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The Voice

BUVoice.com

The Voice

BUVoice.com

The Voice

Last Word: Physicians? Or legal killers?

     Last week the College Republicans brought the topic of assisted suicide to the table, but not just any kind of assisted suicide, a kind of assistance that has been legalized in five states since the year of 2017. Physician-assisted suicide is now an option, but in my opinion a name like legal killers might fit the shoe a little better than physician-assisters.

    I agree with most of the statements that the Republicans have made, since this kind of action leads way too much room for any kind of coercion or illegal activity. Not only that, this option can take advantage of people in their most vulnerable situations psychologically and physically. The states are essentially creating a group of legal killers that can be influenced by insurance companies among other things.

     Of course, we can picture most of the people supporting the passing of this kind of law. He is probably some guy that has a wide array of health care benefits, a whole lot of dough in his pocket and not a care in the world. In America specifically, wouldn’t this put more pressure on those who have extremely limited health care options to begin with? Physician assisted suicide would have a large impact on communities who are impoverished, which would only be supporting income inequality as well as the atrocious health care system in the United States.

     In a 2015 Time article, there was reference to a study done from Oregon’s public health department, less than 25 percent of people labeled pain as a reason to choose assisted suicide.  40 percent of people responded stating that being a burden on others was their main reason for potentially opting for this “solution,” which is extremely problematic.

     The people that would be contemplating these decisions in the first place would be under severe stress from illness, family members, friends, and other things.  The influence of psychological pressures is definitely apparent, so why not try and aid these people with counseling?

     Of course, everything is much easier on health-related institutions if we use a pill that just kills off the people that are taking away from their profits. Insurance companies pay less and pharmaceutical companies still get their greedy profit fix by keeping drugs like this on the market and distributing them to people in their most vulnerable state.

     Although this is something that the Democrats and Republicans agree on this week, I would not connect this to the “right to life” statement along with abortion. In a perfect world without structural inequalities along with no room for coercion, I would state that this could be an option. But that is just not the case. Because of this environment, physician assisted suicide is, and should be defined as a crime.

Chloe is an anthropology major. She is the communications coordinator for the BU Democrats and the German club secretary. She is the Op/Ed editor for The Voice

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