Doctor assisted suicide for the terminally ill should not be legalized?

Question

I have a sociology paper due in a week and this is the topic I choose. I love writing and I already did a lot of research. I am not asking anyone to cheat for me, I just want to know what everyone thinks about this. Please respond with agreement or disagreement and explain why.
Personally I don't think it should be legalized because for one reason out of the many, this is murder, not help.

Thanks for any responds.

Answer 1

If a person asks their doctor to help them commit suicide and he agrees, the person should be sent to an assylum and the doctor to jail. It might as well be murder. No scratch that, it IS murder.

Answer 2

Disagree.
If I am faced with the situation, I hope the doctors and nurses will not let me die in agony without some dignity. If this means the painkillers kill me a day earlier than otherwise, I will take that option. If this is 'killing by double effect' then it is not a big stretch to assisted suicide. I assume that people with some quality of life would not want this.
What constitutes 'no quality of life', other than constant severe pain or permanent coma, is something that would need to be carefully defined, erring on the side of caution and on a case by case basis.

Answer 3

I disagree. It should be legalized.

A person's body is just that--their body. I don't understand how politics and laws should have any jurisdiction over a person's own being and essence! Opposition is clearly rooted in religion, where many faiths believe that suicide is a horrendous sin. (Personally, I think that a person's body is their own private temple, irregardless of how one chooses to live his or her life, as long as he or she is prepared to deal with the consequences.)

I would say that if religion were to becompletely isolated from politics in the issue of Doctor Assisted Suicide, you would see a horse of a different color in regards to a valid opposition.

How is it hurtful to others if a person, who is suffering and is going to die in a relatively short amount of time, decides to seek out doctor-assisted suicide? How can you justify opposition, if that person is seeking an end prior to enduring a long and painful stage of dying that will have indelible negative effects on their loved ones.....not to mention placing a financial burden on them!

Think about it: We are ALL dying......We are dying from the moment we are born..so, what's the big deal?!

Answer 4

It should be legalized! It's not murder! It is mercy! Why should the terminally ill have to go through all the pain, suffering, agony pure hell? they are going to die anyway. They shoot horses don't they? Yes! Put animals out of misery but make humans suffer in hell on earth? It's not right! It's not right to put the terminally ill's family through all that hell to. Watching a love one waste away to nothing right before their eyes knowing there is nothing they can do! Legalize assisted suicide. Let them die with dignity.

Answer 5

I work in a hospital, and see patients everyday that exist only because modern medicine is forcing them to live one more day.
Their bodies gave up long ago, their minds over-medicated with narcotics and can't complete sentences. Would YOU want to live like that only to delay your death certificate?

I believe there should be a point where mercy trumps medicine, where quality of life should be more important than increasing the profit margin for pharmaceuticals.

I don't want to live like that, and hope that by the time I get there - there will be less emphasis on medication, and more emphasis on empathy.