Physician-Assisted Suicidal (PAS)
Physician-Assisted Suicidal (PAS)
Physician-Assisted Suicidal (PAS) is a compelling and relevant mental health issue in palliative care today. Psychosocial problems such as the desire for death and depression are of significant importance. PAS is administering lethal medication to a patient by physicians to end the patient’s life (Luzon 2019). Usually, the physicians are merciful and want to end the patient’s suffering—most terminally ill patients. There is debate on the legalization of PAS. This paper will discuss the reasons why terminally ill patients should be allowed to access PAS.
PAS should be legalized because it is an act of humanity to terminally ill patients considering how their conditions are critical and fatal. I believe that the patients and their families should not be subjected to suffering painful deaths. The only way to alleviate the suffering of both the patient and the family is through suicide. The patient is given the right to object to life-sustaining medical interventions such as life support machines (Evenblij 2019).
Also, the legalization of PAS on the terminally ill patient is a rational decision given the patients’ circumstances. They experience disability and increased fears of becoming a burden to their friends and loved ones. Considering that the symptoms and the circumstances have no chances of being relieved, the decision to hasten a patient’s death appears rational (Luzon 2019).
In addition, I think PAS should be made legal for the patients because it will help the patients avoid some of the suffering associated with dying if they alleviate the suffering through suicide.
However, the legalization of PAS is objected to by different perspectives. The most common one is that the physician goes against the code of conduct. The medical professions require doctors and physicians to heal and extend life. However, by assisting terminally ill patients in ending their lives, this is the opposite (Luzon 2019). It is a contradiction to the central goal in the medical profession.
References
Evenblij, K., Pasman, H. R. W., Pronk, R., & Onwuteaka-Philipsen, B. D. (2019). Euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide in patients suffering from psychiatric disorders: a cross-sectional study explores the experiences of Dutch psychiatrists. BMC psychiatry, 19(1), 1-10.
Luzon, G. (2019). The practice of euthanasia and assisted suicide meets the concept of legalization. Criminal Law and Philosophy, 13(2), 329-345.