, "the one -word change has been sought by advocates of the landmark state law that allows dying patients to ask their doctors to provide medication the patients can administer to themselves to end their lives, if they are capable of making a sound decision."

Ironically enough, this act was passed and signed into law by the 1998 Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber, who is a physician.

Surveys

So I've been doing some research about PAS. As of right now, there are no laws for or against this act, but I came across an interesting survey. It discusses how physicians receive numerous requests for this type of "treatmeant". Of the 3102 physicians given the survey, 61% responded completely. In summary, a substantial proportion of physians in the United States report they receive requests for PAS and euthanasia, and about 6% have complied that they have received this type of request atleast once.

Proven by this study, physician-assisted suicide is obviously sought after by the public. Some may believe this is immoral or wrong. Others may think it should be allowed and that the decision be left up to the individual with the terminal disease. I believe that the option should be legal. If you're a healthy person with many years left to live, you wouldn't understand what someone with a terminal disease is going through. That's the bottom line.

Being Too Personal

After my last post, I realized I may have been too forward about my experience, or too personal for some to handle. If that's the case with you, too bad. Issues like physician assisted suicide are controversial in society and a point should be made that to have an oppurtunity like this one could be beneficial to society. On a smaller scale, it will help the grieving process for families who have relatives that are suffering from an illness that they know is deadly. To know a loved one was in pain and agony on their last moments of life is heart-wrenching. Physician assisted suicide allows the family to know their loved one passed comfortably.

I would like to know what my readers think about this issue. I would appreciate any personal experiences to be shared, like I have with mine. I would also like readers, if you disagree with my position, to voice it. I understand not everyone has the same point-of-view as me, and respect that. I would just like to know why physician assisted suicide is immoral or unjust. A challenging reader helps make this blog interesting.