Bioethics Physician-Assisted Suicide Is Illegal

Bioethics

Physician-assisted suicide is illegal in most states, because the act is akin to murder. A person in a compromised condition such as a terminal illness cannot be capable of making completely sound judgments. Doctors like the infamous Kevorkian have spent time in prison because they have aided their patients in furthering their own demise. Moreover, many victims of euthanasia such as Terry Schiavo never had the chance. "There are cases called euthanasia where a person can't make such a request," as the BBC (nd) points out. Their deaths are wrongful in the eyes of the law as well as in the eyes of God.

Assisted suicide is also against the professional ethical code of physicians. The Hippocratic Oath binds physicians against practicing euthanasia (Kohl 2002). The Bible clearly warns against both murder and suicide. Although assisted suicide is not directly mentioned in scripture, there are numerous references to the sinfulness of murder and suicide. The Old Testament law provides the Ten Commandments: "Thou shalt not kill." The New Testament adds more complexity to the argument, indicating that dying before the God-appointed hour is also a sin. "Be not over much wicked, neither be thou foolish: why shouldest thou die before thy time?" (Ecclesiastes 7:17).

Arguments in favor of mercy killing usually indicate that pain and suffering are unnecessary. Yet pain and suffering are a part of life; God's will is often shrouded in mystery and it is not up to a doctor or anyone else to judge what a person needs for his or her spiritual development. "To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven," (Ecclesiastes 3:1-2). Granted, it is only natural that a person who suffers from a debilitating disease would seek relief by whatever means possible. Family members do not want their loved ones to suffer. For this reason, physician-assisted suicide is also referred to as mercy killing or euthanasia. "The right to a good death" is sometimes framed as a "basic human freedom," (Robinson 2010). God would understand the motivation to annihilate pain, but that does not change the fact that suicide of any type -- assisted or not -- is a sin.