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Humans should have autonomy over their decisions about their life. The value of life is very high, although that is in certain situations. Life is a beautiful entity for the most part that is until something comes along to make it a little bit of a bumpy ride. A life threatening illness is of course an obstacle that makes life very difficult. Someone with a life threatening illness needs constant care to stay alive. It is a very somber matter but it also becomes a hassle not only to the patient but to their family and friends as well. Eric Rice, a civil rights expert from Harvard Law School, has found that 44% of people feel that that the financial burden is one of the more major issues associated with these patients.. What is the quality of life if one is only alive to struggle and suffer day in and day out? According to the Massachusetts Medical Society, 72% of people with a terminal illness hate their loss of autonomy and 60% feel that there is a complete loss of dignity. They are kept in a hospital room away from all the various activities they wish to be a part of and there is no getting away from that. On the basis of multiple religions, one who dies becomes happy and relieved of stress or struggle in a better place, expert Law Sylvia states. In the past decades there have been multiple movements of people wanting to be heard in support of having the right to die according to Eric Rice. Obviously there are many people urging a solution to these issues that patients and believe that they are taking the right actions.
In most peoples eyes, dying is a horrible contrivance and taking their own life is even worse. Life is extremely valuable not only to the one person but to the people around them including family, friends, classmates, teammates, coworkers, etc. One must consider the emotional and mental toll it could take on the patient’s loved ones. These patients still hold meaning in other’s eyes. We have all seen or experienced loss before and can all attest to the fact that it is not easy to cope with. The idea of someone taking their own life is seen as unethical especially in most religions. In a religious perspective one may not necessarily go to a better place after taking their own life; it is seen as almost a disrespectful action towards the beautiful blessing of life that one is given. Religion is not only what frowns upon this idea,but it is ethically disapproved of as well. There is no law that allows this and is not considered constitutional according to Co-Director of the Civil Liberties Program at New York University Law School Sylvia Law. Also, according to the American Medical Association, there are plenty of technologies out there now to help people with these illnesses and there are also much more to come. Scientists all over the country are and have been researching night and day for cures or better treatment for symptoms such as the American Medical Association. The government refuses this right for a reason, they would like to preserve the sanctity and value of life and keep the well being of human life (Rice). According to Law Sylvia, if this right is provided people may then view life differently and may not treat life with the true importance it holds. Each and every life is unique and adds to the sweet diversity of the world and loving of others. Every life matters and should be preserved to fullest of abilities that are available.
The same question can be asked again: What is the quality of life if one is only alive to struggle and suffer every day? It is much like striking a deer with a vehicle and just leaving it on the side of the road. There is only a short amount of time until the end and this time should not be spent suffering.. It is almost as if these patients are being tortured by being forced to stay alive and continuing to endure the constant pain. Religion says no to theses types of deaths, yet not everyone claims a religion. Although this type of death may be seen as unethical or against religion and could be prevented by technology does not necessiarily mean all of that is worth it. The American Medical Society claims that there are and will be a number of technologies to help keep patients alive, yet this does not mean these patients have freedom and are able to activities they love. Living with these terminal illnesses have extreme hardships. We have to consider the physical pain, the mental struggle, the emotional toll, and the financial stress. These terminally ill patients should have the right to make the decision to bring all of this to a painless and harmless and be able to rest in peace.
We must consider the pain and struggle that these patients endure everyday. To end their suffering and hardships, there’s a number of actions that you can perform. First, to spread the awareness, you can use the pill emoji along with the hashtag “#EndTheSuffering” on your smartphone and post it to any type of social media. This is to represent the struggles that these patients go through everyday and can hopefully cause people to take action to finally end the pain. Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat or any other type of social media are acceptable for the posting of the emoji and hashtag. To take action yourself, you can contact a Senator Casey at 202-224-6324 or Senator Toomey at 202-225-4254. Together we can stop the suffering.
