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Lydia Rabe
Mrs.Duran
English 1010
November 2, 2016
Should Physician-Assisted Suicide be Legal?

Physician-assisted suicide has become legalized in several states throughout the United
States over the last few decades. Physician-assisted suicide is the practice of prescribing lethal
drugs to those who are terminally ill. Where legal, it is used to end the lives of those suffering
from incurable and no longer treatable diseases before they die of the disease. The practice has
been legal in Oregon since 1994, and has since spread to Vermont, Washington, Montana, and
California. It is usually required that the patient is at least eighteen years of age, of sound mind,
and had less than six months to live. This is a heated topic because many feel it is cruel to make
the terminally ill go on living, and others feel it is equally cruel to abandon them to die when it is
possible that more could be done for them. People who are dying from these diseases, their
family, and others close to them are debating this, as well as those who have already watched
someone die.
In the article Cruel to Abandon the Dying to Suicide While Preventing Others,
published in the National Right to Life News in September of 2016, Wesley J. Smith argues that
it is unfair to allow the dying to commit suicide as a last resort while trying to prevent others
from the act. He points out that the opinions in California headlines that physician assisted
suicide should be legal and jumping off a bridge should be prevented contradict one another.
Dying isnt dead, its a stage of living, difficult yes, but so are other times of our lives, Smith
states, Sometimes people diagnosed with terminal illnesses dont die as expected, and if we

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abandon them to suicide, we will never know who they are. Others say that allowing the
practice is a kindness to the dying, but Smith insists that suicide proves the worst fears of those
dying and should be prevented in all people, not just those who are considered healthy.
Smith uses his association with those who have had terminal illnesses to attempt an
appeal to ethos. The fact that he claims to know people who have had terminal illnesses and
were relieved they did not commit suicide makes his point more credible by involving real
people rather than just statistics. He also appeals to pathos in the statement that physicianassisted suicide is telling the dying their lives are not really worth living and that it abandons
these people to their worst fears. These statements make the reader feel sorry for those people
and sympathize with the authors point. Smith includes logos in the assertion that allowing the
dying to commit suicide but not others is illogical. He furthers this point with the picture of the
two contradicting headlines in his article, and talks about how ridiculous it looks.
Smiths argument has a few flaws in it. He states specific fears of dying people with the
implication that all terminally ill people have these fears and will succumb to them if offered
suicide. He also uses a theory that if physician-assisted suicide is legal then all forms of suicide
will become legal and morally acceptable. This is an instance of slippery slope because the
claim has little evidence and does not have logical ground. These conclusions are very hasty
with nothing to back them up.
The article I LOVED MY WIFE, BUT I WISHED SHE WOULD DIE by John
LaGrange, published in The Saturday Evening Post in 2015, claims that the family members of
terminally ill people should not have to watch their loved ones die. LaGrange stated that while
many would do anything to have more time with their loved ones, he would rather not have lived
through his wifes last week. He cites the case of Brittany Maynard, who chose physician-

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assisted suicide rather than die from brain cancer, and says that her husband is lucky not to have
had to watch her die. LaGrange watched his wife die from ovarian cancer. He says that she
dealt with cancer by pretending she didnt have it and doing as much with her time as she could.
The author is unsure whether his wife would have chosen suicide if it were an option for her, but
he would have preferred it if she had. LaGranges main appeal to ethos is his wifes battle with
cancer. He uses anecdotes to strengthen this appeal by talking about specific parts of his wifes
life. He appeals to pathos through describing the terrible memories he has of his wifes last
week, and telling how lucky Maynards husband is to not have these awful memories. He
appeals to logos in his statements about how people dont talk about the dying and how he didnt
know what questions to ask until it was too late.
His main flaw is that he does not argue the point he starts out with. LaGrange begins his
article by citing a radio talk show about whether terminally ill people would be better
committing suicide. However, the body of his argument is actually about how the practice would
be better for their families. LaGrange further weakens his argument with an entire paragraph
about how much his wife enjoyed the last year of her life, and how great it was for their family.
He does not really support his main claim in the article.
Smiths article argues its point much more effectively than LaGranges does. Smiths
article states that physician-assisted suicide is cruel and backs up that point effectively with
ethos, pathos, and logos. He does have a few flaws, but they do not weaken his point anywhere
near as much as those in LaGranges article do. LaGrange has a confusing argument that does
not eve truly support his point. He did not effectively convey his message.
Physician-assisted suicide is an important moral dilemma. It questions when people
should be able to take their life into their own hands. It causes people to question when suffering

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has become too much and when there is no longer hope. The question of whether terminally ill
patients should be able to end their life on their own terms is an important moral question in
todays society.

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Works Cited
Smith, Wesley J. "Cruel to Abandon Dying to Suicide While Preventing Others." National
Right to Life News. National Right to Life, n.d. Web.
LaGrange, John. I LOVED MY WIFE, BUT I WISHED SHE WOULD DIE. Saturday
Evening Post. Web.