Physician-Assisted Suicide Must Be Decriminalized

Critical Thinking Paper

April 1, 2015

Physician-Assisted Suicide Must Be Decriminalized

On January 1, 2014, Brittany Maynard was diagnosed with Grade Two Astrocytoma brain
cancer. Seventy days after her first operation, her Grade Two tumor became Grade Four
Glioblastoma multiform, the most aggressive form of brain cancer (Web Staff and CNN Wire,
http://myfox8.com/). When Maynard learned from doctors what a painful and slow death by this
disease would entail, she and her family moved to Oregon to take advantage of the Die With
Dignity Act, which allows certain patients with a terminal illness to attain lethal pills to end their
life. Maynard qualified for the lethal medicine and planned her quiet and peaceful death in case
the pain became unbearable. When a patient is terminally ill and has only a certain amount of
time to live, his/her body and mind, in most cases, deteriorate. Not only is this painful for the
patient, but family and friends have to witness this as well. Congress must pass a bill that
decriminalizes physician-assisted suicide for terminally ill patients in all states because
prolonged death of a family member can cause serious emotional consequences for that patients
family, patients only ingest the lethal medicine if they are in great need, and without the
physician-assisted suicide option, family members will attempt to relieve terminally ill patients
using illegal ways, causing those family members to get in trouble with the law.
Currently, only five states have made assisted suicide legal in the United States. However,
this debate has been continuing for many years. In Washington v. Glucksberg, physician Harold
Glucksberg and others on his side argued that they had a constitutional right to assisted suicide.
Glucksberg won, although the case was appealed until it got to the United States Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court ruled that because the right to die is not a fundamental liberty interest
protected by the Due Process Clause, a ban on physician-assisted suicide is not unconstitutional
(Washington v. Glucksberg).

It is illegal in 45 states for doctors to provide terminally ill patients the means to end their
life. In 50-90% of terminally ill cancer patients, delirium comes before death (www.cancer.gov),
and as a patient declines mentally and physically, his/her family and friends suffer as well. Many
caregivers suffer from mood disorders as a result of the stress from their duties. Symptoms of
depression are present in 40-70% of family caregivers (http://www.caregiveraction.org), as
opposed to symptoms of serious mood disorders showing in 20% of caregivers who have lost a
loved one (http://www.healthline.com). Therefore, a loved one passing away would have less
emotional impact on a family member than if that family member were to continue taking care of
the loved one.
Allowing physician-assisted suicide to become legal would not amount to as many deaths
as some may expect. According to the Seattle Cancer Center Alliance in Washington, only .02%
of its annual patient deaths are Death with Dignity participants (Loggers et al, www.nejm.org). In
addition to this, about one third of terminally ill patients in Oregon who requested and received
lethal medicine did not ingest it. This proves that many patients only require the control that the
medicine in their possession gives them. Andrew Solomon, a professor of clinical psychology at
Columbia University, tells of his mothers struggle. She was diagnosed with ovarian cancer at
age 56, and started declining in health rapidly, asking her sons to get her the lethal pills. Solomon
recounts, The agony became unimportant because the symptoms were permanent only until she
decided that she could take no more, and then she would be free, and so the disease was no
longer in control of her (Debate: Should Physician-Assisted Suicide Be Legal?). As relayed by
Maynard, most terminally ill patients dont want to die. She states, There is not a cell in my
body that is suicidal or that wants to die. I want to live. I wish there was a cure for my disease

but theres not Being able to choose to go with dignity is less terrifying (Web Staff and CNN
Wire, http://myfox8.com/). Patients that do take the lethal medicine are in great need.
If physician-assisted suicide is not decriminalized in all states, patients in need will travel
to other states to acquire the lethal medicine, as Maynard did, but some people are not able to do
this. Therefore, the patients will endure prolonged, unnecessary suffering, and their families will
have to watch as their loved one diminishes physically and mentally. Anita Freeman witnessed
her sister Elizabeth Martins body becoming riddled with cancer. Martin begged Freeman to be
put to sleep, but living in Utah where physician-assisted suicide is not legal, Freeman could do
nothing for her sister. Finally, as Martin became violent, paranoid, and delusional, Freeman
wanted to put her sister out of her misery. Freeman considered gathering up all the painkillers in
her home to bring to Martin, but was afraid of not succeeding in ending Martins life. She didnt
want to make the situation worse (Lopez, http://sks.sirs.com/). Freeman ended up not going
through with her plan, but her story shows how tempting other solutions are when physicianassisted suicide is not an option. If she had given the excess painkillers to her sister and
succeeded, Freeman most likely would have been arrested, when all she was doing was trying to
relieve her sister. If physician-assisted suicide is not decriminalized in all states, family members
trying to alleviate their terminally ill family of pain may be tempted to commit a criminal act.
On November 1, 2014, Brittany Maynard ingested lethal pills that ended her life. Using
lethal pills provided to her because of Oregons Death with Dignity Act, Maynard died
peacefully and on her own terms. (Egan, http://www.people.com/). Her family did not have as
much pressure taking care of her because Maynard chose to die before the disease could affect
her body severely. Maynard did not want to die, but she decided to do so before the disease could
taint the memory of her by causing mental deterioration. Maynards family did not feel the need

to put her out of her misery because the disease did not have the chance to bring her down to that
state of being. Decriminalizing physician-assisted suicide in all states would not only give
terminally ill patients the opportunity to prevent their physical and mental health from
deteriorating greatly, it would also prevent the deterioration of family caregivers mental health.
The lethal medicine that would be decriminalized would give terminally ill patients control over
their own deaths, even if not all of the patients ingest the pills. Finally, the decriminalization of
physician-assisted suicide would prevent family members from committing crimes to save a
loved one. To decriminalize physician-assisted suicide in all states, Congress must pass a law so
that the deterioration of mental and physical health in patients and family is prevented and so that
family members trying to help a loved one are not considered criminals.