“Right to die” Reflection paper on euthanasia “One of the most important public policy debates today concerns the issues of euthanasia and assisted suicide. The outcome of this debate will profoundly affect family relationships, the interaction between doctors and patients, and basic concepts of ethical behavior. With so much at stake, something more than a duel of jokes, slogans and loud phrases is needed." Q.) What is euthanasia? A.) Throughout North America, committing suicide or attempting suicide It is no longer a criminal offense. However, helping another person to commit suicide is a criminal act. One exception is the state of Oregon which allows terminally ill people suffering from intractable pain to obtain a lethal prescription from their doctor. This is called "physician-assisted suicide" or PAS. The word euthanasia originates from the Greek language: eu means "good" and thanatos means "death". other at the explicit request of the person dying." 2 That is, the term euthanasia normally implies that the act must be initiated by the person who wishes to commit suicide. However, some people define euthanasia as including both voluntary and involuntary cessation of life. Like many other moral/ethical/religious terms, “euthanasia” has many meanings. The result is mass confusion. Q.) Why is this a problem? A.) People have many different reasons for wanting to end their lives by suicide: ► Some are severely depressed for a long time. For them, suicide can be a “permanent solution to a temporary problem.” There is consensus that the best solution for most clinically depressed people is treatment, using counseling and/or medication. Such treatment can give the person decades of pleasant life that would have been lost if they had committed suicide. ► They live suffering from excessive and chronic pain. Some, due to poverty or lack of health coverage, cannot afford pain medications. Others are denied adequate pain relievers due to a doctor's lack of knowledge, inadequate training, or specific beliefs. Most doctors believe that even in these cases suicide is not a preferable solution; a better approach is proper pain management through medications. There seems to be a lack of collective will for this to happen. Many, perhaps most, people die in excessive, even treatable, pain. ► They have a terminal illness and do not want to diminish their assets by incurring large medical expenses as their death approaches. As an act of generosity, they would prefer to die first and pass on their assets to their beneficiaries.