Should physician- assisted suicide be legal in the USA ? That’s the answer we are trying to answer today in the world of medicine. In the essays, " Physician-assisted suicide: Con" by Dr. Matthew R. Kenney and " Why Assisted Suicide is the Right Answer, For Some" by John M. Grohol who has two different views on this issue. Kenney and Grohol see this issue on different ends of the spectrum and never seem to agree.
In the first essay " Why Assisted Suicide is the Right Answer, For Some" Grohol goes to state " Because we now have a couple years of evidence from Washington state and nearly 15 years of evidence from Oregon....demonstrate fears about allowing suicide are based largely in irrationality, not data."(Grohol) Grohol is stating that the states that allows physician-assisted suicide is not all based upon facts or data from the patient but rather based on the being and how they feel but also the fear they have.
Grohol continues on in his essay by trying to state the logos of having physician- assisted suicide legalized by reporting this "….many health plans limit coverage of prescription drugs meant solely to extend someone's life, but cannot cure the cancer itself …." (Grohol). This goes to further on reinsure his statement because it goes to show how cheap it is to just go the other route.
Another way he establishes logos in his essay is comparing terminal illness to a doctor doing surgery he states that "Doctors don’t know when they cut into you that it will actually improve or save your life. An unexpected complication and that minor surgery could turn into a surgery that takes your life." (Grohol) by saying this he shows that either way you go in life you may never know what may happen.
Next is about how the government is trying to put its own influence into the medical world and how it's trying to help people who are facing terminal illness. He states " No, the new law recognizes the fact that terminal illness is, by definition, a death sentence. …... you're going to die a lot sooner than you imagined." (Grohol) by saying this he establish the fact that having
this law in place in some states helps the person but also that being able to have the choice about your life.
Lastly at the end of this essay Grohol ask a question that makes us wonder and imagine the same thing "….at the end of your life, would you rather gain a few weeks in a hospital bed, heavily medicated, with tubes running from you, with machines helping you "live" , or would you rather die in a place and at a time of your own choosing?" (Grohol) . Grohol tries to make you feel how it would be like and make you ponder if you would really want to "live" like that.
The second essay "Physician -assisted suicide: Con" Dr. Kenney starts off by stating that " Physician- assisted suicide is fundamentally incompatible with the physician's role as healer, would be difficult or impossible to control, ….physicians must aggressively respond to the needs of patients at the end of life. Patients should not be abandoned once it is determine that cure is impossible " ( Dr.Kenney) . He tries to say that the main job as a doctor as himself and many others is to help the person heal not try to die quicker.
He then goes to state how it may actually take away more of the proper care that can be given to the patient by saying " In fact, it often undermines proper care for the terminally ill by short-circuiting the continuum of care that we owe our dying patients." ( Dr.Kenney). Dr.Kenney is saying that with this choice being available to doctors and patients as a way to cure them is going to become a problem. The reason is because they will be able to just choose to die and not really do all they can to save the person's life.
Another reason he goes on to state that supports his reasoning in the previous paragraph is " We promote human dignity and a sense of meaning and purpose when we recognize that the dying are not expendable or a burden and when we cherish them in their personhood and accompany them on their journey with true compassion." ( Dr.Kenney). By saying this it shows that he thinks instead of people trying to give care to a terminally ill patient we are just trying to rush them along out of this life without any sense of compassion or trying to help them adjust to their new circumstance.
Next he goes on to state " We promote compassionate care for the most vulnerable among us when we affirm their existence, listen to and acknowledge their fears, aggressively treat their pain and help them alleviate their spiritual and existential suffering, not by assisting
them with suicide." (Dr.Kenney). What he is trying to convey is that instead of just saying here take this medication so you can die quicker. We should instead try to show them compassion and spend all the time we can with them as they go through the journey of life ending.
Lastly the reason why he is really saying that we should show compassion and care for terminally ill patient is because his has been through the same thing. " I also write as a widower who accompanied his wife through chronic and terminal illness, and joined with her as she struggled to maintain her sense of worth, dignity, and autonomy. I was with her as she lay dying in my arms. More importantly, I was with her as she struggled to live." ( Dr.Kenney)
In both of the essays, " Physician-assisted suicide: Con" by Dr. Matthew R. Kenney and "Why Assisted Suicide is the Right Answer, For Some." by John M. Grohol Psy.D., wrote about how they viewed Physician-assisted Suicide. Both authors show that they have great knowledge about the topic, but I believe the strongest argument was Dr. Matthew R. Kenney. The reason is because he is a doctor himself and deals with terminally ill patients but the greatest factor is that he also went through the same thing with his wife and never gave up until the end of her life.
Works Cited:
Kenney, Dr. Matthew R. "Physician-assisted Suicide." The Day. The Day, 22 Mar. 2015. Web. 15 Dec. 2015.
Grohol, Psy.D., John M. "Why Assisted Suicide Is The Right Answer, For Some." World of Psychology. Psych Central, 27 Aug. 2012. Web. 15 Dec. 2015.
In the first essay " Why Assisted Suicide is the Right Answer, For Some" Grohol goes to state " Because we now have a couple years of evidence from Washington state and nearly 15 years of evidence from Oregon....demonstrate fears about allowing suicide are based largely in irrationality, not data."(Grohol) Grohol is stating that the states that allows physician-assisted suicide is not all based upon facts or data from the patient but rather based on the being and how they feel but also the fear they have.
Grohol continues on in his essay by trying to state the logos of having physician- assisted suicide legalized by reporting this "….many health plans limit coverage of prescription drugs meant solely to extend someone's life, but cannot cure the cancer itself …." (Grohol). This goes to further on reinsure his statement because it goes to show how cheap it is to just go the other route.
Another way he establishes logos in his essay is comparing terminal illness to a doctor doing surgery he states that "Doctors don’t know when they cut into you that it will actually improve or save your life. An unexpected complication and that minor surgery could turn into a surgery that takes your life." (Grohol) by saying this he shows that either way you go in life you may never know what may happen.
Next is about how the government is trying to put its own influence into the medical world and how it's trying to help people who are facing terminal illness. He states " No, the new law recognizes the fact that terminal illness is, by definition, a death sentence. …... you're going to die a lot sooner than you imagined." (Grohol) by saying this he establish the fact that having
this law in place in some states helps the person but also that being able to have the choice about your life.
Lastly at the end of this essay Grohol ask a question that makes us wonder and imagine the same thing "….at the end of your life, would you rather gain a few weeks in a hospital bed, heavily medicated, with tubes running from you, with machines helping you "live" , or would you rather die in a place and at a time of your own choosing?" (Grohol) . Grohol tries to make you feel how it would be like and make you ponder if you would really want to "live" like that.
The second essay "Physician -assisted suicide: Con" Dr. Kenney starts off by stating that " Physician- assisted suicide is fundamentally incompatible with the physician's role as healer, would be difficult or impossible to control, ….physicians must aggressively respond to the needs of patients at the end of life. Patients should not be abandoned once it is determine that cure is impossible " ( Dr.Kenney) . He tries to say that the main job as a doctor as himself and many others is to help the person heal not try to die quicker.
He then goes to state how it may actually take away more of the proper care that can be given to the patient by saying " In fact, it often undermines proper care for the terminally ill by short-circuiting the continuum of care that we owe our dying patients." ( Dr.Kenney). Dr.Kenney is saying that with this choice being available to doctors and patients as a way to cure them is going to become a problem. The reason is because they will be able to just choose to die and not really do all they can to save the person's life.
Another reason he goes on to state that supports his reasoning in the previous paragraph is " We promote human dignity and a sense of meaning and purpose when we recognize that the dying are not expendable or a burden and when we cherish them in their personhood and accompany them on their journey with true compassion." ( Dr.Kenney). By saying this it shows that he thinks instead of people trying to give care to a terminally ill patient we are just trying to rush them along out of this life without any sense of compassion or trying to help them adjust to their new circumstance.
Next he goes on to state " We promote compassionate care for the most vulnerable among us when we affirm their existence, listen to and acknowledge their fears, aggressively treat their pain and help them alleviate their spiritual and existential suffering, not by assisting
them with suicide." (Dr.Kenney). What he is trying to convey is that instead of just saying here take this medication so you can die quicker. We should instead try to show them compassion and spend all the time we can with them as they go through the journey of life ending.
Lastly the reason why he is really saying that we should show compassion and care for terminally ill patient is because his has been through the same thing. " I also write as a widower who accompanied his wife through chronic and terminal illness, and joined with her as she struggled to maintain her sense of worth, dignity, and autonomy. I was with her as she lay dying in my arms. More importantly, I was with her as she struggled to live." ( Dr.Kenney)
In both of the essays, " Physician-assisted suicide: Con" by Dr. Matthew R. Kenney and "Why Assisted Suicide is the Right Answer, For Some." by John M. Grohol Psy.D., wrote about how they viewed Physician-assisted Suicide. Both authors show that they have great knowledge about the topic, but I believe the strongest argument was Dr. Matthew R. Kenney. The reason is because he is a doctor himself and deals with terminally ill patients but the greatest factor is that he also went through the same thing with his wife and never gave up until the end of her life.
Works Cited:
Kenney, Dr. Matthew R. "Physician-assisted Suicide." The Day. The Day, 22 Mar. 2015. Web. 15 Dec. 2015.
Grohol, Psy.D., John M. "Why Assisted Suicide Is The Right Answer, For Some." World of Psychology. Psych Central, 27 Aug. 2012. Web. 15 Dec. 2015.