A Second Opinion: Assisted Suicide–Murder Most Foul!

Secobarbital, one of the most commonly prescribed drugs for physician-assisted suicide in the United States

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How to Die in Oregon is an American documentary film produced and directed by Peter Richardson in 2011. Set in Oregon, USA, it covers the state’s Death with Dignity Act that allows terminally ill patients to self-administer barbiturates prescribed by their physician to end their own life. Opponents to the Act refer to it as assisted suicide. Proponents refer to it as medical aid in dying.

Doctors and Nurses should not be in the business of killing people. According to the Hippocratic Oath that they once took, they should try to “do no harm”. So why should Doctors and Nurses who were trained to heal be subject to the suicidal thoughts of some of their patients? “Putting someone out of their misery” is nothing more than “Murder Most Foul!”

A Second Opinion: Assisted Suicide–Murder Most Foul!

By Mary Foran

In my humble opinion, Doctors and Nurses should not be in the business of killing people. According to the Hippocratic Oath that they once took, they should try to “do no harm”. Saving Lives is what we ideally most admire them for.

Some people are hypochondriacs and go to doctors and nurses for every ache and pain. Some people avoid doctors and nurses “like the plague”. (Medical Science wasn’t advanced enough to stop that!)

Some people believe in Natural Medicine rather than doctor-prescribed drugs. Some drug companies take advantage of both Doctors and Patients with drugs that do more harm than good.

Doctors have an awesome and heavy responsibility in the lives of the average person. From Birth to Death, their Names and Titles are on the forms. Even after death, they are the ones who perform autopsies to find out why a person died. Their names and reputations are once again on the line.

So why should Doctors and Nurses who were trained to heal be subject to the suicidal thoughts of some of their patients? “Putting someone out of their misery” is nothing more than “Murder Most Foul!”

I was proud of my own father for his fight for life; he beat Hospice estimates for his lifespan by 2 years. That takes gumption, and, dear man, orneriness. He beat the odds that statisticians take as real.

A person should be able to live as long as he or she can, even under extreme circumstances. Some people in government, Medicine and Society in general want to make problem people just “go away”. It’s a generalized attitude of societal efficiency that is just not realistic and certainly not compassionate. We all need to help each other survive in every way we can.

That’s why there is a Medical profession: to help people live healthy and fulfilling lives. To twist and skew ethical considerations because of the societal problems of population and aging is to forget the intrinsic value of life itself.

As the saying goes: “Live Long and Prosper!” (That’s a direct quote from Spock of the Star Trek series fame, if you’ve ever heard of it.)

Sarcasm is often not appropriate. But my point is that murder is against the law, yet exceptions are made. Consistently and often horribly. And Doctors and nurses are involved in every stage. In the States, it is practically a socially acceptable industry.

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Images
Featured image/UG gov, PD via Wikipedia
How to Die in Oregon film and DVD cover, Fair use
Doctor/Online Marketing on Unsplash
Healing hands/Louis Hansel on Unsplash