The Unethical Side of Euthanasia - Part II

Now for the counterargument. Here is Part II, and, by the way, I turned this in to my professor yesterday as a rough draft paper, and she said don't bother changing anything; it is an A+ paper as it stands...

There is another side to this debate, though, and millions of Americans - and Oregonians alike – are expressing their beliefs. Physicians take an oath, a promise, to be totally and completely committed to the healing and care of their patients. Those against physician-assisted suicide could argue that assisting in suicide is a monumental lack of fidelity to their profession and to their patients. The trust factor that once was endeared to them by patients could be severed should a physician choose to perform euthanasia. Oregon law requires terminally ill patients to have psychiatric evaluations prior to approval of physician-assisted suicide, which raises serious concerns since psychiatrists traditionally consider suicide as a drastic symptom stemming from a psychiatric disorder (i.e., schizophrenia, depression). Therefore, one could argue that psychiatrists must go against all they have been trained in order to approve physician-assisted suicide on a patient, and by doing so, they could be doing more harm than good. Physicians are held to a higher standard in patient care as well as an obligation to do no harm, and an argument could be made that assisting in suicide is in reality doing neither. To many, non-maleficent physicians performing physician-assisted suicide are guilty of the ultimate harm to their patients.

Regardless of how you might think on this issue, it takes courage to be involved in such a sensitive, emotional debate. There are several physicians – even in Oregon – committed to saving lives by not assisting in the termination of them, so to do so would take an exorbitant amount of courage.

The ethical theory regarding the opposition of physician-assisted suicide is Deontology. It is black and white; it is non-consequential; it is a “means to an end”. For those who subscribe to this theory, an argument could be that since killing is wrong, and suicide is killing (of oneself), ultimately, suicide is wrong. For this, there are no exceptions, regardless of the consequences.

As you can see, there are multiple ways of viewing and examining this highly delicate topic, and, although legal, there will be countless people – all the way to the U.S. Commander-in-Chief – fighting physician-assisted suicide all the way to the Supreme Court, and right or wrong, there will be an equal amount fighting back.