Very Brief History, and Moral Beliefs

Possibly the earliest known reference to assisted suicide was The Hippocratic Oath, estimated to be written in the fourth century B.C.: "I will not give a lethal drug to anyone if I am asked, nor will I advise such a plan." It also includes abortions. Most modern doctors, however, no longer take the Oath. 

Over the centuries, with our Western laws and society deriving from Christianity and the Ten Commandments, it was generally considered that assisted suicide was murder, and so against the law. Over the past few decades, with more global contact, changes of beliefs, and the increase in atheists, what were once strong lines are now being blurred and challenged.

Here in New Zealand there was a case in January where an American woman assisted in the death of a woman from the North Shore. Back in America, she refused to return to go to court, due to heath issues. In the way she defended herself, her reason was for mercy.


Garth George, a Herald columnist, keeps his perspective simple by looking up the words "euthanasia" and "murder" in the dictionary and coming to the conclusion that without "the emotive and emotional claptrap", euthanasia, effectively assisted suicide, is murder. He is clearly strongly against it and shows much concern for our society's respect for life. With all the modern advantages in medicine, birth control and abortion, and now consideration for death control as well, it's understandable to be worried about assisted suicide becoming legal and socially accepted. While it may start only with the terminally ill, it may continue with the severely handicapped and disabled. Perhaps one of the more subconscious reasons of people for assisted suicide, that no one speaks of, is prevention of overpopulation. An article from Santa Clara University, in discussing ethics, acknowledges compassion in easing the pain of the ill and severely suffering through assisted suicide. Giving both sides of the argument, it also mentions the risk in people changing their minds at the last minute, severely handicapped infants, and senile people who don't have a say. It would be easy to devalue these lives with the power to so easily take them away.

Legalising assisted suicide and euthanasia would put even more pressure on doctors and medical professionals who feel uncomfortable or don't believe in killing patients who want to die. And in the case when it's up to the family, they may not be so loving, or just want inheritance.


One of the main issues that have been found in places of legalised assisted suicide and euthanasia, is the pressure on the patients themselves to opt for death. With the American health system as it is, environments where necessary health care are restricted, patients an be made to feel like suicide is their preferred option. The cost of medicine and busy hospitals with full waiting lists and lack of staff can make people feel like burdens. Unloving families can make them feel even more undervalued, and they're made to feel their life is no longer worth much. I think that instead of thinking of assisted suicide, we should concentrate more on the support and comfort of our sick and needy, handicapped, disabled and terminally ill. Instead, we should give even more thought and support to the hospices, and other such charities, and be sure never to have a health system like America's.