Do People Have the Right to Die? Essay -- Euthanasia, Argumentative Ess

A disabled man shares his personal experience with euthanasia: As a quadriplegic who has been paralyzed from the chest down for over 24 years, I want to address the dangerous potential ramifications of legalizing physician assisted suicide (PAS) from a viewpoint of personal experience. The past danger I am referring to concerns the time when I was first paralyzed. My paralysis is the result of a broken neck and spinal cord injury from a car accident in 1975. Add to this cheery scenario the fact that I was soon greeted by a doctor who told me I was not supposed to have lived as long as I had, would most likely die shortly, or, in the best case would spend the remainder of my life confined to a wheelchair and you know I was not in the best of moods. After I surprised the doctors and lived to get into rehab, they told me, at that time, the average lifespan of a male quadriplegic was 36 years. By then, I would probably die from a pressure sore, kidney failure, or other related complication. That meant my best hope was 15 more years paralyzed. I'm 45 now and can look back on that laughingly. It wasn't so funny then. I spent 6 weeks getting medically stable followed by 4 and a half months in rehabilitation. During that period, there were MANY times when I didn't know if I wanted to go on. What have I done since the accident? I have lived semi-independently for nearly 23 years. In 1985, I graduated the University of Southern Maine with a B.A. in Communication. In 1989, I graduated Regent University in Virginia Beach with an M.A. in Creative Writing/Journalism. While there, I also worked with a large non-profit organization, received an outstanding service award for working 5 years in an inner city project, wrote and sold 2 radio... ...a's Family Doctor. Random House:1991. http://www.euthanasia.com/koop.html. (27 Sept 2003). Lewis, Trixie. "Dying with Dignity." Positive Living. 2003: p.1-2. Online. Internet. http://www.alpha.org/apla/positiveliving/1199/letters.html. (28 Sept 2003). Lykes, Fred. "A Defense of Physican Assisted Suicide(PAS)." p. 1-10. http://www.bluesky7.com/. (27 Sept 2003). Saunders, Peter. "Twelve Reasons Why Euthanasia Should Not Be Legalized." Christian Medical Fellowship. 1997: p. 1-6. http://www.cmf.org.uk/ethics/twelve.htm. (28 Sept 2003). Singer, Peter. "Freedom and the Right to Die." Online Opinion. 2002: p.1-3. Online. Internet. http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/2002/May02/Singer.htm. (28 Sept 2003). Smith, Wesley. "We Ignore the Dutch Legalization of Euthanasia at Our Own Peril." 17 Dec 2000: p. 1-3. http://www.euthanasua.com/nethcases.html. (27 Sept 2003). Do People Have the Right to Die? Essay -- Euthanasia, Argumentative Ess A disabled man shares his personal experience with euthanasia: As a quadriplegic who has been paralyzed from the chest down for over 24 years, I want to address the dangerous potential ramifications of legalizing physician assisted suicide (PAS) from a viewpoint of personal experience. The past danger I am referring to concerns the time when I was first paralyzed. My paralysis is the result of a broken neck and spinal cord injury from a car accident in 1975. Add to this cheery scenario the fact that I was soon greeted by a doctor who told me I was not supposed to have lived as long as I had, would most likely die shortly, or, in the best case would spend the remainder of my life confined to a wheelchair and you know I was not in the best of moods. After I surprised the doctors and lived to get into rehab, they told me, at that time, the average lifespan of a male quadriplegic was 36 years. By then, I would probably die from a pressure sore, kidney failure, or other related complication. That meant my best hope was 15 more years paralyzed. I'm 45 now and can look back on that laughingly. It wasn't so funny then. I spent 6 weeks getting medically stable followed by 4 and a half months in rehabilitation. During that period, there were MANY times when I didn't know if I wanted to go on. What have I done since the accident? I have lived semi-independently for nearly 23 years. In 1985, I graduated the University of Southern Maine with a B.A. in Communication. In 1989, I graduated Regent University in Virginia Beach with an M.A. in Creative Writing/Journalism. While there, I also worked with a large non-profit organization, received an outstanding service award for working 5 years in an inner city project, wrote and sold 2 radio... ...a's Family Doctor. Random House:1991. http://www.euthanasia.com/koop.html. (27 Sept 2003). Lewis, Trixie. "Dying with Dignity." Positive Living. 2003: p.1-2. Online. Internet. http://www.alpha.org/apla/positiveliving/1199/letters.html. (28 Sept 2003). Lykes, Fred. "A Defense of Physican Assisted Suicide(PAS)." p. 1-10. http://www.bluesky7.com/. (27 Sept 2003). Saunders, Peter. "Twelve Reasons Why Euthanasia Should Not Be Legalized." Christian Medical Fellowship. 1997: p. 1-6. http://www.cmf.org.uk/ethics/twelve.htm. (28 Sept 2003). Singer, Peter. "Freedom and the Right to Die." Online Opinion. 2002: p.1-3. Online. Internet. http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/2002/May02/Singer.htm. (28 Sept 2003). Smith, Wesley. "We Ignore the Dutch Legalization of Euthanasia at Our Own Peril." 17 Dec 2000: p. 1-3. http://www.euthanasua.com/nethcases.html. (27 Sept 2003).