Euthanasia Essay - Legalizing Physician Assisted Suicide

Legalizing Physician-Assisted Suicide in Australia First, it is essential to define euthanasia in order to resolve any misconceptions. Euthanasia is the painless killing of a patient suffering from an incurable and painful disease or in an irreversible coma (Oxford dictionaries, 2014). It can be either passive or active however this essay will focus specifically on active euthanasia. Euthanasia is currently illegal in Australia, although it was briefly legal in the northern territory. This essay aims to explore the reasons why Public policy in Australia should legalize physician-assisted suicide. Although I have taken the stance of legalizing euthanasia in Australia I acknowledge that the issue is very complex and I can only begin to†¦show more content†¦An argument that arises is that the patients mental state may not allow them to make a well thought through, informed decision. In some countries where euthanasia has been legalized the patient has to have expressed their desire for euthanasia on multiple occasions before th eir case is considered. It is also important to provide services such as counselling for these patients in order to make a psychiatric evaluation to assure that a psychiatric condition is not distorting their thought process. Counselling would also provide emotional support for patients for both those who choose to follow through with the doctor-assisted suicide and for those who choose abandon the idea. Statistics show that only 14% of patients that got the â€Å"green light† from the Dignitas foundation in Switzerland actually followed through with an accompanied suicide (Dignitas, 2014). This also points out the significance of giving patients an opportunity to pull out at any stage in the process. Foundations such as Dignitas are reluctant to give the â€Å"green light† to patients with depression (Dignitas,2014). This causes a lot of strife as patient who are suffering from painful terminal diseases often tend to develop depression as a consequence. It is fundamental that the patient discusses what their wishes would be in such circumstances or how they would like to die with their doctors and family members before they start to deteriorate. Planning ahead is