Topic > Doctor-Assisted Suicide - 1778

Suicide is a person's personal decision; Physician-assisted suicide is a patient who is unable to perform the task on their own asking a doctor for access to lethal drugs. What people may not realize, however, is that the doctor is not the only healthcare professional involved; may include, but is not limited to, a doctor, nurse and pharmacist. This may conflict with the morals of the healthcare provider and there are cases where the patient suffers from depression or does not receive adequate palliative care. Allowing physician-assisted suicide leaves the physician trapped in an ethical and moral discrepancy and presents too many other related issues for it to be legal. Doctor-assisted suicide, often called assisted dying, is a scenario in which a doctor provides medication or advice that allows a terminally ill patient to take their own life. (Breitbart) This term is often confused with euthanasia, a situation in which a doctor administers lethal doses of drugs to a patient to end his or her life. (Breitbart) This is often done by a doctor who wants to be merciful and who believes he is putting an end to the patient's suffering. (Breitbart) A patient who asks a doctor to assist him in suicide is asking the doctor to go against his morals and the Hippocratic Oath. The Hippocratic Oath was developed by Hippocrates, the “father of medicine,” a Greek philosopher. (Gamutan) Western medicine has traditionally used this oath as a code of ethics and it was modified in the 20th century; this modified version is called the Lasagna Oath. (Gamutan) The Hippocratic Oath mentions many things, but specifically states: “I will not give even a…half a sheet of paper…nor could I take his life. This constitutes murder, another sin. For God has declared in the Ten Commandments, “Thou shalt not kill.” (Exodus 20:13) Doctor-assisted suicide has been a debate that has been under discussion for many centuries. It should not be legalized for many reasons, including both issues that might conflict with a doctor's judgment and issues that might encourage a patient to request assisted suicide. Suicide is a personal decision and the involvement of healthcare professionals makes it too legally and ethically complicated to be allowed. Many Americans identify as Christian, and Christianity opposes suicide and homicide, which is basically what physician-assisted suicide is. Legalizing physician-assisted suicide will cause legal and ethical controversies and turmoil and cause the physician to be trapped in an ethical and moral discrepancy..