Right to Die for Terminal Illness Essay Example for Free

Right to Die for Terminal Illness Essay Historically, the Greeks and Romans were tolerant of assisted suicide. If no relief could be provided to ease the suffering of a dying person, it was acceptable for that person to request help to end their suffering (Voluntary, 1). If you look throughout the world today, there are only three countries whose governments have initiated policies legalizing the right for their terminally ill citizens to request voluntary euthanasia, those countries being Switzerland, Belgium, and the Netherlands (Euthanasia, 1). In the United States, there are only three states that have successfully passed similar legislation giving a person this right. Oregon in 1997 and Washington and Montana in 2009 passed into law an assisted suicide law for the terminally ill (Frequently†¦). As supreme ruler for the month, I would adopt Oregon’s Death with Dignity Act on a federal level and take it a step further by legalizing euthanasia under extreme circumstance for the terminally ill. We live in a country where abortion, whether you like it or not, is legal. If we as a society allow pregnancies to be aborted, then why wouldn’t it be acceptable to legalize a person’s choice to request assisted suicide from a terminally ill disease? Just for clarification, I do not believe in or condone suicide. It is in the extreme circumstances of a terminally ill disease where all other resources have been exhausted that I find this as a vial alternative. I am not an advocate for abortion either. The unborn are not given a choice but it is legally practiced for the time being. With assisted suicide for the terminally ill, they at least can be given the choice to end their personal suffering on their own terms. I therefore, under these circumstances, find assisted suicide (euthanasia) more humane and legally acceptable due to the precedence set by abortion. The program that I would pass into law would be very similar to the Death with Dignity Act currently used by the State of Oregon. In this Act, a competent patient, 18 and older, diagnosed with a terminally ill disease with less than six months to live with no life-saving alternative available may request their physician to provide them with a lethal dosage of narcotics for self-administration (Frequently†¦). The patient will be evaluated by a second physician and a psychological exam is performed if necessary to legitimize the request (Frequently†¦). If the person is found to be of sound mind and it is determined all medical avenues ave been exhausted, the patient will be granted access to the life ending medication. The patient at any time retains to the right to withdraw the request (Frequently†¦). If the patient’s physician finds this morally objective, they retain the right to remove themselves from the case but cannot inhibit the request if all criteria have been met (Voluntary, 3). In this case, a new physician will be assigned to the case to oversee the life ending treatment. As a second part of this Act, a Medical Power of Attorney (MPA) euthanasia clause will be exercised to expedite the death process at the request of the patient. In the advanced stages of death, one who has accepted their fate but is no longer competent, if granted through the MPA by the patient and absence of personal gain by the MPA, this clause will be included in the Act to administer life ending medication or euthanize the patient by the physician at the request of the MPA. In lieu of further hospice treatment or as part of, such as morphine, the MPA may exercise their right to request life-ending drugs be administered to the patient. I see this as an extension of the DNR. In cases where a patient has been removed from any medical treatment and death is imminent, hours or days, per multiple physicians prognosis, and the patient is more or less unresponsive, the MPA may exercise the euthanasia clause in lieu of further pain treatment or medical induced coma. Again, in the case where the physician finds this act immoral, they have no obligation to comply but if all the criteria have been met at the patients documented request, the physician will be required to remove themselves from the case and an alternate physician be assigned to see out the request. A patient’s request for assisted suicide or MPA euthanasia must be documented and recorded through the hospital system and with the local authorities (Frequently†¦). This request can be included in the patient’s living will, DNR request, or on a separate legal document. The documentation process of the requestor must be witnessed by two or more persons with only one witness being of blood relation (Frequently†¦). A full psychological evaluation of the patient may be performed by the hospital or legal authority to ensure the requestor is of sound mind when the documents are executed (Frequently†¦). The legal authorities must also be notified when a requestor will be exercising their right to assisted suicide before any life ending medication can be administered or released to the patient. According to ELDR Magazine, a study released in May 2008 reports these â€Å"death with dignity† laws are gaining national momentum (Elder, 1). This study goes on to explain many of the respondents would choose to be placed in medical coma even if it were to quicken the death process and even more would choose to be taken off life support measure if they were in a vegetative state (Elder,1). It also states that over 80% of respondents felt the right to die is a personal decision and not one to be controlled by the government or religion (Elder, 1). This being the case, by implementing a federal Die with Dignity Act, it would grant people the freedom to die in a manner that reflects their personal choice, and the physicians who administer these requests would not be subject to legal ramifications. On a personal note, in the last two years, I have lost my father to cancer and my grandfather to a fatal stroke, both of whom I was very close with. I was the main caretaker for my father over his last six months and watched over him through a lot of painful times, especially towards the end. I often wonder if there were laws that allowed the freedom of choice towards expediting the death process, would my father have exercised this right? It’s hard to lose a loved one but it’s also hard to watch them experience such great suffering. You emotionally suffer right along with them. When my time comes, will I want my children to feel helpless? To suffer along with me to the last breath? Or will I be able to grant them the power to ease my suffering and theirs?