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Saralynne Liston
ENG_161_15
04/23/20
Essay #4

Euthanasia and Physician Assisted Suicide

Euthanasia is a word from the Greek that means “good death.” Active euthanasia: the act

of a physician injecting lethal medications into a patient’s vein to assist in death, is illegal in the

United States. Physician assisted suicide (PAS): which entails a physician to make lethal means

available to a person to ingest at their own time of choosing to result in death, is legal in only a

handful of states. Euthanizing a pet is legal in all states and is commonly performed, daily, in

most vet clinics. As a technician in the veterinary field, it is not uncommon to see multiple

euthanasia’s in 1 week; sometimes, multiple in 1 day. As a veterinary technician, alongside of a

licensed veterinarian, it is our obligation to be a voice to those who cannot speak on their own.

When a pet is clearly suffering and there is no cure, the conversation of euthanasia, while a

difficult topic, is necessary and often appreciated. We have the privilege of letting our pets pass

away with dignity, in peace, and pain free. Why do we take that right away from humans?

Imagine this: Three years ago, your father was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral

Sclerosis (ALS.) As he continues to progress, his muscles become weaker and weaker until he is

eventually paralyzed. He is unable to take care of himself in any way and relies completely on

someone else to do every single thing for him. He is unable to eat or drink on his own, and life

sustaining nutrients must be administered through a feeding tube. He wakes up every day with a

headache, and most of the day he is dizzy and nauseous. His muscles have atrophied away to the

point that it is painful when he moves because he has no muscle to hold his organs in place

inside of him and he can feel them as they scrape along his spine. His lung muscles have been
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severely damaged and compromised so he is often unable to breathe which leaves him gasping

for air in fear that each gasp could be his last breath. You watch him waste away. He wakes up

every day in agony until the day his body shuts down on its own. He isn’t living. He is simply

existing.

One more time: Your cat, Skittles, has been your best companion for the last 17 years. He

was diagnosed with kidney failure 1 year ago and recently has started progressively declining.

You give him subcutaneous fluids every day for 3 months and force medications into his mouth,

that he fights you to take, twice a day; but he continues to lose weight, he won’t eat or drink, he

is so weak that all he can do is lay in one spot, and now has started to have seizures from all of

the toxins built up in his body that he cannot get rid of because his kidneys are shutting down.

Heart-broken, you call the vet to let them know that you think it is time to say your forever

goodbyes to your best friend. The receptionist schedules you an appointment to bring Skittles in

for euthanasia because you just can’t bear to watch and allow him to suffer any longer. Your

heart breaks a little more as you watch him agonizingly exist with each passing day. This isn’t

the best friend you once knew, and you can see in his dull, weak eyes, that he is finds no

happiness in his days any longer and he is ready to let go.

What’s the difference between these two scenarios? One is a human and one is a pet. One

will be given the opportunity of a peaceful passing while the other will have to suffer in agony

until their body decompensates to the point where it literally cannot survive any longer. What

would be the most compassionate thing to do in both situations? Euthanasia or physician assisted

suicide. Euthanizing a pet is a well know, common way many people choose to end their pets

suffering. It poses the same relief for both humans and animals yet is morally wrong and illegal

to administer to a human suffering in the same, or worse, ways. I can assure you, after 12 years
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in the veterinary field, most people view their pets as family, and I see in their own eyes, as I

comfort them during the euthanasia process, not just the pain from their loss, but also relief as

they envision the peacefulness that their best friend is finally experiencing.

Euthanasia and assisted suicide are illegal for ethical and religious reasons. Many

religions say that euthanasia violates God’s command of “Thou shall not kill,” and also, if God

gives life, only God should decide when to end it. Moreover, there is a fear that if euthanasia

were made legal, laws would be abused, and people would be killed who didn’t really want to

die. Furthermore, some believe that there is a fine line between euthanasia and murder, and that

doctors would be violating their Hippocratic Oath of keeping their patients alive. But of course,

we can’t forget about the concern for insurance companies. Some fear that it would create

incentives for insurance companies to terminate lives in order to save money. I disagree with

these arguments.

If your argument is regarding religion; that God gives life and only God should decide

when to take it away, isn’t the same God who created people, the same God who created

animals? In Genesis 1:25 it reads, “God made all sorts of animals, livestock and small animals,

each able to produce offspring of the same kind. And God saw that it was good.” This confirms

that God did indeed create the animals of the Earth. In this sense, why is it deemed ok to assist in

ending a pet’s suffering and not a person for the same reasons. The same holds true for the

argument of euthanasia being murder. We don’t consider euthanizing our pets murder, or the

veterinarian a murderer. Additionally, I believe there would need to be extensive guidelines and

rules for who gets approved for euthanasia or assisted suicide so that only those who are truly

terminally ill, and choose for themselves, are assisted in a peaceful passing. The approval for
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euthanasia or assisted suicide should be determined exclusively by the patient’s physician and

the patient themselves.

Those in favor of euthanasia believe that people have the right to die, and if it doesn’t

harm anyone else there should be no reason against it. People argue a woman’s “right to choose”

in regards to aborting her own baby, which has NO say in its own life, yet some disagree with

the “right to choose” for someone who is severely suffering every single day and able to make

their own decisions about their own life. In 2017, 49% of American’s were “pro-choice.” This

means that almost half of the American population approved of a mother’s choice to kill her

baby, and abortion is legal in all 50 states. In 2017 nearly 70% of people supported euthanasia or

physicians assisted suicide, yet it is still illegal in almost their entirety of the United States. What

is the difference here? Many terminally ill patients themselves are in favor of euthanasia or PSA,

for illness related experiences, a loss of sense of self, and fears about the future such as their

quality of life and dying a torturous death.

Dr. Jack Kevorkian was a doctor who assisted people suffering from acute medical

conditions with euthanasia and assisted suicide. He was once asked “Wasn’t it hard for a doctor

that administers life, to help people die?” To which he replied “It’s not to help them die. See

everyone’s got this backwards. It’s to relieve them of their intolerable and unending suffering.

The patient’s wish- see that’s not my wish.” This is exactly what we do in the animal field. We

relieve animals from intolerable and unending suffering, and this is ethically and legally ok. We

get the privilege to help the pet, and the owner as well, make the transition to a life less suffering.

What some people fail to also consider is the emotional pain that is felt by the families of those

who suffer in agony every day as they have to watch their loved one endure suffering and

deteriorate. While it is hard to wake up knowing your best friend, your parent, sibling or other
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member, are not there anymore. There is a sense of peace in knowing that you do not have to

watch them waste away in pain and misery any longer.

Legalizing euthanasia, or at the least, assisted suicide, would be a relief to those who

suffer unbearable end of life circumstances. They have feelings; emotional and physical, that

they must endure each and every day. When someone with a terminal illness reaches a poor

quality of life, the thoughts and feelings these people go through is unimaginable to us who

haven’t gone through it ourselves. The most compassionate, kind thing we can do, is be able to

offer them the dignity and respect of a peaceful death. If we can accept euthanasia as an

acceptable act for our pets, shouldn’t our 2-legged family members deserve the same relief?
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Works Cited

ProCon.org, "Euthanasia." ProCon.org. 26 July 2019, euthanasia.procon.org/.

Pastine, Grace. “Death with Dignity.” YouTube, Tedtalk. June 19, 2015,
www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9Q3ohzB25I&t=878s

www.statista.com/statistics/225975/share-of-americans-who-are-pro-life-or-pro-choice/.

www.huffpost.com/entry/americans-support-euthanasia_n_5510949.

www.euthanasia.procon.org/questions/did-dr-jack-kevorkian-ethically-serve-the-best-interests-
of-his- patients/.

The Holy Bible- New Living Translation, Genesis 1:24, p7.

Prado, C.G “Assisted Suicide: Canadian Perspectives, p24.

eds.b.ebscohost.com/eds/detail/detail?vid=19&sid=83ac78ef-62f6-4c37-b666-
09638e7d50c8%40pdc-vsessmgr02&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmU
%3d#AN=1515860&db=bth.

Smientana, Bob. Terminal Illness Acceptability. December 6, 2016. Lifewayresearch.com