Why Is Euthanasia Illegal?
March 20, 2008 – 4:06 pmA severely disfigured French woman was found dead today, two days after a court ruled she could not legally opt to have a doctor euthanize her. The authorities are looking into the case to determine if there was any foul play.
Every time something like this comes up, I wonder, why in the hell is euthanasia illegal? The state basically takes control of a person’s body, not allowing that person to do something to his or her body that he or she would otherwise choose to do. That’s beyond ridiculous. It’s my body. Why can the state tell me what I can or can’t do to it?
Other situations where the state prevents someone from doing something with their body involve a third party potentially suffering. But who suffers in this case? Yes, this person’s family undoubtedly suffers with the loss of a loved one, but if that loved one chose to die, why is the state involved? And what if the decision was a family decision? What if the person decides they’re ready to die, and the family members agree if this is what the person wants then it should happen? The state still deems it illegal.
Granted, there’s not much the state can do to someone in the form of punishment after they’re dead. But criminalizing euthanasia makes it much more difficult to perform the practice in a safe and orderly fashion. Safe? How can someone die safely? Well, I can imagine some back-alley assisted suicide that doesn’t go according to plan and leaves the patient still alive but in even more pain and suffering than they otherwise would have been. And then you have issues of punishing loved ones who aid and abet the person who has chosen to end their life.
All of this becomes even clearer in this particular case. This woman was in horrible pain for years. As she put it, she wanted to die on her terms, rather than having her very rare form of cancer dictate to her when she was going to pass. Why is the state involved here? Why can’t this woman go to a reputable hospital and have a qualified doctor arrange to perform a safe and respectful euthanization?
I just don’t get it. The government is already too much involved in our day to day lives. And here’s one more situation where the state takes control of a person’s body and tells them what they are and are not allowed to do with it. It’s just ridiculous.
3 Responses to “Why Is Euthanasia Illegal?”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oregon_Death_with_Dignity_Act
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euthanasia_and_the_Law
Legal in Oregon, also legal in the Netherlands.
By Adam on Mar 21, 2008 at 2:21 am
I’m surprised. That’s good to know. Unfortunately it’s legal in too few places.
By jjk on Mar 21, 2008 at 9:12 am
I’m sitting here watching a _House_ episode that deals with this exact issue. Here’s a couple thought on the matter:
1) Does Euthanasia equate to Murder? Either way, the result is death. For many, this is morally and ethically unacceptable. While not a compelling reason to those that think euthanasia should be legal, it’s also more than enough of a reason for those that think this way. Given that these are issues decided in a democracy, this is going to be the deciding issue until the balance of opinion swings sufficiently the other direction.
2) Here’s one of the more _important_ issues. Should the people charged with saving lives be the same ones killing people when they want to die? This seems like a bit of a conflict of interest. It seems that if euthanasia is legal, there should be a separate group of doctors who determine whether euthanasia is reasonable on a case-by-case basis. The cases where it is allowed should be very specifically laid out. I do like the number of checks and re-checks in the Oregon law. It ensures that a decision must be carefully considered. The wikipedia page commented on a criticism of Belgium’s Euthanasia law, saying that it set up a “bureaucracy of death”. It seems to me that that is exactly the way it should be done.
By Adam on Mar 21, 2008 at 10:05 pm