If you were terminally ill and suffering from excruciating pain, would you even consider euthanasia to be an option? Euthanasia has been such a controversial issue that the government does not allow terminally ill patients to perform euthanasia on themselves and it is frowned upon by healthcare professionals because of work ethics. In the United States there are four states that have legalized the action of euthanasia and they are; Oregon, Washington, Montana and Vermont (New Health Guide). Euthanasia is often referred to "physician assisted suicide" or "death with dignity." Euthanasia is more thoroughly defined as "the act or practice of killing someone who is very sick or injured in order to prevent any more suffering" (Euthanasia). Senior policy analyst. Marilyn Golden, with the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund believes that, "The legalization of assisted suicide always appears acceptable when the focus is solely on an individual" and "legalizing assisted suicide is a deadly mix with the broken, profit-driven health care system we have in the United States" (Golden). This starts the debate on whether or not euthanasia is to be considered "assisted suicide" or "death with dignity." When did letting someone make the choice to end their life or medical care to stop their pain and suffering become such an issue? There are a few logical fallacies I found that made holes in her argument, taking away from the point she was trying to make. I disagree with Golden's argument that assisted suicide appears to only be acceptable when the focus in on the individual. All these patients want to do is end the pain and suffering for them personally and for their families.
The first fallacy that I found while analyzing Golden's article was when she said that health insurance companies were telling their policyholders that their treatment to prolong care would not be covered, but instead of paying for that treatment, they would pay for their assisted suicide.