Should Euthanasia Be Legalized?

Euthanasia is an issue that is highly debated. Should you be able to end your own life if you are in extreme amounts of pain or cannot retain a better quality of life? Or is ending a life (including your own) wrong in all circumstances? We should legalize euthanasia because people should have the right to die in extreme circumstances.

Euthanasia is not all the same, and it is important to know the different types. These types are broken up into two groups. These groups are active and inactive; and voluntary and involuntary. Active euthanasia is when a doctor takes steps to end a patient's life, whereas inactive euthanasia is simply stopping medical treatment to end a life. Examples of active euthanasia would be giving someone an overdose of painkillers, and an example of inactive euthanasia would be stopping a ventilator keeping someone alive. In most cases, inactive euthanasia is considered legal because you are not killing a person; you are just failing to save them. Voluntary euthanasia is when the doctor has permission from the patient to end that person's life, and involuntary euthanasia is when the doctor has no permission from the patient (but usually has permission from the family, because the patient cannot talk for his/herself.)

One of the reasons that we need to legalize euthanasia is that with technological advances, someone who is in extreme pain could live for the remainder of their natural life. Most people wouldn't want to live this way. In outlawing euthanasia we are forcing people to live that don't want to.

Another reason we need to legalize euthanasia is because people who would do this are probably going to die anyway. Many people who would end their lives are terminally ill, and are going to die anyway. Also, most of the people who would end their lives would die a painful death, and don't want to have to go through that. Euthanasia would be a way for them to have power over how and when they are going to die, so that they can prepare both mentally and emotionally, and would also give them control over something that they would have no say in.

For everybody, death is inevitable. Many people live in pain and agony every day. Many of these people have lost the will to live. Your life should be something that you have complete control over. If you were terminally ill, would you want to be told that you can't choose to end your life, or would you want to be given the choice to do so?