Physician Assisted Suicide Persuasive Speech

Walking down the halls of hospice, tear stained linoleum is glistening by the fluorescent lights. A man on the first floor has amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and losing the battle by the second. He’s helpless; he has lost all movement throughout his body as his muscles are deteriorating. The blush color in his skin has transformed into a dull grey, and the light in his eyes have burnt out. He has become a hollow shell, he mumbles under his fragile breath, “kill me,” but there’s no way to help. In today’s contemporary society, the controversial topic of physician assisted suicide (PAS) for the terminally ill is emotional for both supporters and opposers. Physician assisted suicide is the painless killing of a patient suffering from an incurable

and normally painful disease. Those who oppose feel it is wrong to end life regardless of one’s condition, while others believe that those with life threatening diseases should have the right to decide when and how their life ends. These opposers mainly consist of the religious community. The religious feel that assisted suicide is immoral because of the teachings about killing that comes from the Bible. Through research, it is plausible that physician assisted suicide is an efficient way of death for the terminally ill. This important decision should be decided and determined solely by the patient with no influence from the Bible, for the Bible itself has uncertainties about suicide.
The individuals who oppose assisted suicide believe it goes against religious beliefs or medical ethics. They either don’t believe in killing, believe that a miracle will happen where the patient suddenly regains their health, or think the doctor diagnosed the patient with the incorrect disease. Outside of the religious beliefs, another reason some do not approve of legalizing PAS is because the ideal of legal assisted suicide seems too good to be true in the sense that it will become out of hand and be misused by, for instance, the mentally sick or the disabled who don’t want to live any longer. Society’s main concern of why PAS shouldn’t be legalized is mostly due to religious beliefs. It is not justified because the first amendment to the Constitution of the United States reads that there is a separation between church and state. Lonny Shavelson is an author who has numerous works in well known publications such as The New York Times. In Shavelsons “A Chosen Death,” he gives insight on this national debate by examining five case studies and thoroughly analyzes each situation the benefits and risks of assisted suicide. After looking into the details of each of these individual cases through first person Shavelson concluded that "Since there is no absolute legal, medical, or moral answer to the question of what constitutes a good or correct death in the face of a terminal illness, the power to make the decision about how someone dies can rest with only one individual--the person living in that particular body" (Shavelson 153). Likewise, the separation of church and state isn’t enough to justify PAS because religion still interferes.
The non religious opposers believe that assisted suicide shouldn’t be legalized because it will be misused, however analyzing the process of the euthanization will make one think otherwise.

The physician that aids in the end of a patient's life has many steps to cover before the initiation. The physician must identify the terminal illness that the patient is suffering from, enlighten the patient on their options and what the results of the options are, make the choice of whether to be the one to euthanize the patient or not, and properly give the correct dosage of the lethal medication that will take the patient's life. Those who feel that PAS should be legalized and a choice believe that because they don’t want to deal with all the suffering and pain that comes along with a terminal disease. The patients would keep their dignity, prevent family or friends feeling guilty, and also be able to pass where they want with whoever they want with

them.
A large majority of the opposers developed their opinion on PAS back when the first assisted suicide took place. In 1990, Dr. Jack Kevorkian was the first to practice physician assisted suicide. Dr. Kevorkian was a retired pathologist who created a machine that became known as the “suicide machine.” This suicide machine was composed of three bottles made of glass connected to an IV. The bottles contained saline solution, potassium chloride, and a tranquilizer. Dr. Kevorkian's only role in the suicide was supplying the machine to the patients. The machine was activated by the patients when they felt ready to do so. The patient started the process by turning on the machine themselves which they then put them selves to sleep with the tranquilizer and then killed by the potassium chloride. The potassium chloride stops the heart, causing cardiac arrest. When people found out about Dr. Kevorkian’s practices, they were furious because they felt that he wasn’t assisting the terminally ill in the right way and instead should’ve been trying to find an alternative that would’ve cured their illness. However, in Kathlyn Gay’s “The Right to Die: Public Controversy, Private Matter,” Dr. Kevorkian believes that he wasn’t the cause of the death but was only there to aid the patients with their last civil rights. Kevorkian was passionate about assisting his patients and felt that neglecting the patient's wish to end their life was similar to the Nazi Doctors of World War II, where the Nazi Doctors used to experiment on patients not knowing the outcome. Kevorkian thought that trying to practice on the terminally ill to try and find a cure was morally wrong. Contrary to Dr. Kevorkian's main objective, society heard about a physician having the power to execute and became fearful for their safety.
One of the biggest issues with legalizing physician assisted suicide is because the Christian society does not invite suicide, or any form of killing. According to the research center of UC Berkeley, “About 55% of Americans identified themselves as Protestants.” The vast majority of religious opposers is one of the main components to why physician assisted suicide is so controversial. “It is generally considered that the Christian tradition has consistently found suicide to be morally objectionable” (Stempsey, 1998). The United States Supreme Court has banned assisted suicide in many states because of the moral decency and religious influence on this practice. However, based on the research article, “Laying Down One's Life for Oneself” by William E. Stempsey, SJ, a priest from College of the Holy Cross with expertise in ethics and philosophy, it is proved questionable whether physician assisted suicide is wrong based off The Old Testament and The New Testament.
According to the research examined by Stempsey, “there is no explicit approbation or condemnation of suicide in the Bible,” but as Stempsey explains in the research, it does teach people about the morality of suicide.

There is a consistent presumption against killing that we see throughout the entire Bible, which is why those of religion are strongly against euthanizing the terminally ill. When the religious people began to hear about the practices of Dr. Kevorkian, they feared their physicians and sought them as evil. The opposers find those who assist in suicide to be killers instead of aids. The Fifth Commandment of The Old Testament, according to Protestants, forbids killing with the saying, “Thou shalt not kill”(Exodus 20:1–17). The moral of this is that suicide is seen as a violation of this commandment. Anyone who violates the ten commandments is violating God’s law and generally questions their admission into Heaven. It is also argues that the New Testament provides “a structure of values and hopes antithetical, indeed inimical, to suicide” (Stempsey, 1998). Although it is true that the New Testament's theme focuses around Jesus’ message of nonviolence, there are also well known instances where there were exceptions to the temerity against

killing.
In the Old Testament, there have been nine instances of suicides that were an exception to the fifth commandment. These suicides are of four different types: suicide missions, suicide from despair, suicide in horror in battle, and suicide as just punishment (Stempsey, 1998). The argument of why these suicides are deemable is because they were not egoistic. For instance the suicide missions were sacrifices for a “worthy cause” (Stempsey, 1998), which meant that they took their life for a social goal that goes beyond their own personal goals. Suicide missions are seen as a seek for good for others whereas assisted suicide seeks a good for himself or herself. Most of the types of suicide listed are morally along the lines of suicide missions except for suicide from despair. This form of suicide is considered egoistics and is the kind of suicide that is trying to be prevented today. In The Old Testament, two people commit suicide from despair. Ptolemy Macron poisons himself after being accused of being a traitor and bringing shame upon himself (2 Maccabees 10:13). Ahithophel privy councillor of David, whose wisdom was highly valued, saw he no longer had any influence because Absalom did not take notice of his advice. Filled with disappointment because Absalom took someone else's advice over his, Ahithophel hanged himself (2 Samuel 17:23). Both of these suicides have similar values to assisted suicide; caused by an unfortunate event and a desire not to face the facts of what is to come. Although this type of suicide is considered shameful in Christianity, they deny that the suicides were not intentional, but steered from emotions. However, these egoistic but rational suicides were still found acceptable contrary that these two suicides have the same intention of physician assisted suicide.
In the New Testament, there is one suicide. Judas Iscariot is notoriously known for betraying Jesus. Judas is a controversial topic in the Christian world because it is seen that his events lead to the crucifixion of Jesus. It is said that before the last supper, Judas had gone to the chief priests to sell out Jesus for thirty pieces of silver. Judas saw that they were going to kill Jesus and felt sorry, so Judas brought back the thirty coins, admitted his sin, and claimed Jesus was an innocent man. The Jewish leaders did not care for what Judas had to say at this point, which lead Judas to hang himself (Matthew 27:5). When comparing this suicide to the examples of suicide as just punishment and suicides for horror in The Old Testament, it is found to be hypocritical. In this situation, the sin of suicide is overlooked, but rather the action that cause the suicide is the questionable sin. In these situations, they seek an honorable death for themselves to prevent unwanted feelings. According to Stempsey, we should be “more ready to give approbation to those who die for others than to those who die for themselves” (Stempsey, 1998). Stempseys statement is believed by many christians, but also doesn’t follow how these two types of suicide should be looked at according to The Fifth Commandment. Saul, who falls on his sword to kill himself to prevent gloat over him (1 Samuel 31:3) is considered “honorable,” however, Judas, who kills himself to prevent appraisal from the Jews for turning in Jesus, is now used as a synonym for treason.
An important death to look at when analyzing the deaths in the Bible is the death of Jesus himself. According to Stempsey, “there is a sense in which one might say that Jesus willed his death” (Stempsey, 1998). However, there is still is no evidence that he did not. Ultimately, Jesus was being loyal to God and dying for the good of others which as stated by Stempsey earlier that Christians should be ready to give approbation to those who do so. Before the crucifixion, Jesus prays to the Father, “And he went a little farther, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt” (Matthew 26:39). It is true that Jesus’ death was not in any form egoistic, however this prayer does not sound like the prayer of one who is readily going to die. Although it is uncertain whether Jesus willed his death or not, he is valued by many Christians for his act of generosity by the opinion “that one can and should sacrifice one’s life for a higher good for the sake of others” (Stempsey, 1998). Additionally, Jesus’ death cannot be considered a suicide in any aspect because Jesus did not initiate his death himself. However, the case of Jesus can be used to defend the cases of altruistic suicide. If one who requests assisted physician suicide for love of family, friends, or caregivers, then the situation is “precisely parallel to the case of Jesus” for Jesus himself died for all who He loves (Stempsey,1998).
Physician assisted suicide is a successful way for people to take control of their own death by deciding how and when they would like to terminate their life. This controversial topic is extremely difficult for some to accept, because the procedure includes the taking of a human life. Clearly, the religious community has continuously condemned suicide. However, past their opinions and views on what is right, the Christian community should be more open to listen and to possibly accept the arguments provided. Throughout The Old and New Testament there are clear hypocrisies when it comes to assisted suicide and religion.