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Micaela Bretey
Professor Polking
Comp II
12 April 2016
Put an End to Terminal Illness Suffering
After being diagnosed with terminal colon cancer at age 41, Ethan Remmel
decided he did not want to die suffering. He did not want to spend his last days with his
wife and children in a hospital bed and drowsy. Jonel Aleccia wrote in her article in
2013, Doctor-assisted Death: A Dad's Choice Sheds Light, Remmel, an associate
professor of psychology at Western Washington University, was able to finish the school
year, teaching until 10 days before he died. He was able to spend time with his parents,
with his friends and with his sons, Seth, then 8, and Miles, then 3, before becoming too
incapacitated by chemotherapy and pain drugs.
Wanting to die is suicide, or so it would seem. Our national consciousness, as
shaped in a large part by the media, provides us with a picture of no lives should be
purposefully ended. As a result, the people of our nation who are suffering from
terminal illnesses are muted and their wants do not seem to matter. Physician- assisted
suicide, also known as euthanasia, is commonly associated with vulnerable people being
killed against their wishes. This belief has minimal evidence to support it, therefore
assisted suicide should be legalized.
Yet many individuals who are only left with a short six or less months to live are
dealing with immense amounts of pain in their last days. As defined by
medicinenet.com, physician- assisted suicide is the practice of providing a competent
patient with a prescription for medication for the patient to use with the primary

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intention of ending his or her own life. In other words, the doctor provide the means,
usually a barbiturate, which provides a sedative-like effect to the patient, and in most
cases, the patient is the one that performs the act of ending their life due to a painful or
incurable disease.
Claire Andre, in her article Assisted Suicide: A right or a wrong?, wrote Society
has a moral duty to protect and preserve all life. It is often said that assisted suicide is
not "right" and no lives should be purposefully ended. When thinking about physicianassisted suicide, some individuals may believe once legislation is enacted, it is difficult, if
not impossible, to prevent slippage. At first, euthanasia is restricted to the terminally ill,
but it soon becomes more generally relevant. Patient consent slips into doctors' and then
nurses' decisions. Guidelines drawn up for adults begin to affect children (Wright).
Without having to risk lives, pain can be subsided when going through a terminal
illness. In the article, What is Palliative Care, "Palliative care is an approach that
improves the quality of life of patients and their families facing the problem associated
with life-threatening illness, through the prevention and relief of suffering by means of
early identification and impeccable assessment and treatment of pain and other
problems, physical, psychosocial and spiritual. This is a great alternative, but what
happens when they are a few weeks from their death and feel completely terrible and
helpless? Where does their dignity go?
Four states (CA, OR, VT, and WA) legalized physician- assisted suicide via
legislation. One state (MT) has legal physician- assisted suicide via court ruling. 46
states and DC consider assisted suicide illegal. 38 states have laws prohibiting assisted
suicide. Three states (AL, MA, and WV) and the District of Columbia prohibit assisted
suicide by common law. Four states ( NV, NC, UT, and WY) have no specific laws

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regarding assisted suicide, may not recognize common law, or are otherwise unclear on
the legality of assisted suicide. Belgium, Netherlands, and Luxembourg also allow
physician- assisted suicide (State-by-State Guide to Physician-Assisted Suicide).
The standard way of thinking about physician- assisted suicide has it that there
are not enough regulations. As Marilyn Golden states in her article, The Danger of
Assisted Suicide Laws, Any benefits from assisted suicide are simply not worth the real
and significant risks of this dangerous public policy. There have been many cases where
providing the necessary medication to end one's life has gone wrong. For example, in
the article written in May 2011, Life on the Precipice: Beware the Unexpected
Consequences of Legalising Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia," Stephen Wright quotes
research conducted about physician-assisted suicide around the world:
Eight thousand terminal patients were intentionally given lethal overdose
of pain medication--fewer than half had requested euthanasia. In one case
a psychiatrist used his interpretation of the law to give a lethal dose of
barbiturates to a severely depressed 50-year-old woman at her request.
The doctor was found 'guilty', but given no punishment (Wright).
Many say that having the right to die should never be legalized. All lives should be
kept on this earth as long as possible. Some believe that God decides when life begins
and when it ends, so does this also mean no forms of medicine should be enacted? Our
technology prolongs life, which is socially and culturally acceptable. But when our
technology begins to end lives, that is not okay. Those in favor of a change in the law
tend to deny its relevance--they point out that there is no evidence that legalising
assisted dying leads to vulnerable people being killed against their wishes (Wright).

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At the same time that I believe society has a moral duty to protect and preserve
all life, I also believe that the right to die is protected by the same constitutional
safeguards that guarantee such rights as marriage, procreation, and the refusal or
termination of life-saving medical treatment (Euthanasia). When I was a child, I never
quite understood why people would pass away. The thought of a person being on this
earth one day and gone the next made no sense to me. But, as I have grown up, I
understand that everyone has their time, whether it be a random accident or a terminal
illness. Thinking about someone ending their own life gives me goosebumps, but when
someone only has a short amount of time left and is suffering, I can understand why
they would choose to put an end to it.
When it comes to this topic of euthanasia, many people either believe that it is
acceptable under certain restrictions or purposely ending ones life is inhumane, others
maintain that it is perfectly fine when someone is suffering during their last months.
Many argue there are simply not enough guidelines and restrictions to legalize
physician- assisted suicide.
The requirements for the states in the United States, with Montana being an
exception, to perform assisted suicide include the following: The patient must be over
the age of 18, the patients physicians and psychiatrists or the court have the opinion
that the patient can make informed decisions on their own health care, and the patient
must have a terminal illness as confirmed by their physician. They also must voluntarily
express that they would like medication to end their life. They must also make a written
request for medication that will help end their life so to be tracked by the state
government. They must meet requirements of citizenship for that state. All of these
requirements must be met in order to qualify. Also the statutes do require that the

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doctor recommend counseling, have them notifying a family member, and inform them
of the risks and probable results as well as feasible alternatives. Montana does not have
an age limit in place and do not have a certain number of months until expected death to
receive euthanasia. They also do not need a certain number of requests to physician.
(State-by-State Guide to Physician-Assisted Suicide).
With legalizing assisted suicide, each state can create their own guidelines.
Montana is an example. Although the residents of Montana have the right to die, the
court didnt hand down any requirements as to who qualifies for physician assisted
suicide. So Montana doesnt have the safeguards in place that Oregon and Washington
have in place to prevent potential abuses. This is a humane way for the terminally ill to
end their lives with dignity and without the shame and suffering (State-by-State Guide
to Physician-Assisted Suicide). The article, Mental Illness and Euthanasia, states,
Many individuals who are seeking assisted suicide are dealing with a mental illness.
Thus physician- assisted suicide would be much less traumatic and painful than
jumping off buildings, shooting or hanging oneself.
If a person is markedly mentally ill and there is little hope that they will be
normal, I believe they should be able to receive euthanasia... under some restrictions.
They may not be thinking clearly. This is why I also believe that the doctor provides all
the treatment one could try in order to help them become healthier and the individuals
family should have a say in the decision. The restrictions would be much the same as if
someone was terminally ill; age requirements, doctor approval, and the family must
have a say in the decision.

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There are many restrictions in place to ensure that no lives are purposefully
ended for no reason. When considering palliative care, one needs to also consider what
they will be going through emotionally. The terminally ill will still feel their lives ending,
the helplessness, and some of the physical pain. Not just anyone is receiving assisted
suicide, it is those are are terminally ill and suffering who are able to have a dignified
death.
I insist that there are reasons that the decision for ones life should lie in their
own hands. In conclusion, then, as I suggested earlier, defenders of physician- assisted
suicide cant have it both ways. Their assertion that purposely ending ones life is
inhumane is contradicted by their claim that there are many guidelines and restrictions
to prevent slippage and people who are suffering terminal illnesses should not have to
suffer.
Anyone familiar with terminal illnesses should agree that they are something no
person should have to go through, but, sadly, it does happen. There are many forms of
pain medication to subside some of the suffering, but it does not help it all. People go
through immense amounts of pain in their last days no one wants that. Assisted
suicide should be legal for terminal illnesses, where the patient is in much pain. Some
believe it is not humane; God decides when a person is to pass away. If we enable forms
of medication to help prolong life, shouldnt we provide forms of medication to end life?

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Works Cited
Aleccia, Jonel. "Doctor-assisted Death: A Dad's Choice Sheds Light on National Issue NBC News." NBC News. NBCNEWS.com, 10 Apr. 2013. Web. 11 Apr. 2016.
Andre, Claire, and Manuel Velasquez. "Assisted Suicide: A Right or a Wrong?"
Resources. SCU, 16 Nov. 2015. Web. 24 Mar. 2016.
"Euthanasia - ProCon.org." ProConorg Headlines. ProCon.org, 23 Dec. 2015. Web. 29
Mar. 2016.
Golden, Marilyn. "The Danger of Assisted Suicide Laws." CNN. Cable News Network, 14

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Oct. 14. Web. 05 Nov. 2015.

"Mental Illness and Euthanasia." Mental Illness and Euthanasia. The Life Resources
Charitable Trust., 2011. Web. 31 Mar. 2016.
"State-by-State Guide to Physician-Assisted Suicide - Euthanasia - ProCon.org."
ProConorg Headlines. ProCon.org, 05 Oct. 2015. Web. 29 Mar. 2016.
"What Is Palliative Care? - Euthanasia - ProCon.org." ProConorg Headlines.
ProCon.org, 11 Aug. 2006. Web. 11 Apr. 2016.
Wright, Stephen. "Life on the Precipice: Beware the Unexpected Consequences of
Legalising Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia." Academic OneFile. GALE Cengage
Learning, 11 May 2011. Web.