Assisted Suicide

Assisted suicide should not be illegal. One of the most fundamental freedoms that people
should have is making decisions that affect their lives from a medical perspective. Patients
should be provided information and then allowed space to assert self-determination and
autonomy in decision making (Lemberg 2018). For instance, people choose the medical facility
where they would like to receive treatment and the treatment procedures they are comfortable
with. In the same way, there should be the freedom to choose assisted suicide if the reasons are
justifiable from a medical perspective.
When analyzing assisted suicide, it is necessary to examine the steps that lead one to
arrive to the decision of assisted suicide. The proponents of assisted suicide believe that people
should be able to end suffering, both physical and mental if medical procedures cannot alleviate
such suffering. There is also the concept of death with dignity. This concept is used utilized by
assisted suicide as a means to end suffering. However, assisted dying is not only about physical
suffering. It is also about other factors such as becoming a burden, mental torture, and limitation
of movements and abilities that one previously possessed (Hurley et al., 2021).
A practical example can be drawn from cancer which is mainly associated with pain as a
symptom of the disease and the brutal treatment options available. When cancer reaches a
particular stage, death is inevitable, and treatment cannot change the outcome. doctors determine
that the pain is intractable, death inevitable, and begin palliative care (Medical News Today
2021). They advise patients to put their affairs in order because the end is nigh. This stage puts
patients in a problematic state both physically and mentally, and as such, they should be allowed
to weigh the option of assisted suicide. This is a fundamental and extremely personal decision

that the state, law, or medical professionals should not be allowed to interfere with because of the
size of its significance.

References
Lemberg, D. (2018). Ethical and Legal Issues in Healthcare (1st ed.). Cognella Academic
Publishing.
Hurley, R., Richards, T., & Godlee, F. (2021). Assisted dying: a question of when, not if. BMJ,
n2128. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.n2128
Medical News Today. (2021). What are Euthanasia and assisted suicide. Retrieved 20121–11-
21, from https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/182951#euthanasia-and-assisted-
suicide-