Should Physician-Assisted Suicide Be Legalized? Health, Medicine Essay (Essay Sample)

Should Physician-Assisted Suicide Be Legalized?
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Should Physician-Assisted Suicide Be Legalized?
The topic of whether physician-assisted suicide (P-AS) should be made lawful in the state of Utah has been a subject of contention and even back in the news in a heated debate recently. Back in the 1990s, this has a passionate topic because of the grassroots politics that was spearheaded by the Hemlock Society and the extensively publicized actions of the retired pathologist Jack Kevorkian. The matter was unheard-of for quite a few years since the passage of the 1997 referendum in Oregon that made P-AS lawful and the incarceration of Dr. Kevorkian. Technically, physician-assisted suicide refers to a physical act of providing medical assistance to a terminally ill patient to commit suicide upon their request provided they are deemed competent in the event of making that decision. The therapeutic means is usually in the form of lethal injection, that is sufficient and necessary to cause patient death. The issue has been prevalent among active critical patients who appeal to their physician end their life. The debate has been volatile across the U.S, and the decision on whether to legalize or criminalize P-AS was left to be decided by individual states. Consequently, physician-assisted suicide should be legalized because it serves as compassionate response to relieve the pains of patients, grant patients' right to make the decision, offers a convenient last resort. Finally, it does not contradict the Hippocratic oath and relieves both the burden of guilt and financial pressure on patients and family members, respectively.