Family Restoration & Assisted Suicide

This blog post is from Allison Allgood, Regent Law 2L, and FA 2020 Wills, Trusts & Estates student: 

 

While physician assisted suicide is not legal in Virginia and most other states, there are some reasons why some want it legalized and some reasons why others want it to remain illegal. One of the biggest reasons that helps support the legalization of physician assisted suicide stems from a sense of the freedom of disposition, a basic tenet of wealth transfer which we discussed in Wills class all semester. This rule holds that the testator’s intent controls the disposition of his or her assets, with limited exceptions. Applying this rule over assets to bodily autonomy, should an individual be able to make his or her own decision regarding the end of life? Patient autonomy is a crucial theme in this argument. Furthermore, many argue that physician assisted suicide could be attractive because it relieves a patient’s suffering in cases of painful long-term illnesses. 

 

Those who hold to the sanctity of human life oppose physician assisted suicide arguing that it could be a slippery slope and lead to more cases of people who choose physician assisted suicide simply to avert a burden on their friends and families, rather than see their lives as valued by family. Another argument against physician assisted suicide is that many people with life-threatening diseases and the elderly tend to develop clinical depression, which work to impair their sound decision-making.  Instead of being referred to a psychiatrist or counselor, many patients in those situations may choose physician assisted suicide simply because they have no support to handle their illness. Perhaps if they knew about their clinical depression, and had family support, many would choose psychiatric help for that depression instead of resorting to death by physician assisted suicide. 

I think that the most compelling con to physician assisted suicide is that it cuts against the idea of family restoration. When one resorts to suicide, a link in a family is forever broken, especially when that link could have been restored through counseling or other psychiatric treatment. As one author puts it, physician assisted suicide “does not address the needs of dying patients and their families.” 

 

The permanence of physician assisted suicide and the toll it will take on one’s family members can be very powerful reasons to resist physician assisted suicide and its legalization. Another disadvantage to legalizing physician assisted suicide that has been suggested is that it disproportionately affects women, especially those who have experienced trauma. (See Lynne Marie Kohm and Britney N. Brigner, Women and Assisted Suicide: Exposing the Gender Vulnerability to Acquiescent Death, 4 Cardozo Women's Law Journal 241 (1998).

 

These are very serious considerations for you and your family.  Working toward family restoration allows for an informed and helpful conversation about what’s best to restore your family and the lives of your family members.