Should euthanasia be legalised?

Question

I'm reading an article in The Guardian about a woman with terminal cancer, who chose to end her life last February.

There are quite a few places where it's legal (the woman mentioned in the article lives in the Netherlands) so why is it not legal everywhere?

Answer 1

yeah why not, and genocide too... too many people on earth.

im kind of exaggerating, but yeah i agree  

Answer 2

Yeah its no one has the right to tell someone to continue living when they dont want to.

Answer 3

It used to be quite common (but not legal) in the UK - the Doctor would administer a shot of diamorphine (heroin) and the person would die peacefully, without pain or distress. Patients would be given access to powerful concoctions such as the Brompton Cocktail - brandy, morphine & cocaine, and would slip away gently. We need to go back to this.  

Answer 4

Its very difficult for a government to Ok euthanasia because it takes away the opportunity for provence to step in.

There must always be the opportunity for a miracle, natural or supernatural.

AND what if the terminal person is occasionally not of sound mind. Should the family decide to do end their life. What if the person can't communicate? who makes the decision.

If we give the decision power to the government then who's to say the government will not step in and say when it's MY time to die??

Scary stuff really

Answer 5

Yes it should. I know someone who is 65 and recently been diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. She is in alot of pain and now given only a few weeks to live.

She has mentioned it alot that she would prefer to die than hang on in pain to the bitter end. She has perfect brain function so is fully capable of making this decision herself.

Answer 6

ABSOLUTELY!!!!! I totally am in favour of it, with terminal cancer they know there is no cure so why wait & let/watch the victim be eaten alive because that's what it does & the patient/victim is just dosed up to the eyeballs with morphine for then their organs to shut down on their own.....never mind the patient or their loved ones, watching them die like that???!!!!  They may say 'well we're not god & cant end a life'  but its ok to make that decision to say that they have to be kept alive yeah? Its your life & its up to you what you do with your life, your decision when you come to an illness like that, no one Else's.............I know if it does ever crop up in me & i get to a point that i know there's no going back (cant be helped) then i certainly will request it, & no-one can then say that i'm not in the right frame of mind! balls!

Answer 7

So what if they found a cure 5 minutes after they put you down? People aren't animals.

Answer 8

Definitely, if we started putting down old people it would also stop them being a drain on the economy, and solve the pension crisis, and while we're being pragmatic, why not burn them for fuel too.

Answer 9

Having seen someone I love suffer and not being able to do anything about it when he was diagnosed with a rapidly degenerative and cruel disease the issue of euthanasia was raised. It was something he certainly considered but his illness progressed too far and he would have had to drag someone else into it by asking for help, which he didn't want. I was never an advocate of euthanasia before.

However, it would be incredibly difficult to control and there will always be those who feel it goes too far or not enough. Suffering is subjective and what one person finds unbearable another may find perfectly bearable. It would be difficult to draw the line and be absolutely certain that the right balance was reached. For that reason I personally don't think we are ready for it in the UK yet.  

Answer 10

It is a controversial issue.  I believe in euthanasia but doubt it will ever really be legalised.  I think it happens anyway, with terminally ill people.  When both my parents were on their death beds (2000 and 2003) Consultants had difficult conversations with my brothers and I, about resuscitation and withholding treatment.

Answer 11

no cause its open to be miss treated!

im depressed let me go kill myself!

Answer 12

A lot of the time it's about religious beliefs. I think that you should be able to go when your life is not a life anymore, and you can't do the things that you want to do. Why should someone who has no quality of life besides lying in a bed suffering until the moment of death have to go through that?

I don't understand. But that is the way it is.

Answer 13

Euthanasia should be made legal..but it should only be made available to those people that meet the criteria set out by the ruling body. i know that if i was in that type of situation i would like to go to sleep peacefully without pro-longing my suffering and the suffering of friends and family

Answer 14

So should youth in Africa.