Dear Madame/Mr. President:

First off, I would like to congratulate you on your first presidency. Being President of the United States is a big responsibility. I am here to talk about something that I believe is important. Physician assisted suicide (PAS) has been a controversial issue for many years. I strongly believe that PAS should not be offered to anyone, even the terminally ill who only have weeks to live. Even then, it needs to be talked about and see if that is a legitimate option. If someone only has six months to live, they should consider fulfilling memories with their family and loved ones rather than having a doctor plot their death. Although my feelings are very mixed about this topic, I feel very strongly that no healthcare or insurance should support this decision and cover the cost.

I would first like to question, if self-inflicted suicide is frowned upon why is physician assisted suicide okay? According to one source, it’s much like “playing God” (B). Many people may go against PAS due to this religious reason. Also, some methods include prescription from a licensed doctor approved by the state in which the client must live in for longer than a year (F). Now, some might say that this can be flat out murder. How can someone give too much of a prescription just to kill someone. I know I just put it into harsh terms, but that is how it seems like the doctors are doing. I just feels morally wrong to me. I want to know how the families feel about someone doing this. I do understand that this can be used for the terminally ill who truly don’t see anything ahead of them, but like I said, they should spend their last days loving on people and trying to make their last days the very best. I would also like the point out the Hippocratic Oath that states “doctors should not through the course of their work, cause ant harm to their patient or any patient” (E). I think this problem should be fixed as soon as we can so that people don’t use this to their advantage.

On the flip side, this can be beneficial to the terminally ill. My feelings are mixed about the terminally ill. I feel very deeply about the terminally ill who truly don’t have any hope to get better and would like to experience a “controlled, peaceful, and pain free death” (A). Everyone does, right? Why aren’t the ill living their last days expressing love for one another and cherishing old memories with each other? Use the last days to your advantage, and have them feel loved. Now, I have never been in a situation like such so I do have to credit those who are against my beliefs and thoughts. There could be better outcomes to this than just dying. It can be relieving pain and hurt.

My proposed solution is to be more strict with this topic and not take it lightly. Perhaps states can start to give other options before this one comes to effect. I truly believe this is a strong and not an easy topic to discuss and share opinions. Terminally ill should definitely have more consideration and look at the beautiful side of life for their last days, months, weeks, years, whatever it may be.

Sincerely,

Michaela Z.