Why I Believe Euthanasia Should be Illegal

Euthanasia is a highly debatable topic in our society today. It involves strong views from both sides: whether it is morally right to let someone go or leave them to suffer. In this blog, I will explain why I believe that euthanasia should be illegal.

Before listing my reasons, I want to go over two types of euthanasia: voluntary and involuntary euthanasia. Voluntary euthanasia is commonly known as “assisted suicide.” In this case, the individual no longer wants to live and enlists the help of a medical professional in either killing them or allowing them to die. On the other hand, non-voluntary euthanasia is when the individual is not able to give or deny consent (for example, when the individual is in a coma). As of June 2016, voluntary euthanasia became legal in Canada. In America, laws regarding euthanasia varies by state.

Now back to my explanation: why should euthanasia be illegal?

1) It involves killing a life.

Regardless of the reason behind a person’s decision to give or undergo euthanasia, this act still involves killing a life. I understand that in a situation when someone is suffering greatly, putting them out of their misery may seem like the moral thing to do; at first, I also thought that it seemed like the right thing to do to end the suffering. However, ending someone’s life to end the suffering doesn’t change the fact that you are ending one’s life. Murder is an unforgivable crime and committing a crime for moral reasons (to end suffering) is not a moral act.

2) We don’t have the right to end another person’s life.

Whether we are religious or not, we should ask ourselves: Do we have the right to decide when to end anybody’s life? In a case when the individual is incapable of making decisions about their life, involuntary euthanasia involves family members deciding to end the individual’s life. I don’t know about you but I believe that no one has the right to decide to end another’s life. Even in a dire situation (for example, when a person is in a coma and there is no chance of recovery), this does not change the fact that as human beings, we should not be allowed to make decisions to kill another human being. Murder is not acceptable even if the motive behind it is for love.

3) Suicide is not morally right.

Voluntary euthanasia is similar to suicide because an individual requests to die. An individual may request to have assisted suicide because of suffering and pain. I understand that someone may want to end their life so they do not have to suffer anymore. However, I believe that suicide or any act of killing is wrong because it goes against how precious life is and the fact that life is a gift. It is an ugly truth that life involves suffering and pain. Rather than giving in to this suffering, we should try to endure it.

I believe that it is important to have more conversations about euthanasia so that we can discuss our different options in society to work towards making the world a better place. This can be as simple as talking to your friends, asking a question in schools, or talking to politicians.