Physician assisted euthanasia should be legal in the United States

Euthanasia should be illegal because doctors will be seen as murderers and people will be less

likely to go to the doctors due to the stigma they carry.

When people know that a certain hospital practices Euthanasia, they will try to avoid

certain hospitals, doctor, or even getting health advice. This would cause patients to ultimately

become less healthy and less aware of their health problems.

In ​Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide:​... The authors talk about fear of doctors amongst

patients. “The possibility of EAS suggested by a physician could be perceived as a threat by

patients.” (Muller, M.T., et al 6) Patients fearing doctors causes more issues and EAS would only

increase that fear and lead to negligence to their own health.

Doctors would not have this stigma if patients and society get informed on the limitations

and requirements for euthanasia. There are many steps involved in deciding if a patient is eligible

and mentally capable of asking for the procedure. Doctors do not just go around euthanizing

people at will. All cases are documented and carefully decided on.

In the Netherlands, “the actual incidence of EAS is lower than the number of requests

received.” (Muller, M.T., et al 6) This means that although doctors get asked to euthanise

patients a lot of the time, but do not go through with it due to the rules and requirements set in

place for euthanasia.

Euthanasia should be legal because many patients who have pain or illnesses with low

survival rates may not be able to afford the hospital bills that come with the treatments.
 In an article discussing the price to stay at a hospital, prices have a steep rise after the

first day of care. For 1 day at the hospital, the average price can range from “($1085.58 to

$5456.15),”(Specogna, Adrian V., et al. 6) depending on what you go in for.

Assuming that the average person makes less than $80,000 a year, the max price for 1

day in the hospital would total 6% of their yearly earnings. For many of the people who make

less than the average assumed salary, this percentage gets higher.

With prices for 1-30 days in the hospital ranging from “($4821.50 to $22,905.50),”

(Specogna, Adrian V., et al. 6) most people would not be able to afford these bills. Without this

care, they would end up getting more sick and their condition would become worse. This is

where euthanasia would become an alternative.

Physician assisted euthanasia should be legal in the United States

 Works Cited

Lesser, Harry. "Should It Be Legal to Assist Suicide?." ​Journal of Evaluation in Clinical

Practice​, vol. 16, no. 2, Apr. 2010, pp. 330-334. EBSCO​host,​

doi:10.1111/j.1365-2753.2010.01394.x.

Muller, M.T., et al. "Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide: Facts, Figures and Fancies with Special

Regard to Old Age." Drugs & Aging​, vol. 13, no. 3, Sept. 1998, pp. 185-191. EBSCO​host​,

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=9526444&site=ehost-live.

Specogna, Adrian V., et al. "Hospital Treatment Costs and Length of Stay Associated with

Hypertension and Multimorbidity After Hemorrhagic Stroke." ​BMC Neurology,​ vol. 17, 10 Aug.

2017, pp. 1-8. EBSCO​host​, doi:10.1186/s12883-017-0930-2.