The Right To Die
Morgan Oliver

GENERAL PURPOSE: To educate my audience on the issues of assisted suicide.

SPECIFIC PURPOSE: To persuade my audience to that legalization of assisted suicide should be a priority.

THESIS STATEMENT: I believe that assisted suicide should be legalized and you should consider donating to the Brittany Maynard fund.

I. ATTENTION
A. The BrittanyFund.org said, People do not realize that assisted suicide is only used in the direst of circumstances, when an individual is certain to die (Brittany Fund, 2014). Legalization of assisted suicide prevents these individuals from suffering in their final days; instead they can choose how to end their life in a dignified manner that people will remember them in a good light. Such personal decisions should not rest as a public opinion. A quote from the Guardian, “We are stripping the rights of true victims and pasting them on the insecurities and stubbornness of people not feeling the pain of a terminal illness or disability.” (The Guardian, 2014). Assisted suicide is yet another stepping stone for our civilized country and is not that far off from programs such as universal healthcare and reformed immigration law.
B. I’m Morgan Oliver, my major is health services administration and I understand why people choose assisted suicide. I’ve had three family members succumb to terminal illness and watched them suffer. I know they didn’t want to go through the pain they did. I had an aunt that I took care of and watching her get worse day by day is an awful thing to go through. I remember her as the happy person she was, but I also will forever have her sunken and pained face burnt into my brain forever.
C. I feel that assisted suicide should be legalized and you should consider donating to the Brittany Maynard fund, which is in honor of a woman who chose to end her life at a time when she could still say goodbye to her family and friends and they would remember her as she always was, not as a victim of a disease.
D. More often than not, doing so is the result of selfishness, God, ignorance, or all three.
Transition: Let’s begin with how assisted suicide was introduced
II. NEED
A. Today, the House of Lords is debating the Assisted Dying Bill, introduced by Labor peer Lord Falconer.
a. It is estimated by Lord Joffe that if the Bill passes, 1,000 people will choose to undergo the procedure.
i. The figures were based on Oregon’s statistics involving their Death With Dignity Act, which was passed in 1994. Oregon was the first US state allowing terminally-ill people to end their lives through self-administration of lethal medications. According to KGW, looking at Oregon’s statistics since 1998, the number of people choosing to use the Act when they are terminally ill has steadily risen over the years.(KGW, 2014)
b. It is also interesting to note that there are far more prescriptions given out than deaths – just over a third of people who initially get prescriptions change their minds or choose to extend their life. An article from KGW said, since then, other states have followed suit Washington passed a Death With Dignity Act in 2008 and Montana in theory allows it, but the figures in Washington look quite different (KGW, 2014). For instance, there isn’t as large of a gap in numbers between those who were given prescriptions and those who died.
i. The reason that this formal procedure of prescriptions is so important is because it does give people an opportunity to have an educated discussion with medical professionals, rather than just taking matters into their own hands; that is, traditional suicide. More importantly, individuals have the opportunity to change their mind and extend their life—an option that traditional suicide does not leave.
c. Now according to KGW there are 5 states that now allow assisted suicide. (KGW, 2014). This shows that more and more are becoming educated on the benefits of such a procedure and the population’s views are