Assisted Suicide, also called Voluntary Euthanasia, is currently a contentious issue in many countries. The question in the debate is this: if a terminally ill person decides that they wish to end their life, is it acceptable for others to assist them? This would normally take the form of a doctor administering a lethal injection, which would end their life painlessly. A clear distinction must be made with involuntary euthanasia, by which someone is ‘put down’ against their wishes, and which is simply murder by another name. In the United States, Dr Jack Kervorkian – nicknamed ‘Doctor Death’ for his actions beliefs – has been campaigning for a change in the law for many years, and has assisted in the suicide of at least 45 people; he was recently found guilty of second degree murder and imprisoned after a widely publicised trial. In the Netherlands, on the other hand, voluntary euthanasia has been legal since 1983, with some 3,000 people requesting it each year. In Australia, assisted suicide was legalised in the Northern Territories with the backing of a substantial majority of the local population, but was then overthrown by the Federal Senate before anyone could actually use the new law. As a great deal hinges on the practicalities of this debate, it is imperative that the proposition provide a fairly specific set of criteria to explain when assisted suicide would be legal and when it would not. It is worth looking at the legal procedures proposed in Australia and those in use in the Netherlands, as examples of the kind of safeguards which may be needed.


What do you think?

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yes

i think that euthanasia is acceptable in some cases, if the person is terminally ill and in alot of pain then why should they not have the right to end their life,if that is what they want then their wish should be granted. if someone is ill but can still live a happy life then i think there is no need for it

yes but i agree with ploppy

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if it is a prolonged painful illness then yes, or one where you lose all your faculties then yes, obviously it shouldnt apply to just anyone. i personally have spoken to my family about this sort of thing and said if i was to end up very bad id want them to turn the machine off.

Yes

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Yes!
My dad died of cancer and it was awful watching him suffer.
We put pets to sleep, so why can't humans have that too?


Susan xxx

if you have an animal that has cancer and you let it suffer then you can be prosecuted!!! my georgie had cancer in his shoulder and he got to the stage where he couldnt put his weight on it and had to walk on 3 legs [btw george was a rottie] as he was so big he couldnt get around and we were told by the vet that we were being cruel [he said it nicely] keeping him alive just because we didnt want to lose him he was suffering and his quality of life had gone...he was a gorgeous dog wasnt he ela??
but with humans we are allowed to let them lie in agony with absolutaly no quality of life whatsoever and are prosecuted for wanting to help a loved one end their pain...it doesnt make any sense to me!!!

He was a beauty.

When my dad was dying I know they were helping him along with drugs. They said if they didnt he would of died by suffocating (he had emphasema).

There is no way we would of wanted to watch him go that way, he died peacefully in his sleep in hospital.

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lots of times morphine is used to help ppl relax and let go so why not legally ?????