Jeff Howell
Dr. Bonnie Amodio
English Composition 2
13 October 2014
Paper 2
According to the opposing viewpoints database "Assisted suicide occurs when a physician provides a patient with the means of ending his or her life-usually a prescription for a fatal dose of drugs. The patient takes the drugs independently of the doctor." Assisted Suicide (also known as physician assisted suicide) has been an issue that is becoming hot as scientists are getting the ability to prolong human life and find a new way to cure diseases previously not able to be cured and people have been talking about people dying due to those diseases. Doctors have had to explain the available treatment options and to obtain the patient's consent prior to treatment since the early 1900s with the standard of informed consent. This lets the patient make their own choice with the input of their doctor, and not just do whatever the doctor says.
The question with assisted suicide is, Should people who want to die be allowed to arrange an easy, no pain death? I believe that with the correct guidelines and laws, allowing someone to take their own life should be allowed and ratified in all states.
The opposing argument does have pretty good points, but I believe that the pros of allowing assisted suicide outweigh the cons. First the opposing view saying that assisted suicide shouldn't be legal says that "legalizing assisted suicide would make it too easy for others, such as people suffering from treatable depression, to commit suicide." People with treatable depression might take advantage of this, but people with untreatable depression that have no way out and it is unfair to them to not be able to decide what they want. With the legalization of assisted suicide there will be steps...