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Legalizing Euthanasia

The issue of legalizing euthanasia has continued to draw different reactions. Pappas, (2012) defines euthanasia as the painless killing of terminally-ill individuals. In other words, the lives of terminally-ill patients are terminated so as to relieve them of their pains and sufferings.In euthanasia, the physician intentionally ends the life of terminally-ill patients after obtaining their consent. Moreover, according to J. Pereira (2011), a physician is the only person mandated to perform euthanasia. In U.S., just like most countries, euthanasia continues to be illegal in most of its States. However, states such as Oregon, Vermont and Washington have all legalized physician-assisted suicide. The controversy surrounding legalization of euthanasia has and is still ongoing among religious, legal, humanitarian and other aspects of the society. In my opinion, euthanasia is a series infringement of human’s right to life and therefore should not be legalized whatsoever.

The proponents of legalization of euthanasia, who are opposing my opinion, have raised very important points. One of the main reason given by proponents of euthanasia is that terminally-ill patient should be allowed to end their suffering through a quick, compassionate and dignified death. What is interesting in this argument is that the proponents of euthanasia have come up with different categories of death, where one can either have dignified death or undignified. However, according to my religious doctrines, there is nothing like dignified or undignified death as it results to lose of life. Believing in such argument would be misleading as it may make it necessary to give someone dignified death instead of ending their suffering. I would accept this argument only in the case of terminally-ill patients, who are in constant pain and their suffering cannot be relieved in any other way.

Another argument given by the proponents of euthanasia is that there is no evidence of slippery slope in the legalization of euthanasia, but rather possibilities which cannot be taken as evidence. What is interesting in this argument is that the proponents of euthanasia are accepting that slippery slope might exist in the legalization of euthanasia (Gawande, 2014). As such, it the whole idea of legalizing euthanasia will leave too much room for slippery slope such that terminally-ill but unwilling are killed under the guise of voluntary choice to live or die.. For me to accept that there is no slippery slope in the legalization of euthanasia, there should be no evidence and possibilities of its occurrence. The moment possibilities exist, the risk of it occurring increases.

Another argument presented by the proponents of the legalization of euthanasia is that proper legal procedures would help to curb the misinterpretation and misuse of euthanasia. What is interesting in this is that the proponents of legalization of euthanasia accept that euthanasia is prone to misuse (Cholbi & Valerius, 2015). What proponents of euthanasia legalization can’t tell is how other vices such as racial discrimination have thrived in the midst of the various legislations put in place to curb them. By accepting this argument, one will notice that euthanasia does not apply equally to all the social groups as some social groups will be prone to misuse. For me to accept this argument, the laws against discrimination should be made more stringent.

In summary, as the issue of legalization of euthanasia continues to draw a varied reaction, the points raised by both sides should be taken into account before reaching a conclusion. The opponents of euthanasia mostly draw their arguments from the sanctity of life. The proponents, on the other hand, rely their arguments on maintenance of human dignity. Although they are opposing, both sides have raised important points concerning euthanasia, hence, enhancing our understanding of euthanasia.

References

Cholbi, M., & Valerius, J. (2015). New Directions in the Ethics of Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia (Vol. 64). Springer.

Gawande, A. (2014). Being mortal: Ageing, illness, medicine, and what matters in the end.

Pappas, D. M. (2012). The Euthanasia/Assisted-Suicide Debate. ABC-CLIO.

Pereira, J. (2011). Legalizing euthanasia or assisted suicide: the illusion of safeguards and controls. Current Oncology, 18(2), 38-45.