Whether terminally ill patients should have the right to choose medically assisted death or not is one of the most debated issues of modern medical ethics. Also known as physician-assisted dying (PAD) or euthanasia, the practice involves a doctor providing medication or assistance that enables a patient to end their own life. Its advocates defend it as a merciful act that preserves patient autonomy, while its critics contend that it contravenes the role of the physician as a life-saver and can harm patient-physician trust.
Respect for Autonomy
Sufferers from incurable diseases such as terminal cancer or motor neuron disease can be forced to endure intense suffering and loss of dignity. Allowing them the right of assisted death shows the respect for their autonomy and control over their own body.
Relief from Suffering
Even with modern palliative care, some patients experience unbearable physical or psychological distress. Physician-assisted death can be seen as a humane option when all other treatments fail.
Legal Precedents
Several countries, including Canada, Belgium, and the Netherlands, have legalized medically assisted death under strict protections. The experience in those nations shows that when regulated, the practice is not widely abused and provides comfort to patients suffering at the end of life.
Risk of Abuse
The Hippocratic Oath has traditionally stressed that physicians need to “do no harm” and save life. Critics contend that deliberately ending life goes against the very essential purpose of medicine as a healing profession.
There were concerns that vulnerable populations the sick, disabled, or poor would be coerced into assisted death. This threat risks abuse by failing to have strict protections implemented.
Conclusion
The debate over medically assisted death reveals a tension between compassion and medical duty. On one hand, some argue in favor of patients’ rights to self-determination about their own pain. On the other hand, others are keen on maintaining life and protecting the vulnerable. Ultimately, whether physician-assisted death is permitted is subject to how societies balance ethical standards, legal safeguards, and cultural attitudes toward life and dignity.
Should the physician’s duty to preserve life always outweigh the patient’s right to autonomy?
MBH/PS