Pros of Assited Suicide

 

Stacy Richter holds a sign outside a federal courthouse in Portland Oregon in March 2002. Oregon is the only state in the union that allows doctor assisted suicide.  

• Much pain and suffering can be saved. Numerous ailments such as certain types of cancer result in a slow, agonizing death. Doctors have enough knowledge and experience to know when a patient's days are numbered. Wouldn't it be more humane to give the patient the option to say when he's had enough?
• Patients should have a right to chose whether or not they want to live. We live in a "free" country, so why should this right be any different?
• Patients can die with dignity rather than have the illness reduce them to a shell of their former selves.Dying patients sometimes lose all ability to take care of themselves. Vomit, drool, urine, feces, and other indignities must be attended to by nursing assistants. We should let people die with their dignity, pride, and self-worth intact.
• Nurse and doctor time can be freed up to work on savable patients. Think of how many lives we can save if that nurse & doctor time is freed up. Think of how much the quality of care would increase.
• Pain and anguish of the patient's family and friends can be lessened, and they can say their final goodbyes.Friends and family of the patient often suffer as much or more pain as the patient himself. It's difficult to see a loved one in such anguish for so long. Doctor-assisted suicide would give the patient a chance to say his final goodbyes and end his life with dignity.
• Vital organs can be saved, allowing doctors to save the lives of others.We have long waiting lists for hearts, kidneys, livers, and other organs that are necessary to save the lives of people who can be saved. Doctor-assisted suicide allows physicians to preserve vital organs that can be donated to others.
• Without physician assistance, people may commit suicide in a messy, horrifying, and traumatic way. Which would be more traumatic... saying goodbye to a loved one at the hospital or coming home to see his head and brains splattered against the wall from a bullet? Unfortunately, if people truly want to die, nothing is going to stop them. If that is the case, let's be humane and orderly about it.