In less than a week, on November 6th, not only
are we going to vote for who we wish to be the President for the next four
years, but also for many other issues, one being known as Question 2. If the
majority of the state votes yes to this question, it would establish a legal prescription
focused for suicidal acts. Doctors would have the power to prescribe drugs to
be taken by a terminally ill patient to commit suicide. In my opinion, this is
just wrong.
Why should we encourage terminally ill patients to end their
lives voluntarily? I somewhat understand their reasoning behind this as it takes
the miserable pain away from the dying patient, but this could be a huge
mistake and there are other options to be considered. There have been many
cases in which a doctor has estimated the amount of time their patient has left
to live, but these are only educated guesses. Sometimes these patients can die
sooner and other times they can last a lot longer than what they were
originally told. My great grandmother has an inoperable growing aneurism and
her doctor originally said she had less than a year to live, but
fast-forwarding to today, it has almost been two years since they gave this
news. A man I also know moved back to his home country when he was informed that
he had cancer. Wanting to be with his family back home for the remainder of his
life, he found out there that he really did not have cancer. So can doctors be
wrong? Yes.
I can only imagine
that living with a terminal disease must be completely terrifying, but I think
it is important to spend as much of your remaining time with your loved ones
and enjoy the amount of time you have left. Giving these patients a choice to
end their lives should not be permitted ever. Not only do they get complete
control over their death, but also they can do this without informing their
family and without the help of a doctor. There are other options to make a
patient feel more comfortable in their last few months of life, so we should
not make immediate death as the popular option to choose.
I agree with you. Vote no to Question 2. These people who want drugs to kill themselves voluntarily are selfish. They aren't thinking about their family and friends. And as you said before, doctors aren't always right. They could kill themselves and not even be sick. Imagine the burden the doctor would carry, as well as the affect it would have on their loved ones.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with you. what doctor in their right mind would be okay with perscribing pills to someone so they can intentionally end their life. That would be such an awkward convo to have with a doctor. Also if someone were to actually do this would they inform anyone about it like family or people that are close to them? I think this is so wrong in so many ways. I am going to vote no on question 2.
ReplyDeleteI think the real problem with Question 2 and what so many are reacting to might be the laissez faire attitude that we are seeing. It sounds rather inhumane and gross to just give someone a bottle of pills and send them on their way. Don't eat before ingesting, could cause complications! No, that is not sane and for that reason it should be struck down. What ramifications if a person does not take the correct dose, or uses it on someone else?
ReplyDeleteWith that said, I think it the height of arrogance to stand on a moral soap box and say that a grown man or woman doesn't have the right to end their life if they choose to, similar to discussing the state of a woman's choice in terms of procreation. Can you honestly say you have a better right to tell someone what they can and cannot do to their own bodies?
I think the real problem with Question 2 and what so many are reacting to might be the laissez faire attitude that we are seeing. It sounds rather inhumane and gross to just give someone a bottle of pills and send them on their way. Don't eat before ingesting, could cause complications! No, that is not sane and for that reason it should be struck down. What ramifications if a person does not take the correct dose, or uses it on someone else?
ReplyDeleteWith that said, I think it the height of arrogance to stand on a moral soap box and say that a grown man or woman doesn't have the right to end their life if they choose to, similar to discussing the state of a woman's choice in terms of procreation. Can you honestly say you have a better right to tell someone what they can and cannot do to their own bodies?
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ReplyDeleteI feel as if there is a misperception with the idea of physician-assisted suicide. A majority of these people probably aren't sneaking behind their families backs and getting the prescription and taking it without the knowledge of his or her loved ones. These people are, oftentimes, so sick that they want to END the suffering they have incurred. I'm willing to bet as well that a good portion of the time, the family of this person supports them because they see how much pain and heartache is being inflicted on their ill family member. If the family does not support this sick person's choice, that's unfortunate. However, it doesn't change the fact that the ill person calls the shots and has every right to end his or her life the way he or she so chooses.
ReplyDeleteYou may say that "I think it is important to spend as much of your remaining time with your loved ones and enjoy the amount of time you have left", but there's one major issue with that: It's what YOU think, not what those who are actually ill think. I totally respect your opinion on the fragility of life and getting all you can while you're on this great earth. However, things aren't just black and white; some people are sick and want to end their suffering. If women have the right to end a pregnancy, then patients should be allowed to end his or her life when he or she (and their physician) decides to do so.
Ending one's life to halt the suffering and pain may seem selfish. In all honesty though, expecting your loved one to stay living on this earth when the pain becomes too much for them to handle just so you can get a few more months with them is far more selfish in my opinion.