Sara Rowley

POLS 1100

Brittany Bills

Death With Dignity

CON

1- Opening Statement

Hook: Doctor-assisted suicide refers to a physician prescribing a lethal dose of medication to

a terminally ill patient who wishes to end their life. Death with dignity goes against our

fundamental rights to life and every life in our society is valuable. It is not moral or ethical to

promote a message that suicide is the best option for those that no longer wish to live on.

Rather than encouraging the many valued members of our society to seek an escape, we

should encourage them to fill the life that they have left with love, happiness, and

contentment.

Topic sentence that defines the position:

Death with Dignity should not be permitted in the U.S. because it puts pressure on those with

terminal illnesses to end their lives prematurely to avoid burdening their families.

Additionally, it devalues the lives of the elderly and disabled, who are allowed the option of

death with dignity, while those under the age of 18 are not. Finally, death with dignity goes

against the Hippocratic oath, which is meant to allow citizens to trust their health care

physicians.

Arguments:

1- Death with dignity puts pressure on the elderly and disabled to end their lives to avoid

being a financial burden on their families.

 ● The death with dignity act forces those people to make rash decisions for fear of

being a burden to their family. This applies to the elderly, the disabled, and those

with terminal illnesses who feel that their loved ones are suffering as a result of

having to take care of them. And that their loved ones are suffering under the

financial weight that their medical expenses incurred.

● People can also feel pressured by their family members who are expecting an

inheritance. Their family members might encourage them to sign the document for

their lethal medication to get money now, rather than wait and enjoy their time left

with that person. Additionally when speaking about these individuals getting taken

advantage of because an outside party’s interest in acquiring this medication,

changing hands, either intentionally or unknowingly, is not uncommon and usually

has lethal results.

● In states where doctor-assisted suicide is legal people have been offered lethal

prescriptions by their insurance companies rather than chemotherapy because it is

cheaper for the insurance company. Our citizens should not be pressured to kill

themselves because it is cheaper than seeking out the best route of treatment.

2- Death with dignity encourages the belief that the old and disabled are not worth saving.

● As I mentioned before, suicide should never be promoted as an acceptable way to

handle pain, especially not for those elderly/ disabled, who might not feel valuable or

wanted as is. Their lives are just as valuable as the young lives (under 18) who are

not offered the same option.

● Terminal is not always terminal. Sometimes those diagnosed with terminal illnesses

end up living years after their doctors predicted they would, and medicine is
 constantly seeing big advancements, and those opportunities are not available for you

if you feel the need to end your life before your body is ready. Our elderly and

disabled should be encouraged to live their lives with as much contentment as

possible until their bodies are ready.

3- Death with dignity goes against the Hippocratic Oath to do no harm “I will neither give a

deadly drug to anybody if asked for it nor will I make a suggestion to this effect.” and

presents other struggles in the medical field.

● Our doctors are among the few people that everyone can trust. Not everyone has the

education and training to become a medical physician. So when someone does

become a doctor, they must take the Hippocratic Oath. This means that doctors must

do everything in their power to give their patients that utmost care, and aid them in

every way possible to guarantee they live.

● There are other options outside of doctor-assisted suicide that doctors should be

recommending and promoting like palliative care, an alternatvce to hospice that uses

a support team to guarantee the best possible care for patients. Emotional and

physical therapy are also crucial for patients in these situations. Especially since

many of the acts proposed will not require a mental health screening. Depression is

not uncommon in these patients, and it is common for depressed patients who request

the medication, often withdraw their request after receiving professional help. As a

last result patients could seek terminal sedation until their bodies are ready to move

one, that way they can be unfeeling, but still have the aforementioned options

available.
 ● In an attempt to avoid issues with the Hippocratic oath, doctors are not required to be

present at the time of death, and because of this, there have been multiple counts of

botched deaths in Oregon and other states where it is legal. Recent studies have

shown that 7% of 114 analyzed cases found that patients suffered complications with

their medication. Some after regurgitating the lethal dose. 16% of deaths did not

occur as planned, it either took longer than it was supposed to, some fell into comas,

and some woke up after metabolizing the drugs.

● Also because of the oath, it is not widely practiced so there is no formal training and

little discussion and research into how it should be done.

Summary:

Once again, doctor-assisted suicide is not ethical and should not be permitted because it puts

pressure on those with terminal illnesses to end their lives to lessen the burden on their

families, it devalues the lives of the elderly and disabled, and it contradicts the Hippocratic

Oath and jeopardizes the ability of citizens to place their unwavering trust onto their medical

physicians.

2- Rebuttal

Opposition- It gives a person the right to die and they are spared from excruciating pain and

allows the person the right to liberty

Refute- While a person should have the right to do whatever they want with their bodies,

they cannot do that if they are dead. There are so many options available for the people in

these situations, they should not feel that they have to commit suicide to escape. They should
utilize the medication that they have available, as well as the mental health professionals in

order to give themselves a better quality of life rather than no life at all.

Opposition- Reduces financial burden of health care

Refute- While ending someone’s life is far less expensive than killing them, this is not an

ethical thought or practice. If we allow people who are suffering to end their lives rather than

utilize their resources to improve their lives, it will encourage others to do the same. And

soon those in far less extreme circumstances who still feel that they are suffering will want to

utilize their right to die, and if it is our right, what will we be able to do to stop them.

Opposition- Death with dignity allows people to die under their own circumstances. Where,

when and with who they want.

Refute- Chances are those loved ones who have been there to support a patient until they

have arrived at this point, are not going to stop supporting them now. Patients may not be

able to choose when they are going to die, but that does not limit who they can surround

themselves by and where they are to make sure that when they die it is under their terms, Not

their doctors. Especially since the medication can be unpredictable as well.

3- Anticipated Questions from Opposition/ Audience

Question 1- Does death with dignity contradict the constitution?

Answer- Technically it does go against the federal constitution, however, it is up to the states

to determine whether or not they want to uphold the federal standards, or enact their own

law.

Question 2-Why does it matter if we allow people the right to doctor-assisted suicide?

Answer- It matters because the right to die is a hard thing to limit. It is right to say that only

adults with terminal illnesses are allowed to commit suicide, or that only people with
terminal illnesses are allowed to commit suicide. If we encourage ending your life to solve

problems it will spiral out of control. Especially in a country where suicide is already an

extremely prevalent issue.

Question 3- If it remains illegal, how can you stop people from finding a different way to do

it?

Answer- Like all things regulation can be tricky, there will always be individuals willing to

do what they think is right even if it goes against what is morally and ethically right. To limit

this, we need to encourage our members of society who may not have the best quality of life

to find ways to improve their lives, not ways to end it.

4- Closing Statement

Summary:

In conclusion, Death with dignity pressures our citizens to feel that by ending their lives they

will lessen the burden they put on their families, It diminishes the values that we have in our

elderly/ disabled and they that feel in themselves, and finally, it allows for distrust in our

medical community that we cannot afford.

Connect to bigger position in society:

As a community and a society, we need to encourage people to utilize their resources and the

people around them to overcome their struggle and find a new quality of life. They should

never have to be beaten down and defeated when there are so many options available.

Sell your argument:

Death with dignity is a very difficult issue to address because it can be hard to believe that

situations may become dire enough that people feel their only way out is to kill themselves.

But it is even harder to believe that as a community we cannot rise above this issue to make
 those who are suffering feel valued and help alleviate their pain.

Powerful impact statement:

Death with dignity is not a dignified death at all. There is a reason we have a right to life

liberty and the pursuit of happiness, and we cannot find those things in death.

Sources:

https://apecsec.org/death-with-dignity-act-pros-and-cons/

https://connectusfund.org/8-far-reaching-pros-and-cons-of-the-death-with-dignity-act

https://face2faceafrica.com/article/health-death-with-dignity-act-morally-wrong

https://www.salon.com/2000/04/19/dignity/

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/blog/nine-reasons-to-oppose-death-with-dignity-laws

https://www.apa.org/monitor/2017/12/ce-corner

https://www.deathwithdignity.org/news/2018/12/impact-of-death-with-dignity-on-healthcare/

https://www.verywellhealth.com/arguments-in-favor-of-death-with-dignity-2614852

https://visionlaunch.com/pros-and-cons-of-the-death-with-dignity-act/