Miramontes 1

Cristian Miramontes
Professor Altman
English 113A
November 4, 2015
Progression 3: Exercise 2
An ongoing conversation that I personally found interesting was the topic of Death with
Dignity. The Death with Dignity Act is an act that allows patients that are terminally ill and have
an unavoidable death awaiting them to choose the option of physician assisted suicide if the pain
the patient is suffering is too much to bare. One important claim about this act is that people have
every right to choose if they want to continue living their life until their last moment or choose
the other option and decide that things will be easier for them if they died the way they want to.
This act also allows people to have more control of how they want to meet their end, for
example; where it happen, what time itll happen, how they want it to happen. This topic has
sparked lots of controversion since many more states are adopting this act.
While there are some people that find this act appropriate other find this act repulsive and
unjust. One important claim that someone might bring up is the fact that it might go against their
religion. People will claim that a person should not have the option to choose when or how they
will die because it will look as life they dont really care about others close to them. Another
claim someone might say is that people wont think rationally because since the patient is
terminally ill, they wont be able to think clearly and are incapable of making choices on their
own.Though religion is also a controversial topic on its own, but when it becomes a factor in
another controversial topic its bound to increase in controversy.

Miramontes 2
Some of the claims that are listed seem problematic and questionable to me. The first
claim that is questionable is the one that says that people have the right to choose how they want
to go if they are terminally ill. When is a person allowed to make that choice? For example if the
patient is terminally ill but what if the patient is a minor? Does he/she require parent permission
to make that choice or is it completely up to the minor? The second claim that I found
problematic was the one that claims that the act will go against an individual's religion. Does
religion really out way freedom of choice? What if the patient doesnt want to go against his/her
religion but wants to choose the option of physician assisted suicide? Another claim that seems
problematic is the one that claims that people wont be able to think clearly. What if the person if
fully aware of their decision? Is it right to prevent someone that already made their choice of
what they want to do? There are many more questions to each of these claims from either side of
the topic.
I personally think that people should have the right to choose how they want to go. To me
the Death with Dignity Act is an act that properly allows an individual to go out the way they
want to. If the patient is allowed to choose how they will die, he/she is more likely to feel more
at peace because they know when, where, and how they are going to die. This also allows the
patient to rest at ease because they wouldnt have to continually be scared of not knowing when
and how they are going to die. Even though with act seems a bit extreme, it give the patient the
opportunity to decide if they want to continue to live in pain and continue to bare it or to set
terms with the fact that they are dying. If a patient decides to choose the physician assisted
suicide it could also help the loved ones close to the patient because they will have time to
prepare for the patients departure to the afterlife rather than having to suddenly find out that the
patient have passed.

Miramontes 3
Though I may agree with the idea of people being allowed to choose the option of Death
with Dignity, some scholars might have a different point of view on the topic. A physician and
behavioral scientist from Duke University thinks, it is wrong-headed to equate assisted suicide
with the concept of a dignified death. He doesnt think that Death with Dignity should equal
physician assisted suicide because the physicians shouldnt have to bare the idea of being
responsible for assisting someone in taking their own life. Some scholars might say that allowing
people to take their own lives is immoral and barbaric and we deserve more than just choosing
death as a way out.

Work Cited
Barber, Melissa. "What Does It Mean to Die with Dignity?" What Does It Mean to Die with
Dignity? Death With Dignity National Center, 16 Sept. 2013. Web. 04 Nov. 2015.

Miramontes 4
"Religion and Spirituality." Religion and Spirituality. Death With Dignity National Center, n.d.
Web. 04 Nov. 2015.
Stutsman, Eli D. "Oregon Death With Dignity Act: Four Challenges That Ensured the Law's
Success." Oregon Death With Dignity Act: Four Challenges That Ensured the Law's Success.
Death With Dignity National Center, 6 May 2015. Web. 04 Nov. 2015.
Ubel, Peter. "Death With Dignity Should Not Be Equated With Physician Assisted Suicide."
Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 26 Aug. 2013. Web. 04 Nov. 2015.