EUTHANASIA

For almost a century, there has been a controversy over voluntary euthanasia which enables people to decide to die without pain whenever they want. Especially, most European countries have hesitated to legalize euthanasia yet; in fact, they are still deliberating whether euthanasia should be illegal or not. On the other hand, in some states of the United States, people who have terminal diseases are given the right to get euthanized. However, numerically 70 % of the world is against this implementation. I think euthanasia should be legal because even if people cannot choose to be born, they should be able to choose to keep living or to terminate their lives especially when they are in unbearable pain.

First of all, all individuals are born with the right to receive medical treatment to protect themselves and to stop feeling pain. Nonetheless, if the disease is untreatable or treatment gives too much pain, people must have the right to stop the pain. At this point, euthanasia relieves extreme pain and also suffering. For instance, a patient who was diagnosed with cancer and given six months to live may choose to die freely because for him, it may be a better option than having chemotherapy and suffering from cancer for two years before death. Moreover, in this way, people have a chance to say goodbye to everyone they know.

         Secondly, since the treatments of fatal diseases are extremely expensive, euthanasia is the best choice to remove the economic burden from relatives. There are many families who do not have enough money to afford such treatments and when their relatives are diagnosed with serious diseases, they become desperate. Moreover, all the patients can do is wait in their deathbed while they are suffering and wonder when their pain will be terminated. However, euthanasia is less expensive than treatment. Furthermore, it is quicker than a slow painful death from terminal diseases.

         On the other hand, there are many opponents who think euthanasia should not be legal. Their main argument is that voluntary euthanasia can be easily abused by doctors but they are missing one important point. Every implementation can be abused. Now, although in many countries euthanasia is illegal, doctors may give wrong information about how much time the patient has in order to apply unnecessary treatment to earn much more money. We cannot consider the possibility of abuse in this matter. The only thing to take into consideration is the patient who does not want to endure extreme pain. What is more, when they ban voluntary euthanasia, patients may try to commit suicide. In my opinion, opponents are completely wrong because they do not consider the risk of suicide. Isn’t euthanasia a better choice than committing suicide in pain and alone?

         In conclusion, euthanasia is a controversial issue. In my view, only if the treatment options are useless or they give too much pain, should euthanasia become legal. At the end of the day, it is impossible to give an example of a person who deserves to die in pain or to live with suffering.