Editorial: Euthanasia Should Be Banned

Kailee Long, Reporter

“2006 my father decided he wanted to die…though my dad wouldn’t have been eligible for euthanasia, was then I realized many doctors don’t like the idea of assisted dying,” Ann Littlewood, Portland, Oregon.

Euthanasia should be banned in the United States.

Euthanasia occurs willingly or unwillingly due to the drug administered and the dosage is given.  The patient administers, and every instance of euthanasia and assisted suicide must be reported. Euthanasia happens when the drug pentobarbital is given in huge amounts to slowly stop the communication of the brain and the other organs in the body. Assisted suicide, euthanasia, is legal in the United States, but only in a couple of states to the west, and Washington D.C. Also the  Netherlands, Belgium, Colombia, and Luxembourg.

It is not an offence for physicians to perform euthanasia, provided they comply with the due care criteria specified in the Termination of Life on Request and Assisted Suicide (Review Procedures) Act and report each case after it has been carried out.

“In 2018, 103 Oregon physicians wrote 249 prescriptions to dying people in Oregon who qualified for the Act; 168 people died using the medications obtained under the law.”– death with dignity act

“Pentobarbital in liquid form cost about $500 until about 2012 when the price rose to between $15,000 and $25,000.” according to the death with dignity act.

249 prescriptions for pentobarbital is very expensive. Pentobarbital is given to people with extreme insomnia at a 100 milligram (mg) prescription.

As insurance companies do not cover assisted death the price is quite expensive. In pill form phenobarbital (feeno- bar-be-tall) costs 42 dollars, and in liquid form mixed with orange juice, costs 25,000 dollars.

Pentobarbital is the same drug most doctors administering the death penalty use. The high dosage of 10 grams will kill a person in under three minutes.

The difference between what’s wrong with the death penalty and assisted suicide is  one of them is asked for. The drug is very costly, and If we didn’t use pentobarbital for things such as death, we wouldn’t spend millions of dollars on things meant for such usage.

“Minors may themselves request euthanasia from the age of 12, although the consent of the parents or guardian is mandatory until they reach the age of 16. Sixteen and seventeen-year-olds do not need parental consent in principle, but their parents must be involved in the decision-making process.” The Netherlands government

Allowing minors to make serious decisions when in the united states the age of consent is 18 years of age is not reasonable. So the age of consent is 18 for a person to make a big decision, but the age you can commit suicide legally is 16.

The Euthanasia process is long and flawed and does not stop a person from eventually getting assisted death. The drug pheno and pentobarbital are up to 25,000 dollars and do not run on insurance, while all the life-saving measures are wasted.

Due to the many flaws of death with dignity act euthanasia should be abolished in America. While euthanasia is currently illegal in Pennsylvania, contact U.S. Senator Bob Casey, Jr. to keep it that way.