Euthanasia
...y that every physician take the oath prior to obtaining a medical license, which represents a “physician’s promise to never give or recommend a deadly drug”2 to a patient. Physician-assisted suicide contradicts this pledge in its entirety, as the administering of a deadly substance by a doctor must occur for a patient to end his or her life. Hippocrates did not support euthanasia and refused to practice it. He argued that being involved violated “the trusting relationship that should exist between doctor and patient”3. Life is considered to be a transitory process, while death is a finite and irreversible event, which makes it something that should never be indulged in such a way as granting a doctor the power to openly cast people into this event, even if the participant is willing. Physician-assisted suicide has yet to be declared a charter right because its controversial past has set a precedent for today’s society and standards from the past reflect heavily upon the actions of modern physicians. Throughout the twentieth century, euthanasia has become an increasingly popular subject. In 1933, Hitler’s German Justice Ministry attempted to legalize assisted suicide by proposing that physicians should have the ability “to end the tortures of incurable patients, upon request, in the interests of true humanity.”4 The German Medical Association approved the Ministry’s request, and in the latter part of 1933, physician-assisted suicide became legal in Germany. Doctors began euthanizing those who requested assistance, however the actions soon blossomed and eventually, “anyone economically – or ideologically – unprofitable to the state [could be euthanized]. Between 1933 and 1941, over seventy thousand futile or terminal patients were killed in German Hospitals”5. The Nazi’s abused the legalization of assisted suicide, and systematically killed the weak, aged, homosexuals and the handicapped. During this extensive eradication, many saw the an end of their existence as the result of “carbon monoxide gas chambers [which killed] over 200,000 people”6 . Constant mind-numbing memories from the past demonstrate the errors of the human race when first taking steps towards integrating euthanasia into society. Society has not matured enough to be ready for the impact legalizing physician-assisted suicide would bring. Malpractice, personal gain and savage behavior are still deeply embe...