Dr. Toby Kirkwood is a board certified family practice physician in Pasadena Texas. He currently is a clinical educator for Baylor College of Medicine, UT Houston, And UTMB medical schools. Dr. Kirkwood along with his wife and four children are members at Parkview Church of Christ.

On September 17, 1998, Dr. Jack Kevorkian, after obtaining informed consent, provided a procedure for his patient that would change the landscape of treating terminally ill patients in America. Lou Gehrig's disease had taken over his patient's life and continued to decrease his quality of life. A lethal injection was placed, and the 52-year-old man soon passed from this life. In November of 1998 Dr. Kevorkian allowed CBS news 60 Minutes to air the videotape of the procedure deemed "mercy killings." Dr. Kevorkian was later found guilty of second-degree murder and sentenced to 10 to 25 years in prison. He was released on parole in 2007 for good behavior and due to his own personal terminal illness.

"Death with dignity," as it has been called, resurfaced in popular media when Brittany Maynard released her video on YouTube explaining why she was proceeding with assisted suicide. Her terminal brain cancer was decreasing her quality of life and, in November 2014, she passed away surrounded by her friends and family in Oregon.

Both of these events occurred as I began my medical profession. As a young medical student I learned anatomy, physiology, and pharmacology all in order to keep my patients well and alive. It had not occurred to me that the very patients I treated may ask for my assistance in ending their lives. I was aware that a few foreign countries allowed for euthanasia but did not know that the law in the United States would. To my surprise, in five states it is legal for physicians to aide in patient's death. As recently as September 11, 2015 California was added to the ranks. In all six of these states it is legal for a physician to write a prescription for a lethal dose of medication to assist terminally ill patients in ending their lives. From 1997 to present, Oregon alone has had 1,327 patients request for assisted suicide medications of which 859 deaths have been confirmed.

Within the medical community these ethical questions have become a debate. Ex-Surgeon General C. Everett Koop was quoted as saying, "Society must not allow doctors to be killers as well as healers," when discussing the topic on capital hill. Physicians are required to take the Hippocratic oath which says, "I will willingly refrain from doing any injury or wrong from falsehood, and from acts of an amorous nature, whatever may be the rank of those whom it may be my duty to cure, whether mistress or servant, bond or free." But what stand should a child of God take? What do the Scriptures offer that will give clarity on this subject?

In the Bible we read of two deaths that some may refer to as death by dignity or release from suffering examples. In Judges 9 Abimelech tries to capture the tower of Thebes. "But a certain woman threw an upper millstone on Abimelech's head, crushing his skull. Then he called quickly to the young man, his armor bearer, and said to him, 'Draw your sword and kill me, so that it will not be said of me, "A woman slew him."' So the young man pierced him through, and he died" (9:53-54). The second example is the suicide of Saul. 1 Samuel 31:4 tells of the last request Saul made. "Then Saul said to his armor bearer, 'Draw your sword and pierce me through with it, otherwise these uncircumcised will come and pierce me through and make sport of me.' But his armor bearer would not, for he was greatly afraid. So Saul took his sword and fell on it."

It is important to note that both of these examples found in the Old Testament are meant to tell historical accuracies and not meant to educate on sin and salvation. In 2 Samuel 1 King David chants with lament over Saul and his son Jonathan, but we are never informed of the eternal position of Saul's spirit.

The Scriptures throughout the Bible depict death as a fate we must all endure and the timing over which we do not have control. In Ecclesiastes 8:8, "No man has authority to restrain the wind with the wind, or authority over the day of death; and there is no discharge in the time of war, and evil will not deliver those who practice it." The book of Job reminds us of who is in control. Job said, "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I shall return there. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord" (1:21). Again, "Who among all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this, and whose hand is the life of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind?" (12:9, 10).

Supporters of assisted suicide give two view points to strengthen their stance: dignity in death and a release from suffering. The Holy Spirit has given counter arguments throughout the book of Job. After losing all of his children and all possessions Job was stricken with a deadly and extremely painful disease. The book depicts both the struggle of Job with his harassment from others and the pain of his ailments. Job was urged by friends and family to curse God and die. His illness deemed to be terminal, was anything but dignified. In Job 30 the author writes, "But now those younger than I mock me, whose fathers I disdained to put with the dogs of my flock" (v. 1), "They abhor me and stand aloof from me, and they do not refrain from spitting at my face" (v. 10), and "You have become cruel to me; with the might of your hand you persecute me" (v. 21). Job's illness, leprosy, left him with boils from the top of his head to the bottoms of his feet. Leprosy is noted to cause its patients extreme discomfort and disfiguring bodily features. The author writes of Job's pain in Job 30, "At night it pierces my bones within me, and my gnawing pains take no rest" (v. 17), "I have become a brother to jackals and a companion of ostriches. My skin turns black on me, and my bones burn with fever. Therefore my harp is turned to mourning, and my flute to the sound of those who weep" (vv. 29-31). Through all of his humiliation from friends and family and the extraordinary pain, Job never lost the faith that God would deliver him.

It is my belief that patients seeking a release from suffering have lost sight that God is in control and through Him we can endure all things. In Philippians 4:13 Paul writes, "I can do all things through him who strengthens me." We must cast our anxiety on Him as Peter states in 1 Peter 5:7. In Isaiah 41:10, the prophet tells us, "Do not fear, for I am with you; do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, surely I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." As Christians, we must remember that death is not our final resting place. Matthew 11:28-30, "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."

Assisted suicide cannot be completed by the patient alone; a physician is required to prescribe or administer medications to allow for death. Are there Scriptures that can give insight to the physician's role? We, as physicians and Christians, must remember that man was specially made in God's own image (Gen. 1:27). The body is a vessel for our soul, which is not our own as described in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, "Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body." In chapter 3:17 of the same book it reads, "If any man destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him, for the temple of God is holy, and that is what you are."

Murder is defined by Merriam-Webster Dictionary as "the crime of unlawfully killing a person especially with malice aforethought." His definition does not apply to death with dignity, however. The physician presumptively is not treating with malice but rather to release the patient from his pain and suffering. Second, it may not be considered unlawful as it was discussed earlier, it is lawful in six of the United States. With this said, the Bible tells us that we are not to shed Man's blood. Genesis 9:6, "Whoever shed's man's blood, by man his blood shall be shed, for in the image of God he made man." Exodus 20:13, "You shall not murder."

Physicians again are held to the standard of the oath we took upon graduation. The oath states, "Nor shall any man's entreaty prevail upon me to administer poison to anyone; neither will I council any man to do so." Whether the "man" be my patient or a family member, as a Christian we must not kill "the temple of God."

Continued improvements in the medical profession have led to the development of hospice, to what many believe fits the terminology "death with dignity." Hospice care was developed to comfort the terminally ill and their families. It allows for a comfortable environment, typically set at the patient's home or a care facility to live out their last hours to years. Pain and suffering does not occur in all terminally ill patients but hospice programs are tailored to ease the pain of death due to many illnesses. In Proverbs 31:6-7, we are given an example of easing one's pain in death. "Give strong drink to him that is perishing, and wine to him whose life is bitter. Let him drink and forget his poverty and remember his trouble no more." These hospice programs allow for dignity and death and a pain-free environment without encouraging death's immediate occurrence.

Our current culture feels that death should (as their terms state) be dignified; especially if death is expected due to a terminal illness. This belief then presupposes that death is dishonorable or degrading, which it is not. Death is a new beginning for us as Christians. Through Christ our Savior we have the promise of eternal life."For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus" (1 Thess. 4:14). And with that eternal life suffering can no longer endure. "And he will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away" (Rev. 21:4).