Physician-assisted suicide has been a huge debate in the media. Physician-assisted suicide (PAS) is when thea physician provides lethal medication to a terminally ill patient (Quill & Sussman 1). The first treatment of physician-assisted suicide came from a man named Jack Kevorkian. Over the years, more discussion about this option for patients has been put under a microscope. Knowing the patchy history of this topic, along with all the opinions, there should be guidelines that come with physician-assisted suicide being a legal option for terminally ill patients.
There have been laws preventing physician-assisted suicide from being a legal option for patients. With the growth of society, laws are beingbeginning to change. InPAS is legal in California, Colorado, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington are all legal (Death with Dignity 2-3). This doesn't mean however, that there still isn’taren't mixed feelings about it and it also doesn’t meanor that every place is changing theirits opinion on it. In some states, the idea of this option becoming legalized goes 50/50 on the matter (Quill & Sussman 2). Although the votes are split, at the end of the day deciding whetherdecision on legalizing physician-assisted suicide should be legal shouldn’tshouldn’t be aunder debate. The act of deciding to even use this option should be up to the patient and no one else. Upcoming medical students are learning pain management and end-of-life care. Some physicians, however, feel physician-assisted suicide may replace palliative care (Emanuel 2-3). Again, making physician-assisted suicide legal wouldn’t replace the carescare given by physicians already give. It would be chosen by the individual patient, and not every patient would choose physician-assisted suicide over palliative care and vice-versa. Yet Americans still remain divided on this matter (Quill & Sussman 1). Compared to other cultures, America tends to view death in a negative way, why wouldn'tso this option beis viewed as a negative thing.