“Assisted suicide” is suicide accomplished with the aid of another person, or a physician. It is sometimes used interchangeably with “euthanasia,” which is the act of ending the life of an individual suffering from a terminal illness, as by lethal injection or the suspension of extraordinary medical treatment, according to the American Heritage Medical Dictionary.
Assisted suicide is generally thought of as an assisted death rather than the allowance of a person to die. Numerous countries differ on their legal stances towards assisted suicide.
According to Death with Dignity, there are currently only four places that legally authorize assisted suicide: Oregon since 1997, Switzerland since 1941, Belgium since 2002 and the Netherlands since 2002.
There are another handful of countries—like Russia, Hungary, Ireland and England—that categorize assisted suicide as a criminal offence, subject to harsh penalties. There are also countries like Germany, Denmark and Finland where there is no legislation proclaiming assisted suicide as legal or illegal.
Because the central principle of medical ethics is to do no harm, I believe a physician should not be muddled in deliberately harming their patient. Without the “do no harm” principle, the medical community would lose a large amount of trust.
Allowing the killing of patients as an acceptable part of a doctor’s role likely increases the danger of involuntary euthanasia, rather than reducing it.
According to the National Right to Life Committee, legalizing assisted suicide also places an unreasonable burden on doctors. The daily decisions made in order to preserve life can be difficult enough; to require doctors to also carry the immense moral responsibility of deciding who can and cannot die, and the further responsibility of actually killing the patients, is unacceptable.
This is why the vast majority of medical professionals oppose the legalization of assisted suicide—ending the life of a patient goes against all they stand for.
I strongly believe that life is sacred, and no one has the right to take a life, including their own life. As a result, I feel assisted suicide is deeply wrong. Religions across the globe—such as Hindu, Christianity and Islam—strongly forbid any form of suicide.
Some people who do not agree with voluntary euthanasia argue that if it was legalized, it would damage the moral and social foundation of society by removing the traditional principle that man should not kill. I agree that this, in turn, would reduce respect for human life. That is truly unacceptable.
