“Assisted suicide is a reversal of the proper role of a doctor as a healer, comforter and consoler to an improper role of the physician causing a patient’s death” (Physician-Assisted Suicide). Physician assisted suicide is often overlooked. Physicians are essentially writing a prescription to end a human being’s life. In my opinion, I believe that physician assisted suicide is not only a crime, but goes against every oath that physicians take.
Physician assisted suicide is defined as “the intervention of ending life to relieve intractable suffering” (Euthanasia p. 310). Another term for physician assisted suicide is euthanasia. Physician assisted suicide started in 1995 in Australia then soon thereafter was rescind. (Pickert)
Physician assisted suicide is currently legal in most countries all over the globe. There are only a few countries that it is not legal. Currently France, Netherlands, Germany and Switzerland are the only countries that it is not legal in. However, in the United States of America, the practice is illegal in all states except New Mexico, Montana, Oregon, Washington State, and New York. (Mccormack)
Historically, “”In ancient Greece and Rome, before the coming of Christianity, attitudes toward infanticide, active euthanasia, and suicide had tended to be tolerant. Many ancient Greeks and Romans had no cogently defined belief in the inherent value of individual human life, and pagan physicians likely performed frequent abortions as well as both voluntary and involuntary mercy killings. Although the Hippocratic Oath prohibited doctors from giving ‘a deadly drug to anybody, not even if asked for,’ or from suggesting such a course of action, few ancient Greek or Roman physicians followed the oath faithfully. Throughout classical antiquity, there was widespread support for voluntary death as opposed to prolonged agony, and physicians complied by often giving their patients the poisons they requested.” (Dowbiggin) Even though physicians in ancient times took the same oath to preserve lives, they still gave out poisons to kill patients. Some say that the reason for the physicians’ actions were because Christianity hadn’t been established yet. So, the commandment of “Thall shall not kill,” had not yet been written.
“Since ancient times, Jewish and Christian thinkers have opposed suicide as inconsistent with the human good and with responsibilities to God. In the thirteenth century, Thomas Aquinas espoused Catholic teaching about suicide in arguments that would shape Christian thought about suicide for centuries. Aquinas condemned suicide as wrong because it contravenes one’s duty to oneself and the natural inclination of self-perpetuation; because it injures other people and the community of which the individual is a part; and because it violates God’s authority over life, which is God’s gift. This position exemplified attitudes about suicide that prevailed from the Middle Ages through the Renaissance and Reformation.” (ProCon.org) Even though the debate is usually about physician assisted suicide, the fact is that the patients are still commiting suicide. If a person who is of sound mind and is able to make decisions, if they are presenting suicidal thoughts, law enforcement has every right to intervene the attempt. If that is the case with everyday people, then why should it be any different for people who are sick and in the hospital. If that same person who was sick was out in the world, and came up to some one and asked that person to help kill themselves because they just simply do not want to live anymore, the person probably would not help them.
During the late 18th Century, “The rejection of suicide and euthanasia remained firm, even after many of the new states decriminalized suicide in the wake of the Revolutionary War. The majority of Americans rejected suicide’s common-law punishment…but no matter how sympathetic they were toward the suicide’s family, most Americans stopped far short of condoning self-murder. As late as the antebellum period there existed in the United States a firm consensus…against suicide and mercy killing.” (Dowbiggin)
In 1999, a case is Michigan convicted Jack Kevorkian, MD, of murder. He was the primary care physician for Thomas Youk. Youk was a patient of Jack Kevorkian in 1998. Michigan prosecutors argued that the physician administered a fatal dose of an unknown drug after the patient willingly signed a document stating that’s what he wanted the physician to do. After the patient’s death, Kevorkian was charged with physician assisted suicide, and first degree murder. Kevorkian’s attorneys argued that the physician was just trying to ease the pain of the patient. This caused the judge to rule in favor of the physician. The physician assisted suicide charge was dropped. However, the first-degree murder charge stayed the same. The judge sentenced the physician to ten to twenty-five years in prison. On June 1, 2007, Jack Kevorkian was released on parole after serving eight years behind bars. (Berghmans)
Up until the year 2008, Oregon was the only state that had legalized physician assisted suicide. On November 4th, 2008, Washington state became the second state to pass a death with dignity act. The act legalized physician assisted suicide.
In 2009, the state of Montana passed a law that legalized physician assisted suicide. The law made it legal for residents of Montana to physician assisted suicide. The law states that physician assisted suicide is not against public policy. The law protects doctors from prosecution for helping terminally ill patients to die. However, the court declined to decide on if the right is guaranteed under Montana’s Constitution. (ProCon.org)
On May 20, 2013, Vermont’s governor Peter Shumlin signed for the “End of Life Choices” bill into law. This was important because this was the first time in United states history that physician assisted suicide has been made legal using the legislative process. (ProCon.org)
“On Mar. 2, 2014, Belgium became the world’s first country to lift all age restrictions on euthanasia. King Philippe of Belgium signed legislation that allows children with terminal and incurable illnesses to choose to be euthanized. The child must be “near death, in ‘constant and unbearable physical’ pain with no available treatment.” The child must also have “capacity of discernment and be conscious at the moment of the request.” The request has to be made in writing, confirmed and agreed upon by the treating physician, confirmed by a second opinion from an outside doctor, and then the child must undergo psychological testing to confirm that the child understands the request fully and that test has to be certified in writing by the psychiatrist. The treating physician is then required to meet with the child’s parents or legal representative to obtain their consent in writing. The Netherlands has similar legislation but prohibits euthanasia for children under 12 years of age.” (ProCon.org) This is important because it lifts the age requirements of physician assisted suicide. If anyone should not be able to commit suicide, I believe that it should be children.
Recently in Canada, “Last year the Supreme Court of Canada struck down Criminal Code provisions forbidding physician-assisted suicide and gave Parliament a year to rewrite the law. The government of former prime minister Stephen Harper did not draft a new law before its defeat in last October’s election. With the court’s original February deadline looming, Trudeau’s government asked for a six-month extension. The court consented to only four more months. That deadline passed on Monday [June 6, 2016]. Physician-assisted suicide can now be performed legally starting Tuesday [June 7, 2016], with no restrictions under the Criminal Code. The House of Commons passed the new Liberal law, C-14, last week. The Senate has only begun deliberating. Bill C-14 permits physician-assisted suicide only in cases where the patient’s death is ‘reasonably foreseeable.’ That’s different from the Court’s phrasing: it held unanimously that a patient suffering a ‘grievous and irremediable medical condition’ could seek a physician’s help to end ‘suffering that is intolerable.” (ProCon.org)
Mandatory physician review is the procedure that must be followed if a patient has presented signs that would cause a physician to have suspected the patient to have a mental disorder. I think that no matter the reason for wanting the physician assisted suicide route that all patients should be required to go through this review process. The purpose of the mandatory psychiatric review is to make sure that the criteria that the state legislatures have made are met. If the criteria are not met but the physician proceeds with the procedure anyway, then the physician will ultimately be charged with murder in the first degree.
To become a candidate for physician assisted suicide, it is relatively easy. Furthermore, the patient can experience poor judgement in deciding on whether or not they should commit physician assisted suicide. For example, there was a case with Brittany Maynard where at the time of her suicide she was not experiencing any extreme or harsh symptoms that would qualify her for the procedure. Instead, she was more fearful about the pain to come that she might suffer certain losses (JAMA p248). Family members can also contribute to this problem for the wrong reasons, such as relationship issues or financial gains.
I propose that physician assisted suicide should not be legal anywhere. I believe this because no one person should have the ability to ask a physician to carry out this procedure. I also believe that physicians should not even have the option to recommend this procedure to the patient. I do agree with the patient’s right to have an advanced directive order such as a Do Not Resuscitate to be followed in the event of cardiac arrest. This order is not actively causing the patient to go into cardiac arrest, but simply stating that if that should occur, to not perform CPR. However, the physician will do all they can to keep cardiac arrest from occurring. In the event that it does happen, they cannot intervene.
The role of a physician is to provide health care to preserve the life and wellness of all patients.
Originally published 15.10.2019