Should assisted suicide be a legal option?
I will start my argument by saying that patients with terminal illnesses deserve autonomy and dignity. I do not see the need for allowing these patients so suffer from emotional distress. I want to apply the concept of autonomy and dignity to argue that terminal illness affects the normal functioning of the body and the patients lack control, and this leads to a feeling of hopelessness (Rodríguez-Prat et al. 4). They lack the value of life and develops a negative sense of dignity. In addition, they lack self-identity, or in other words, they develop low self-esteem (Rodríguez-Prat et al. 9). They feel like they are a burden to the family, and they feel worthless and incapable. These patients desire control and autonomy. Rather than controlling the pain with medication and give them ‘undignified death', physicians should give them dignified death. There is no need for allowing terminally ill patients to live in pain (Rodríguez-Prat et al. 10). They should hasten their death since the future would be worse. Patents should have the right to choose to live or not live. Their freedom should not be restricted since freedom is the ultimate opportunity a patient can have to decide whether he or she wants medical care or imminent death. In general, terminally ill patients need the autonomy to make informed choices, including treatment decisions and ‘end of life' decisions (Rodríguez-Prat et al. 11). Assisted suicide should be legalized, and clinicians should respect the patient's autonomy interests. The law should protect the autonomy and allow them to make personal choices over their health. The law should be in the forefront to promote freedom and autonomy so that clinicians can understand their responsibility of respecting the patient's autonomy.
Work cited
Rodríguez-Prat, Andrea, et al. “Patient Perspectives of Dignity, Autonomy and Control at the
End of Life: Systematic Review and Meta-Ethnography.” PLoS ONE, vol. 11, no. 3, Mar.
2016, pp. 1–18. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0151435.
