Maddison Ficke

On April 20^th, 2017 Charlie and Francie Emerick decided to end their own lives, together, by taking doses prescribed by their doctors. Both of them being terminally ill, they wanted to die together on their own terms. With the Oregon Death with Dignity law this was able to happen.

 Basics

According to Dictionary.com, assisted suicide is, “The suicide of a patient suffering from an incurable disease, effected by the taking of lethal drugs provided by a doctor for this purpose.” This act is only legal in Canada and in the USA; California, Colorado, Hawaii, Montana, Oregon, Vermont, Washington, and the District of Columbia as of 2018. Assisted suicide only being legal in the states listed is linked to why this topic is so controversial. Criteria for physician assisted suicide.

Francie and Charlie

With a topic so controversial, there is no definite yes or no answer on if assisted suicide isethical or not. In the story of Charlie and Francie their goal was, “…to help people change the way they think about dying,” says one of their granddaughters (Aleccia, 2018). Many believe that when terminally ill, an individual should have a say on how and when they die, Charlie and Francie had that choice and had a painless death together.

Supporters of assisted suicide claim that, “…individuals have the right to end their lives as part of their right to autonomy” (Ayres, 2015). The couple married each other and dedicated the rest of their lives together and neither wanted to be without the other. The couple celebrated with their family six days before their death giving members time to prepare for losing their loved ones. “Charlie and I have a rather unique relationship in that we have done and been so much to each other for 70 years,” (Aleccia, 2018). Francie explained this after stating she had more time to live than Charlie. The process was explained to the couple as falling asleep after taking the prescribed drugs. Though many were concerned because assisted suicide does prevent people of certain religions of this law. Francie and Charlie wanted people to perceive dying in a different way with the assisted suicide law, they believed you choose your own destiny.

“We have a faith that says life is not to be worshipped,” Francie said. “It’s the quality of life that counts” (Aleccia, 2018). 

Managing Your Right to Die

            In the TED Talk “Beyond Life: Managing Your Right to Die” by Dr. Allan Sax, he addresses the big idea that people are fearful of dying. But not just dying in general, how we may die. He asks the question of, “what if someone says they don’t want to suffer anymore?” He brings up his mother, in the hospital fighting for her life. He asked for a pain medicine for her, but she died a painful death two hours later due to it not being ready. He asks, “Why do we do this? Why do we make people suffer?” Sax ties this question into assisted dying and introduces another thought of, how come we let our animals go when they are suffering but it is considered by many inhumane to end the life of a human being when they want to be done fighting? He states that people are afraid to die a painful death, where others may argue that some people want to fight until the end, which is just fine too, but Sax says it is about having a choice. We, humans, don’t know what it is like to want a choice whether to end our life until we are really in that position of being terminally ill and fighting the pain. Throughout this TED talk Sax does a beautiful job at admitting he is old, and getting older, and that he is scared of what he will do when the end is near for him. Dying is no longer painless, organ failure and disease are what make up the end of someones life. Sax makes sure viewers know that it is ok to want to stop fighting.

So is PAS Ethical?

Dr. Joseph E. Marine, author of, “Assisted Suicide Is the Wrong Prescription” and Professor of Medicine at John Hopkins University, links The Oath of Hippocrates. This is an oath taken by physicians and it has been around since 1923. This oath states, “…neither will I administer a deadly drug to anybody when asked to do so, nor will I suggest such a course.” This has been described, by many, as unethical for a physician to assist in this act because of this oath. Marine also makes a point in his article that in Oregon specifically, where PAS is legal, prescriptions are only written by 2-3% of in state doctors and in Washington DC only .02% are registered to help with PAS (Marine, 2018). This article supports that physicians don’t want to feel liable for helping someone legally end their life even though it may be what is best. The discussion between animal euthanasia and assisted dying for humans strikes some controversy towards emotions of a vet versus a doctor.

How come we do it to animals?

Robin Hargreaves, senior vice-president of the British Veterinary Association reveals that putting animals to sleep is “…one of the aspects of my job that I genuinely enjoy,” he states. Hargreaves believes that euthanizing an animal when it is at the point where there is nothing left to do relieves it of pain and suffering altogether. He also expresses that, “…in that hiatus after the animal has been put to sleep many clients express the wish that a deceased relative could have been given an equally peaceful end – and sometimes, that relative was suffering from exactly the same condition.” The text explains that no one wants to let a loved animal go but sometimes an owner must make the decision to end the suffering of an animal. Many agree this should be legal with humans. Ultimately, veterinarians and physicians differentiate because of how they feel about euthanasia and PAS with animals and human beings.

Wrapping Up

This controversy of PAS is nowhere near the end but think about this, “If it’s morally wrong does that still make it right?” asks Ira Byock, a writer, medical officer, and professor. This text has identified sides that veterinarians, physicians, and states agree and disagree with relating to end of life decisions and the state an individual is in. Many states have a law allowing PAS but yet it is rarely provided to the terminally ill. No one’s opinions are wrong nor right and we are free to follow whatever beliefs we choose. Wether an individual has six months to live or fighting a painful battle with cancer, every single person has the right to the pursuit of happiness.

Works Cited:

Aleccia, JoNel. “This Couple Died By Assisted Suicide Together. Here’s Their Story.” Time, Time, 6 Mar. 2018, time.com/5179977/assisted-suicide-couple-death.

Baggini, Julian. “Euthanasia for Animals: What Can It Teach Us about Assisted Suicide In.” The Independent, Independent Digital News and Media, 21 July 2015, http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/features/euthanasia-for-animals-what-can-it-teach-us-about-assisted-suicide-in-humans-10405840.html.

Byock, Ira. “Expanding the Right to Die.” The New York Times, The New York Times, http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2014/10/06/expanding-the-right-to-die/doctor-assisted-suicide-is-unethical-and-dangerous.

Marine, Joseph E. “Assisted Suicide Is the Wrong Prescription.” RealClearHealth, 2018, http://www.realclearhealth.com/articles/2018/09/20/assisted_suicide_is_the_wrong_prescription_110827.html.

Talks, TEDx. “Beyond Life: Managing Your Right to Die | Dr. Allan Saxe | TEDxPlano.” YouTube, YouTube, 7 May 2015, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7ehf6CmG4Y.