Euthanasia by Natalia Osorio

There are many people that have had dear relatives who had a long, painful and humiliating death due to a terrible disease. Those people who were dying have wanted to die as soon as possible without pain and specially with dignity, but in the major of the countries, the law does not allow it. However, the best reason is a religious prejudice as happens with abortion too, who speech to the holiness or the life without the meaning of sensibility and the quality of life, but, who can decide about our life? Human being  wants a just life and just a death too, for this reason: should be euthanasia legal? Is it a good option decide how we want to die and interfere with the normal course of the life?

There are many arguments about euthanasia, some of them in favor and the others against, for example:

Ø  Points of view of Religion

Many religions as the Catholics and Jews have believed for many years that god gives us the life and only he has the legal authority to remove it. In this situation, euthanasia would be considered a rejection to god. Now, the Catholic Church is raised as the institution that rejects and attacks the euthanasia. The sanctity of life principle, which rests of human being unique relationship with God is the basic value of catholic church. Under this principle, direct intervention to end the life of a patient in a terminal condition would not be excused.   The idea that God is the unique lord over life and death and the end of the human life is not subject to a person’s free judgment.

Ø  Impact in our society

The modern medicine advances in the possibility to save more lives and causes inevitably a complex dilemma. The scene of the death and the situation of the terminal patient are the conditions that show major conflicts in this context, counting with the beginnings, often antagonistic, of the preservation of life and the relief of suffering.

Ø  Legal aspects

Some governments around the world have legalized voluntary euthanasia, but generally it remains as a criminal homicide. In Netherlands and Belgium, where euthanasia was been legalized, it still remains homicide although it is not prosecuted and not punishable if the perpetrator (the doctor) meets certain legal exceptions.

Ø  Defender groups

As well as religion has an opinion in opposition to euthanasia, there are many defender groups of the same one, for example: Joseph Fetcher, president of the society for the right to die, said: “what was happened under control of the birthrate is equally imperative as for the control of the death”.  Also, Wesley Smith director of The International Task Force on Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide, said: “The whole society across his sanitary and civil institutions, is called to respect the life and the dignity of the serious patient and moribund people”. 

In our society, euthanasia is considered a taboo due to the fact that traditionally, the life must follow his course and only God has the right to change it, human being should not interfere in natural situations and manipulate the own death according to their desires. Society does not have the opened mind for these changes and it can be compared with the cloning, both affect the normal course of the nature. In my opinion, euthanasia from unmemorable times is a questioned option not only for the society but also for the religion and it focuses basically in the sense of the faith. Euthanasia is a controversial topic and our society is not prepared due to ignorance or fear, but it is a good option to decide how and when we want to die. Eventually,  human being in the future will have euthanasia as a choose of life or in this case, of death and I hope that this decision will be ours.