Reaffirm the commitment to preserve life
By condemning the practice of physician-assisted suicide, and reiterating why it must remain illegal, we affirm the unconditional value of human life. Society as a whole must reaffirm the commitment to preserve life whenever possible. Except when patients explicitly decline further treatment, physicians must make every effort to sustain life. Any compromise in the commitment of medical professionals to protect and extend life would undermine the public's faith in the medical profession.
What Should be Done?
Enact a federal law banning all forms of physician-assisted suicide, and strike down initiatives such as Oregon's Death with Dignity Act that seek to legalize it. Strengthen criminal laws to deter physician-assisted suicide. Prosecute and penalize physicians who practice it. Enact civil laws to deter physician-assisted suicide, including measures to make it easier to bring malpractice suits against physicians who do so. Insist that physicians make every effort to sustain life except when patients and their families explicitly decline further treatment. Respond to requests for physician-assisted suicide with mental health treatment and counseling.
Arguments For This Approach
By prohibiting physician-assisted suicide, society affirms the unconditional value of human life. Suicide is a tragic individual act. Legalizing suicide would make this tragedy the social norm, and encourage others to kill themselves. The physician's only role is to save lives and relieve symptoms. Permitting doctors to assist suicides would compromise their role and undermine trust in the medical profession. By prohibiting physician-assisted suicide, we minimize the likelihood that patients will feel pressured to end their lives as a way of relieving emotional or financial strains on their family.
Arguments Against This Approach
Government shouldn't force people to live when they want to die. In a free society, individuals should be able to control how and when they die. The purpose of medicine is to alleviate suffering. Sometimes ending a life is the only way to do that. If patients are denied the right to die, medical professionals are likely to continue costly and aggressive end-of-life treatment. Physician-assisted suicide is widely practiced in secret. It's in the public interest to make it legal, and minimize error and abuse by regulating it.
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