In his article “Death with dignity sensitive yet relevant decision,” John Thompson made a few assertions about the recent controversial topic. His two main points were physician-assisted suicide should be available to terminally ill patients nationwide, and it should not be considered suicide since the patient is already in the process of dying.

What Thompson fails to realize is legalizing physician-assisted suicide is synonymous to legalizing murder. The action of taking a life, in its most basic form, is murder. Even with the purest of intentions, the result does not change. People kill for greed, hatred, jealousy and even love, but to take the life of a human, whether that of a child, an elderly person, a handicapped person or yourself is, under any circumstances, murder.

When is it acceptable to kill a human being? Many people believe murder is justifiable in a case like Brittany Maynard’s in which a prolonged life would mean vast amounts of suffering. They toss out the phrase “death with dignity” as if ending people’s life on their own terms has more dignity than letting the illness take its course. However, a corpse does not have dignity in and of itself. The body only retains a shadow of the dignity it once had as something human, and we respect it as such. The dignity of being human lies not in dying when one chooses, but in living a full life. Death with dignity does not exist. Death is the cruel snuffing out of a life; our bodies sag and break, they become fragile and weak, and our minds become cloudy and distant. When a young and healthy person dies suddenly it is considered tragic, and rightfully so. However, the life of someone who is obviously nearer to death is not any less valuable. Every human life is worth living and should be respected accordingly.

Laura McCarty is a junior majoring in biology.