The problem of assisted suicide may not be as big in reality as it seems in the courts...
As a rule terminally ill patients are given morphine in the ICUs of America to "keep them comfortable" and also to relieve the nursing staff of constantly watching patients who are in considerable discomfort.
Most terminally ill patients are "entubated" in some way...often there are multiple entubations...ventilators, catheters, IVs, gastro-feeding tubes, etc. Sedated patients will often try to yank out their entubations if they are in discomfort...so it is common to give them morphine to "keep them quiet."
Morphine of course is very powerful as a pain killer and it also induces a sense of well-being...so much so that it will destroy the "personality" of the patient recieving it. Generally, people in morphine comas are feeling nothing...
And eventually morphine can be fatal... Many terminally ill people "exit the world" with the help of morphine...so in a sense we already have a "working protocol" for "assisted suicide" in the ICU facilities today!
I sense that what terminally ill patients really want in "assisted suicide" is a feeling of "control." While still conscious and not sedated, it can be very frightening for patients to think that they are completely out of control of whats happening to them. Some could "choose" to end their suffering before the use of morphine becomes necessary... But in many cases...those last days of lucid conscieousness are to precious to let go of...
And once the morphine starts...it's pretty much over anyway...there is no "person" left to suffer.
So, in truth, we already have "assisted suicide" in the Hospitals today... It's called Morphine.
