EUTHANASISA
... over conventional medical treatment for many reasons, if it were an option. With the emotional state of patients in the critical time of during and after an incident the option of PAS shouldn’t be available because of this. For instance, research shows that terminally-ill cancer patients can long for death one day, but cling to life the next has illustrated the potential risks of legalizing euthanasia. Only one state in the US, Oregon, is PAS or euthanasia legal. PAS is different however then euthanasia, one way to distinguish them is to look at the last act, the act without which death would not occur. Using this distinction, if a third party performs the last act that intentionally causes a patient’s death, euthanasia has occurred. For example, giving a patient a lethal injection or putting a plastic bag over her head to suffocate her would be considered euthanasia. On the other hand, if the person who dies performs the last act, assisted suicide has taken place. Thus it would be assisted suicide if a person swallows an overdose of drugs that has been provided by a doctor for the purpose of causing death. It would also be assisted suicide if a patient pushes a switch to trigger a fatal injection after the doctor has inserted an intravenous needle into the patient’s vein. Many patients initially cannot see the purpose of continuing life, however, often patients find a new meaning in their lives, whether it be support groups, non-profit organizations, or regular everyday jobs like the ones you and I have. The fact that their outlook in life may change is reason enough not to give patients the option of ending their own lives. Many people may confuse this with the outlawing of Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) orders, however, this is not what is meant. DNR means that if a patient’s heart stops they are electing not to have machines or other life supporting devices attached to them. This is absolutely their right, this is a natural death caused by their infliction and is not death by their or someone else’s hand. Legalized euthanasia or PAS can also cause some very sticky situations to occur. For instance if a doctor has preformed PAS and everything was done according to law, some families will be so devastated they will be tempted to sue. This will in turn raise the cost of medical malpractice insurance and thus increase the overall cost of legitimate healthcare. It is a common belief that suicide is illegal. Neither suicide nor attempted suicide is criminalized anywhere in the United States or in many other countries. This is not because of any "right" to suicide. Penalties were removed so people could seek help in dealing with the problems they’re facing without risk of being prosecuted if it were discovered that they had attempted suicide. Requests for suicide usually have far deeper reaches and are typically a cry for help. Instead of granting a patients request to die they should be given counseling. Suicide intent is typically transient meaning temporary, of those who attempt suicide, less then 4% go on to kill themselves in the next five years, less then 11% in the next 10. Terminally ill patients who request death are depressed and depression is a treatable disease. 24% of all terminally ill patients who request death are also clinically depressed. Modern medicine has the ability to control pain. Patients requesting suicide to alleviate pain do not need to die but rather a physician better trained in alleviating pain. In the US legalizing voluntary active euthanasia means also legalizing non-voluntary euthanasia, in other words by allowing patients to choose death you must also allow patients incapable of choosing death that same right. The Equal Protection Clause of the United States Constitution’s 14th amendment requires that incompetent people be given the same rights as those that are competent. Problems aren’t solved by getting rid of the people that proble...