Columnist off mark with assisted suicide comments

I just wanted to comment on Gabrielle Moore’s column on assisted suicide, Assisted suicide not real answer (SN 6/1).

While I understand her concerns that some doctors may abuse their power if given the ability to take a life, I feel that some of her comments were very insensitive.

For example, when she says, “These solutions are not going to come quickly, and they will take time, but doctors and patients need the motivation to fight medical problems without an easy button,” she writes as if she knows what it is like to suffer from a disease like stage four pancreatic cancer. She writes as if she knows what it is like to go through chemotherapy, or to live knowing that your body is “actively dying.” Choosing to end your life while your family is watching, knowing that you will cause them heartache, is not at all like pushing an easy button.

I would say the same for a doctor who went through years of medical school because he or she believed they could save people’s lives. Taking away a life when you’re supposed to be saving them is not at all like pushing an easy button.

Another thing that she said was, “I fear that if assisted suicide were legalized nationwide, medical innovation would grow stagnant.” Where is the study that proves there is a correlation between the two? Be careful not to state your opinion as fact. I understand that Moore is entitled to her opinion, but she could have expressed it in a more responsible way.

Dany Masado

interdisciplinary studies in social science junior