James wakes up one morning for work. As he opens his eyes he is struck by an incredible headache. The pain is so intense he can't even manage to get out of bed. He decides to stay home from work and try to sleep it off. Unable to sleep he stares at the ceiling trying to figure out what is wrong with him, "Maybe I need glasses." He says to himself. The next morning the same thing happens, but he decides he needs to go to work, maybe the fresh air will help. On his way to work he begins to feel strange. His head starts to spin terribly and he can see darkness creeping in from his peripherals. His car swerves off of the road and hits a tree. As he awakens he calls 911 and tells them that he's been in an accident and needs help. While he is waiting for the ambulance to arrive he is becoming more and more sensitive to light. He can't even handle the natural sunlight outside. When the ambulance arrives the paramedic asks him if he remembers what happened before the accident. "I-I don't know. I was just driving and got dizzy and I guess I passed out." James responds. He is taken to E.R, uninjured from the accident. He tells the doctor what had happened and is told he needs to get an MRI and a CT scan. Sitting in the whirring machine James can feel his heart pounding in his chest, nervous about whatever results may come. Two weeks have passed and his symptoms have worsened. He has been unable to work and he has been sitting in his dark room for the past two weeks, with no television, no radio, no music. Just him and his dark room. He gets a call from his doctor to see him as soon as possible. When James hears those words his heart sinks and he begins to worry. "Son, I am sorry to tell you but the scans show some frightening results. You may want to be sitting down for this." The Doctor says. James nervously sits down and braces himself for whatever news may come. "We have found multiple tumors, due to the location they are inoperable. You only have six months to live. I am deeply sorry." In denial James replies "That can't be right. I'm only 26! I can't die in six months!"
What can he do in six months? Absolutely nothing. The headaches get worse and worse, unable to operate on his own he has to go into hospice care. Heavily medicated, he isn't able to say his goodbyes to his family members who come to visit him. Unable to speak or move he is just a shell of his former self. All of his dreams and inhibitions are gone. James wasn't even able to cross off any of the things on his bucket list. While, this story is fictional there are real stories like James'. Due to statutes that have been put in place in over thirty states in the US if James wanted to avoid this suffering and end his life early with professional help he would be unable to(Warnock). The government has decided that James and people like him are too irresponsible to decide whether or not they want to end their suffering. Physician aid in dying should be made available to terminally ill patients in the United States who do not wish to go through the last, painful months of their lives or for those who experience a loss of autonomy. It provides a dignified death, and avoids much of the suffering that would go along with dying.
In Vermont, Oregon, and Washington physician aid in dying is made legal, if the patient is terminally ill, experiences loss of autonomy, or if the patient has a loss of dignity(Warnock). What do these things mean? Physician aid in dying is often confused with assisted suicide and euthanasia. Physician aid in dying is self explanatory, the physician provides the patient with a lethal dose of medication, but only if the patient requests it. Euthanasia is mercy killing, ending the life of someone to help relieve their suffering, and assisted suicide is suicide that is committed with the help of another person(Warnock). Physician aid in dying is the least morally questionable out of those options.
Many peoples concern any form of aided death is that it is morally wrong. The main argument is that life is a gift from god and no man should have the power to take the gift away, not even suicide(Sommerville). Horses will be put down if they break a leg, because they will never fully recover from the fraction. Dogs and other house pets are put down when they become very ill to lessen their suffering. So why is it okay for us to decide when we can put down dogs, cats, and horses when they are suffering? They are living things as well, so therefore they are a gift from god. Yet we, as humans, choose that we can end their suffering. The animal has no say in the matter. Physician assisted death is much more humane than the euthanasia of any animal because the person suffering would be able to choose whether or not they wanted the pain to end, and not just be put down by their owner because they broke a leg. If the euthanasia of common pets is available to end their life in a humane way then why is it illegal for humans who are suffering to die humanely as well?
Many people who argue against the ending of the suffering of someone who is dying are not putting themselves in the shoes of those who are suffering. An empathetic response to this argument is to allow someone to end their suffering. If you were diagnosed with terminal leukemia towards the last few weeks of your life you would want the pain to stop. That's what the argument should be about, whether the suffering person wants the pain to stop or if they want to live out the rest of their life on a hospital bed. It should be up to the person dying and that person only. Our society is not empathetic enough, we just project our views onto other people and if what they want is against our views we fight it and make laws against it, not thinking about what the other people want. America is about personal freedom, but recently many of the freedoms of the minorities are outweighed by the louder majority.
We, as a society, need to become more open minded when it comes to physician aid in dying. These people are suffering and their voice goes unheard because many are bound to hospital beds, and the only ones who argue for them are family members who are sick of seeing them suffering. I think if we open our eyes we could see that this is a real issue that needs to be addressed, not just written off as immoral because religious people think it conflicts with their teachings. If we did this we would realize that physician aid in dying should be made available to terminally ill patients in the United States who do not wish to go through the last, painful months of their lives or for those who experience a loss of autonomy. If the patient wants the procedure done, then let them do it. It is ultimately their choice to live or to die, and if they chose to die it’s only to end the suffering.
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