Would you want to sit and watch one of you loved ones suffer and die a slow painful death? When if they wanted they could end their suffering and pain. I wouldn't want to see one of my loved ones die a slow painful death if they could have all of their pain and suffering gone Why should it be illegal for someone who is suffering immense pain and is going to die, to request for their suffering to end.
Sue Rodriguez, a mother in her early thirties, died slowly of Lou Gehrig's disease. She lived for several years with the knowledge that her muscles would, one by one, waste away until the day came when, fully conscious she would choke to death. She begged the Courts to reassure her that a doctor would be allowed to assist her in choosing the moment of death. They refused. She lived on in terror, helped eventually by a doctor who, in February 1994, covertly broke the law to help her die in peace. A law on assisted suicide with rigorous safeguards could have saved her the nightmare during those months before her death, given her the confidence to carry on- with the reassurance that when it got too bad she could rely on the compassionate doctor to follow her wishes at the end. As you have already guessed I am writing to you about PAS (physician-assisted suicide). .
Physician-assisted suicide is illegal in the United State except in Oregon. It is an act in which a physician, at the request of a patient who is terminally ill, prescribes a lethal dosage of medications to be self-administered, with the intention of hastening of patient's death.
Opinion polls reveal strong support for the legalisation of Physician Assisted Suicide among the medical profession, and among the population at large. A majority of medical practitioners (54%) are in favor of changing the law to allow PAS in some circumstances, with only 36% of respondants opposing such a change. 55% felt that this should be permissible if the person had a terminal condition or was in a state of extreme mental or physical suffering.
