Why should Euthanasia should be legalaized.

English

October 22, 2015

Euthanasia should be Legalized

“I´m not afraid of being dead, I´m just afraid of what you might have to go trough to get there.”-Pamela Bone. The issue of euthanasia has been widely debated since 1870, and many argue that the right to die has become important in contemporary ethics. Even though life is sacred and shouldn’t be taken away, euthanasia should be legalized for it take pain caused by lethal illnesses away, prevents people from suicide by giving them a legal assessment preventing the suicide by their own hands, and is a personal choice that everyone should respect .

“Death” is a term we don’t like to mention, because just the thought of it causes agony. A patient that suffers a lethal illness goes through many treatments and stages that causes inconsolable pain during a long time. Imagine yourself prostrated on bed, with many tubes attached into your body, looking at your family with tears; feeling useless, painful and just a problem. If the use of you had an option, would you choose to end this? Many people decide to end this suffferment by the use of euthanasia.

A study was made in UK, they interviewed 41 persons that had terminal illness. The sample included people from various social backgrounds, including young and old people with malignant and non-malignant diseases. Eighteen of the 41 patients didn’t consider the fact they are dying, they volunteered for studies and wanted to keep fighting. The rest considered the option of assisted death. A young woman interviewed in the study, with chronic obstructive lung disease, said that without a change in law she may commit suicide alone. Other patients affirmed that if UK doesn’t support euthanasia, they will search other country that does, or they will commit suicide by their own hands.

The use of euthanasia should be right, for is a personal choice that everyone should respect, taking the fact if they agree or not. A study of the impact of euthanasia on the family of the sick person proved that the families that went through the euthanasia process with a sibling suffered less agony compared to the ones that went through natural death of their loved ones. The study had 189 bereaved family members and close friends participants of terminally ill cancer patients who died by euthanasia and 316 bereaved family members and friends of cancer patients who died by natural death. The results of the investigation showed that the family and friends of cancer patients who died by euthanasia had less traumatic grief symptoms (95% confidence interval) and less post-traumatic stress reactions than the family of patients who died naturally.

I understand that life is sacred and special, therefore it should be protected and preserved. Many people argue that only God gives and takes life away, therefore we shouldn’t interfere with God´s plans by shortening humans’ life. They argue that we should fight for life, not make the path easier and take our life away. I totally understand that, but not everyone believes that. Not everyone on earth is religious, not everyone likes suffering and fighting. People against euthanasia should respect others people’s choice. The same as people who are in favor of euthanasia, they should respect the choice of the ones against. It is a personal choice, the law shouldn’t interfere.

There is a risk that the use of euthanasia may be abused, and I know it. Many people would start using euthanasia without a lethal illness. Instead of suicide, they will use euthanasia; therefore the law should stablish certain terms for the use of it. Euthanasia is an assessed procedure, a doctor must give approval. Only people with lethal and suffering diseases should be given the chanceto choose how they eant to die, naturally with pain or by assisted suicide.

Concluding, euthanasia should be legalized, for it stops the suffering in many patients that go through painful treatments, it reduces the number of suicides by sickness reasons, and is a personal choice and opinion. As said before, is a personal choice that must respected. “Dying is not a crime.” –Jack Kevorkian

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