A patient in the hospital is dying of stomach cancer; he cannot keep an appetite, vomits blood every day, and only wishes for his suffering to end. Does he have his right to choose his death? Does the government have the right to deny him thus? The purpose of the United States government is to protect the natural-born rights of human beings. Many times over, people have had their rights denied protection from the government. Specifically, terminally ill patients suffer because they are denied the right to die. Since 1906 adult terminally ill patients legally fought for their right to die on their own terms, and so far the United States has seen only three states legalize assisted suicide to such patients. If one of the "natural rights " is life, then who is to say when a person can give up life? In the United States it should be legal for terminal patients to acquire assisted suicide through a physician because it is the patients' natural right to die when they see fit. .
Government is created in societies to enforce rules and protect the public from being repressed of their rights. How exactly is a "right " defined? It can be summarized into a theory containing certain privileges and consequences created by tradition, law, and nature. These factors defining rights are easily flawed; tradition cannot be relied on because times change and it is impossible to stay a certain way forever. Law is inspired by the preservation of values and way of life of the community as a whole. However, the values of many communities are different and change frequently. Nature is much more permanent. Jack Kevorkian, a physician well known for his position on assisted suicide, notes, "Natural rights can never be created or abolished by fiat of any kind"" (Kevorkian). Natural rights are based off of our instincts; it is impossible for any human being to simply ignore instinct. For instance, the urge and motivation living things feel to procreate.
