Courtney Odenthal

When one of my group members suggested physician-assisted suicide as the topic of

our groups student-led discussion presentation, Ill admit I was hesitant. Euthanasia, as it is

sometimes referred to, is not only an extremely touchy subject amongst the public but one that

I had little prior knowledge about. Though many of the topics covered in class could potentially

be emotionally charged, they still offered an array of scientific research as a basis for forming

ones opinion on the subject. Euthanasia, however, is not only a touchy subject, but is one

lacking much research. For ethical reasons, the study of pain, how the body reacts to terminal

illness, and death are relatively under researched.

However, we decided to continue on with physician-assisted suicide as our topic. After

discussing it with our professor, she suggested that we also talk about the death penalty.

Speaking about both topics would bring up another important discussionchoice. Physician-

assisted suicide programs are structured around the patient always being the ones that

ultimately have the choice to end their lives; they are able to back-out even after purchasing

the medications. The death penalty is also a controversial subject due to the lack of choice

inmates have after sentencingan outside person chooses their fate.

We began doing research on our topics. Despite euthanasia being a common

controversial health topic, only three statesVermont, Washington, and Oregonhave

legalized physician assisted suicide. A single county in Montana has also legalized euthanasia in

response to a trial ruling. A vast number of European nations, however, have had euthanasia

legalized for decades. In the United States, the death penalty is still legal in 32 states. Research

surrounding euthanasia had almost entirely been done on the opinions of medical professionals

of the topic. Studies show that a majority of medical professions, including nurses, doctors, and

surgeons, supported physician-assisted suicide being utilized by terminally ill patients.

Professionals that were against euthanasia were typically mental-health professionals that

admittedly had less experience working with terminally ill patients.

Next, we constructed a short oral questionnaire that each group member would use to

survey a single person of their choosings opinion on euthanasia and the death penalty. I chose

to ask my grandmother who had, after 50 years of smoking, been diagnosed with stage three

lung cancer. After chemotherapy, radiation, and having two lobes of her right lung removed,

she is still in remission four years later. At first, however, she was convinced she would have

rather just died then go through treatments. Three months earlier my brother, her favorite

grandson, had passed away suddenly. Her reasoning for initially not wanting to go through the

treatment was solely based on his deathshe wanted to go be with him in heaven. I thought

she would be a good candidate for questions about physician-assisted suicide. Ultimately, her

answers ended up being what I thought they would: Yes, she supported euthanasia; no, she did

not know much about it; yes, if faced with a terminal illnesssuch as her cancer entering stage

fourshe would have considered physician-assisted suicide if it had been legal in Virginia.

Courtney Odenthal

It was also interesting to see how my other two group members friends responded.

One used a former high school classmate that had gone into the Marines after graduation. He

was very much against physician-assisted suicide due to suicides of friends as a result of

extreme post-traumatic stress disorder. Another group member asked a non-science major

student who be unsure about the topic.

This presentation helped me learn that not all problems have a right or wrong answer.

This seemed to also cause an inner struggle within my classmates as well. Being trained to

think like a scientist, we all have the tendency to want to look for evidence to support our

opinion or to aide in forming one. However, not all topics provide that opportunity. Despite

this potential drawback, we are still able to use or scientific mindset to evaluate the pros and

cons of situations, as well as how different factors can influence an issue.