Sydney Schubert

Prof. Pettay

ENG 111

10 Dec. 2021

Euthanasia: Compassion Toward the Dying or Immoral

In a recent Washington Post article*, “Portugal’s president vetoes 2nd version of

euthanasia bill,” the Associated Press reports that Portugal’s president, Marcelo Rebelo de

Sousa, has vetoed the second version of a bill that would legalize euthanasia. The Portuguese

Parliament has passed the bill twice this year, after being told the first version needed revisions

to be more specific (Ames). Similar bills have been passed in a few U.S states but physician-

assisted suicide has yet to be legalized for the U.S. as a whole. Euthanasia has been legalized in

many developed countries, permitting terminally ill patients to end their life on their own terms.

Unfortunately, many people believe that legalizing euthanasia and assisted suicide would

encourage people to take their lives and is immoral. The United States should federally legalize

euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide (PAS) because people enduring chronic pain and

illness deserve compassion and have the right to end their lives on their own terms.

Terminal cancer, defined by the National Cancer Institute as “cancer that cannot be cured

and leads to death,” often takes a toll on someone’s physical and mental health. Many

untreatable illnesses cause patients excruciating pain that can only be relieved by ending their

life. Michigan State University claims that “more than 70% of patients with advanced cancer

experience severe pain” and that “at least 25% of all cancer patients die without adequate pain

relief” (Ogle). If doctors have empathy for their patients, administering life-ending drugs should

not be considered immoral because they are relieving their patients of their suffering. Forcing
those with terminal cancer to fight every day because they cannot choose a peaceful and painless

death is torturous. A study conducted by a team of researchers for the Institute for Rehabilitation

Research and Development asserts that mainly cancer patients request euthanasia/PAS, and that

of the participants, who were cancer patients themselves, “73% believed that euthanasia or

physician-assisted suicide should be legalized,” because of their right to choose (Wilson). Many

people cannot say that they have experienced the same level of pain as advanced/terminal cancer

patients, which is why it is important to hear their thoughts. When PAS laws are proposed,

lawmakers should keep in mind those with terminal illnesses and severe cancers, before they

choose whether they are for or against the right to die.

Individuals have the right to die, and should not be forced to continue living because it is

illegal for their lives to end peacefully and safely. Janet L. Dolgin, the director of the Hofstra

Institute for Health Law and Policy, contends that there is “a constitutional right to die,”

referring to a court case where the patient was no longer conscious, and her father requested that

life support be turned off. Over a decade later, “the U.S. Supreme Court assumed the right of a

competent patient to refuse medical care,” while understanding some patients may die from their

refusal of care. If patients have the constitutional right to die, then they should be allowed to

request it. When multiple physicians can conclude that a patient is in serious pain they no longer

want to deal with, they should be able to help the patient relieve their pain through death. Dr. D.

Benatar, a published writer in Current Oncology, agrees that patients have a right to die, saying

“just as it would be wrong to force people to die, so is it wrong to force people to endure

conditions that they find to be unbearable.” It is completely plausible that no one can be forced to

die, as that is murder and immensely immoral. But, just as people cannot be forced to die, they

cannot be forced to live either, which should permit euthanasia and PAS to be legalized.
 There are those who believe that it is unethical for a doctor to euthanize or assist someone

in their death, even if that is their patient’s wish. Dr. Arthur J. Dyck believes that under no

circumstances should a doctor assist in terminating the life of a patient, stating “the right to life

in homicide law is treated as inalienable,” implying that physician-assisted suicide in any form is

murder, and immoral. This sentiment is mostly false, as it should be considered immoral for a

physician to disregard their patient’s desires. PAS is not murder if the patient consents to die. To

get to the point of no longer wanting to live through the pain of terminal/chronic illness means

that the individual requesting PAS or euthanasia has an extremely low quality of life. It is cruel

to encourage someone to live through insufferable pain, especially as their doctor. The best

choice for the next step in a patient’s treatment plan should ultimately be up to them. Doctors

may advise their patients against PAS/euthanasia, but in the end, support them in their decisions.

The legalization of euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide in the United States would

be a great step in the direction of laws concerning bodily choice. U.S. courts are seeing a rise in

cases of the right to choose regarding abortion laws, and whether or not Roe v. Wade is

overturned will definitely set a precedent of whether or not PAS will be legalized any time soon.

Many arguments against PAS and euthanasia are based on the morality of whether or not a

doctor, someone considered as a healer, can ethically and consciously make the decision of

ending the life of a patient. Before ever considering administering life-ending drugs to a patient,

a doctor should exhaust all other options. However, if treatments have had little effect on the

state of their patient, there is no issue with ending the life of a patient at their request. Patients

should also have the right to choose whether or not they live or die. If multiple physicians can

account for the pain someone is enduring, and that they have a low quality of life, they should be

able to peacefully pass. It is much safer for a doctor to assist in the death of a patient than they
take matters into their own hands and attempt to die on their own. In order to support the

terminally ill, legalizing euthanasia and PAS is compassionate toward the dying by providing

them with the choice of life or death.

 Works Cited

Ames, Paul. "Portugal's parliament votes to legalize euthanasia, again." Politico, 5 Nov.

2021, www.politico.eu/article/portugal-parliament-legalize-euthanasia-constitutional-

court-objections/. Accessed 10 Dec. 2021.

Benatar, D. “Should there be a legal right to die?.” Current oncology (Toronto, Ont.) vol.

17,5, 2010, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2949364/. Accessed 8 Dec.

2021.

DeTemple, Naomi. “Palliative Sedation: Masked Euthanasia or Compassionate Care for

the Dying?” Penn Bioethics Journal, vol. 15, no. 2, Jan. 2020, pp. 20–26. EBSCOhost,

search-ebscohost-com.eztcc.vccs.edu/login.aspx?

direct=true&db=a9h&AN=144253372&site=ehost-live. Accessed 8 Dec. 2021.

Dolgin, Janet L. “Medical Disputes and Conflicting Values: Is There a ‘Right to Die’

Later?” Brigham Young University Law Review, vol. 2020, no. 2, Mar. 2020, pp. 95–143.

EBSCOhost, search-ebscohost-com.eztcc.vccs.edu/login.aspx?

direct=true&db=a9h&AN=147143983&site=ehost-live. Accessed 8 Dec. 2021.

Dyck, Arthur J. “Overlooked Costs of Legalizing Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia.”

Ethics & Medicine: An International Journal of Bioethics, vol. 36, no. 2, Summer 2020,

pp. 117–127. EBSCOhost, search-ebscohost-com.eztcc.vccs.edu/login.aspx?

direct=true&db=a9h&AN=145691243&site=ehost-live. Accessed 8 Dec. 2021.

Ogle, Karen, M.D. "Pain Relief for Terminally Ill Patients." Michigan State

University College of Human Medicine, Feb. 2010,

learn.chm.msu.edu/painmanagement/intro.asp. Accessed 16 Dec. 2021.

 Sansom, Dennis L. “Kindness and the Ethics of Physician-Assisted Suicide.” Ethics &

Medicine: An International Journal of Bioethics, vol. 36, no. 3, Fall 2020, pp. 153–173.

EBSCOhost, search-ebscohost-com.eztcc.vccs.edu/login.aspx?

direct=true&db=a9h&AN=152699960&site=ehost-live. Accessed 8 Dec. 2021.

"Strong Public Support for Right to Die." Pew Research Center, 5 Jan. 2006,

www.pewresearch.org/politics/2006/01/05/strong-public-support-for-right-to-die/.

Accessed 8 Dec. 2021.

"Terminal Cancer." National Cancer Institute, U.S. Department of Health and

Human Services, www.cancer.gov/publications/dictionaries/cancer-terms/def/

terminal-cancer. Accessed 20 Dec. 2021.

Wilson, K. G. "Attitudes of terminally ill patients toward euthanasia and physician-

assisted suicide." PubMed.gov, 11 Sept. 2000, pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10979056/.

Accessed 16 Dec. 2021.

*The article from Washington Post has been deleted, so I am unable to include it in my works

cited.