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Katherine Morton
Caruso
UWRT 1103
December 2, 2015
Should Euthanasia Be Legalized?
The extent of autonomy granted by the government has been in great question over recent
years in relation to what choices citizens can make for their own health during their dying days.
Should a terminally ill patient be allowed to choose to be euthanized over dying a slow and
painful death by nature?
The International Task Force in Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide FAQ, makes it clear that
euthanasia requires the offender to physically put the patient to death by defining it as the intentional killing by act or omission of a dependent human being for his or her alleged benefit (International Task Force in Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide's FAQs). Euthanasia has been regarded as an illegal act in the United States but assisted suicide has been legalized in Oregon, New
Mexico, Vermont, Washington, and Montana (Euthanasia and assisted suicide laws around the
world 3). Assisted suicide is a form of euthanasia in which a physician allows the patient the
opportunity to end their own life by providing them with lethal drugs but takes no part in the execution process (International Task Force in Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide's FAQs).
Winston Ross writes in Newsweek magazine about his grandmother whom, diagnosed
with dementia, had broken both hips, her pelvis, and managed to fall out of her wheelchair head
first allowing the 91 year old women to look as if she had been in a barroom brawl. For her own
safety, nursing staff administered a high dosage of medication that had negative effects on her

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quality of life, Grandma was described as being present but not really there. Ross identifies with
the benefits of assisted suicide as he has seen first hand what happens after the point of no return.
After being asked by the family to lower the dosage on her medication, they found that all that
was left of Grandma was a disoriented woman in great agony and discomfort, a state that no family member wishes to see their loved one in(1-2). Death With Dignity Laws have been passed in
both Oregon and Washington to allow terminally ill patients to have a choice before they get to
the lucid state of Ross grandmother. Oregons Death with Dignity Law requires a terminally ill
patent to have fewer than six months to live and for him/her to take residency in Oregon. If these
requirements are met, the patient must complete a documented request form and have it signed
by two witnesses before the physician can prescribe a lethal dose of medication. The prescription
may be filled two days after the written request was received and is entirely up to the patient to
administer the drug (Engber par 3-5).
Since the Death with Dignity Law was passed, Oregon has become a very popular site for
those dealing with diseases. Cancer patient, Brittany Maynard moved from her hometown in California to Oregon for the sole purpose of taking advantage of this euthanasia law. Maynard was a
twenty nine year old newly-wed at the time of her death by assisted suicide. After a long fought
battle with stage 4 glioblastoma, the most deadly, most prevalent form [of brain
cancer], (Brittany Maynard's Death: Why Is Brain Cancer So Lethal? par 2) Maynard decided that the cancer had taken as much from her as she was willing to allow it to. In Chans article,
Maynard identifies that her brain cancer is going to cause her a slow and painful, inevitable death
so she chooses instead to die with dignity under Oregon law (par 6). Theologian, Theo Boer,
from the Netherlands argues the legalization of assisted suicide upon his love of autonomy but

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states that it has taken precedence over peoples minds and morals as it eliminates ones composure and peace within self as well as discourages optimism in diagnosed patients. Boer argues
that the end of autonomy begins with the legalization of euthanasia (6). But cancer patient, Brittany Maynard counters this, stating that being diagnosed with a terminal illness was not something she chose therefore death completely out of her authority, Maynard praises Oregons Death
with Dignity Law as it allowed her the freedom to pass away on her own terms, sparing her a
slow and hideous death (par 6). In regards to what most people call a brave and courageous act
by Maynard, National Catholic Reporter, Kelly Stewart identifies her decision to partake in assisted suicide the cheapening of human life and goes on to detail blogger, Michael Sean Winters point that suffering also has value and that the practice of ending such pain before nature
takes its course is a disinclination to acknowledge and trust in God.
Perhaps the problem can be solved by focusing on how physicians can better sustain life
rather than use their knowledge and degrees to end it (Lee 1). For as long as our government has
existed it has made it a priority to forestall self destructive behavior in the lives of its citizens.
John Stuart Mill addresses freedom advocates in On Liberty, demoralizing and placing blame
upon the physicians that allow access for other human beings to kill themselves, stating that A
person should be free to do as he likes in his own concerns, but he ought not be free to do as he
likes in acting for another, under the pretext that the affairs of the other are his own affairs (17).
The purpose of euthanasia is to allow ailing patients to make the decision to end their
own suffering. However, allowing one person to do so creates a slippery slope in what requirements each patient must meet to be granted the right to take their own life because all cases are
different. In the Netherlands euthanasia is thriving, undeterred by the fact that it is still illegal,

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Author Winston Ross of Newsweek magazine, interviews healthy Netherland resident, Jannie
Willemsen about the official document she has acquired allowing a physician to end her life under the conditions she has implemented in a personal document. Jannie wishes to die if she becomes badly handicapped, if she goes blind, looses hearing, is no longer independent enough to
perform critical tasks such as eating, drinking, and walking on her own, or is suffering from dementia. If these things are what make living worthwhile to the individual it is enough justification for the Dutch government to grant Jannie her euthanasia wishes regardless to whether or not
her illness is terminal (3-4). But then the envelope stretches a little further as Canadian couple
Betty and George Columbias get National attention for their request to die side by side through
government approved euthanasia. George Columbias was diagnosed with a serious heart disease
and Betty justified her means of simultaneous suicide to the world in a documentary from
2007,The Suicide Tourist, "From the day we got married, [my husband] was all my life....What
would be better than to die together, you know, to die in each other's arms?. Jacob Appel, a
bioethicist and medical historian, suggests that before a critic call Mrs. Columbias insane for
wanting to end her perfectly healthy life, they first evaluate whether or not a completely sane
person could also want to die along side of her ailing love of so many years. Appel calls this a no
brainer, of course a woman could love her spouse enough to want to die along side of him but
this heart warming couple isn't enough for Appel to oppose the governments decision to deny
Betty the freedom to legally end her own life. Appel makes a clear warning about the grey
spots that will come along with allowing just anybody to participate in euthanasia, the meaning
of autonomy can be molded into whatever we want it to mean if we change the focus of the word

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from being how we choose to live, to how we choose to die. When one person is allowed to alter
the question then what stops others from doing the same, who then draws the line (1)?

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Works Cited
Briggs, Bill. "Brittany Maynard's Death: Why Is Brain Cancer So Lethal?" NBC News.
NBCNews, 4 Nov. 2014. Web. 2015.
Chan, Aleksander. Terminally Ill Brittany Maynard Takes Her Own Life Under Oregon
Law." Gawker. 2014. Web. 2015.
Engber, Daniel. "How Does Assisted Suicide Work?" Slate. 2005. Web. 2015.
"Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide Laws around the World." The Guardian. Guardian
News and Media Limited or Its Affiliated Companies, 2015. Web. 2015.
"Euthanasia Definitions." Euthanasia. 2015. Web. 2 Dec. 2015. <http://www.euthanasi
a.com/definitions.html>.
Lee, Daniel. "PHYSICIAN-ASSISTED SUICIDE: A CONSERVATIVE CRITIQUE OF IN
TERVENTION." Compassion and Choices. The Hasting Center Report, 2003.
Web. 2015.
Moosa, Tauriq. "John Stuart Mill and the Right to Die." Big Think. The Big Think Inc,
2011. Web. 2015
Ross, Winston. "Dying Dutch: Euthanasia Spreads Across Europe." Newsweek.
Newsweek NLC, 12 Feb. 2015. Web. 2015.