The Will to Fight

Before I get started, I want to thank everyone here today, taking some time out of your
day to come and listen or to watch my speech. Today, we stand here to put an end to a dispute on
ethics, to answer a question that has been driving a wedge between the medical community.
America will illegalize physician- assisted euthanasia. America will let death follow its course,
and not rush it.
As the medical advancements grow, so do the questions on bioethics and where we
should draw the line. Physician- assisted euthanasia raises many questions on ethics: Are we
trying to play “god”? Are we going against the course of nature? Are we doing what is ethically
right for mankind? How ethically right is it to die/help someone die before their time on Earth is
over? Should we be determining when our sentence on Earth is over? Everything that exists is
given a timeline… are we supposed to be playing with that timeline, whether it's making life
shorter or longer? Should we be playing with fate? How different is assisted- suicide from
suicide? There is a possibility that physician- assisted euthanasia is against the values that many
of the religions that Americans stand for (“Euthanasia and”). Not only is Euthanasia against the
values of many religions, but it also contradicts a doctor’s role in our world.
Euthanasia is everything that is completely opposite of a doctor’s role, “[P]ermitting
physicians to engage in euthanasia would ultimately cause more harm than good. Euthanasia is
fundamentally incompatible with the physician’s role as healer” (“Top 10”). Euthanasia would
only do more harm to our society and nation than good and contradicts the roles our doctors play.
No profession should ever offer services/ options that oppose their role in our world. There are
many other routes of treatment, from surgery to therapy, or even something as simple as
medication.
A couple of months ago, when the topic of suicide came up, my friend had said she read
this quote somewhere: “Suicide doesn’t take away the pain, it gives it to someone else” (Chery).
And it makes you start to wonder how many people would be affected if you died. It makes you
think about your family, and how they are being strong for you, so that you have the will to fight
on, to hold on a little longer, to live a little brighter. A mother of four kids, with terminal lung
disease, once said to me, “ ‘For my kids, I need to be able to control the pain because that's what
concerns them the most’ ” (O'Neill). This mother is willing to push through her pain as if nothing
hurts; only to decrease the concerns of her children, just like the numerous parents and sibling
around America that are pushing through the pain for their loved ones. You are much stronger
than you think you are, the people around you are cloaking their concerns with happiness and
smiles, in hope that you will get better, that one day you will feel like yourself, no matter how
bad your prognosis is.
The illegalization of physician- assisted euthanasia is something that was considered very
seriously. The American government collectively felt that this is what American citizens wanted.
A survey that was conducted by a couple of researchers showed that out of 1,712 respondents
from 49 different American states, 67 percent was against physician- assisted euthanasia
(“Euthanasia and”). Physician- assisted euthanasia was illegalized so that every state, every
hospital, every private practice will be on the same page, and for the most part, all patients would
be given the same treatment options for their illnesses.
America has been torn in two because of many conflicts in the past, but this will not be
one of those conflicts. This will be a decision that teaches Americans to fight stronger for each
other, to have more faith in not only ourselves but those around us. As Henry Ford once said,
Coming together is a ​beginning​, staying together is ​progress,​ and working together is ​success​”.
 Works Cited

Chery, Fritz. “25 Important Bible Verses About Suicide (10 Big Things To Know).” ​Bible

Reasons,​ 9 July 2020, ​https://biblereasons.com/suicide/​.

“Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide: What Are They and What Do They Mean?” ​Medical News

Today​, MediLexicon International,

www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/182951#euthanasia-and-assisted-suicide-​.

O'Neill, Stephanie. “Terminally Ill California Mom Speaks Out Against Assisted Suicide.” ​NPR​,

NPR, 20 May 2015,

www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2015/05/20/405204480/terminally-ill-california-mom-s

peaks-out-against-assisted-suicide​.

“Top 10 Pro & Con Arguments - Euthanasia - ProCon.org.” ​Euthanasia​, 17 Mar. 2020,

https://euthanasia.procon.org/top-10-pro-con-arguments/​.