Dovid Thomas
5/8/2007
Topic #2
1:00
Assume that a patient is terminally ill, and has given consent for the physician to use one of three physician assisted suicide methods: that a physician may inject him with a death-hastening dosage of morphine, that a physician may unplug him from a life-sustaining respirator, or a physician gives him a prescription for a drug that he (the patient) plans to use to commit suicide. In no way is it conceivable to hold two of these methods morally permissible, while holding the third morally impermissible. The only thing that one could say to make the three of these methods differ is that in the third, the doctor has only prescribed the medicine. There is still the chance that the patient will decide not to take the medicine, or in the middle of the dosage quit, and still be able to be helped. But in the first two methods, once the patient gives the word, there is no going back, because by the time he decides that he would like to live, the doctor has already killed the patient. In considering this, one must realize that the three methods are all still methods that all stem from the same idea: a sick patient whom probably cannot think straight, is probably unable to do anything physically, and most likely does not fully understand how far away they might be from recovery or how much better or worse the pain might get. Even more importantly, there is always the chance the doctor makes a mistake.
