Human euthanasia should be allowed because a person’s life only belongs to him or her and no one else. It is stated that there is a shift in a social attitude towards human euthanasia, where people are beginning to realize that people’s lives are their rights (Shala & Gusha, 2016). This means that adults need to have the power to choose if he or she wishes to preserve or end life. Thus, it is evident that human euthanasia should become a human right.
Euthanasia should also be allowed due to the fact that certain disorders and abnormalities can cause immense suffering, which cannot be eased by medication. The study clearly illustrates that most of the requests for human euthanasia come from people suffering from unbearable psychological pain (Thienpont et al., 2015). Thus, it is important to understand that not only physical pain but also psychological one is a significant reason for enabling euthanasia.
Euthanasia needs to allowed because people requesting it are most likely people who are already terminally ill. This argument is supported by the fact that most Netherland citizens receiving assisted death are people with complex mental, psychological, and psychosocial illnesses (Kim, De Vries, & Peteet, 2016).
Euthanasia should be allowed because suicides are still prevalent, which means that people will have an opportunity to get assisted death without unnecessary suffering. It is stated that the opposition to euthanasia is not driven by compassion, but mere collective moral concern (Deak & Saroglou, 2015).
Lastly, euthanasia needs to be considered as a human right because there is strong support among the public. The study in New Zealand shows that majority of people expressed support for euthanasia (Lee, Duck, & Sibley, 2017).
References
Deak, C., & Saroglou, V. (2015). Opposing abortion, gay adoption, euthanasia, and suicide. Archive for the Psychology of Religion, 37(3), 267-294.
Kim, S. Y. H., De Vries, R. G., & Peteet, J. R. (2016). Euthanasia and assisted suicide of patients with psychiatric disorders in the Netherlands 2011 to 2014. JAMA Psychiatry, 73(4), 362-368.
Lee, C. H. J., Duck, I. M., & Sibley, C. G. (2017). Demographic and psychological correlates of New Zealanders’ support for euthanasia. NZMA, 130(1448), 9-17.
Shala, I., & Gusha, K. (2016). The debate over euthanasia and human rights. European Scientific Journal, 12(8), 73-81.
Thienpont, L., Verhofstadt, M., Van Loon, T., Distelmans, W., Audenaert, K., & De Deyn, P. P. (2015). Euthanasia requests, procedures and outcomes for 100 Belgian patients suffering from psychiatric disorders: A retrospective, descriptive study. BMJ Open, 5, 1-8.