Legalize Euthanasia

I see where Pro is coming from - she makes some valid points but ultimately they are too utopian. Note that I am not debating the intrinsic morality of euthanasia; what I will be arguing is that it should not be legalised because doing so would negatively impact society and the people within it. My first argument against euthanasia is that death, and the choice to end one's life, is arguably the most significant decision that one can ever make. There is no changing of your mind when you decide to end your life - the consequences are eternal. Considering this fact, we can see that euthanasia is simply too serious a decision to allow people to make. A 2001 study by Dr Robert Fine observed that many people with terminal illnesses suffer from 'depression, anxiety, and delirium'. (1) In the context of the law, mentally ill people are deemed, to differing degrees, 'mentally incompetent'. This is to say that they require a guardian to govern their personal affairs (implying that mentally people cannot make informed and sensible decisions concerning their personal affairs)(2). Therefore, as many terminally ill patients have poor mental health, if they request euthanasia then we would be naive to suppose that their decision was sensibly made, free from manipulation or fully-informed. Therefore, euthanasia should not be legalised. My second argument is that the widespread use of euthanasia (as demonstrated by the rising euthanasia statistics in countries such as the Netherlands(3)) will mean that it will ultimately become the 'default' way to die. The process, to put it bluntly, would be something along the lines of: 1. Person Q is diagnosed with a terminal illness X 2. Person Q observes that many people who suffer from X request euthanasia 3. Person Q, because it is the social norm, decides to request euthanasia 4. Person Q dies. The problem with this progression of events is that it sabotages the field of medical research. The primary reason that medical research exists is to find cures for diseases. If it becomes the norm that people request euthanasia upon discovering that they have a deadly disease, then there is no motivation for scientists/physicians to develop new cures and medicines because patients will become less eager to be cured. Why is this? Because the point of a cure is to prevent death. If people are asking for death when suffering from a particular disease, what is the point in finding a cure when many people are content to do without? To summarise, euthanasia should not be legalised because it removes the motivation for medical research and related scientific-development. My final argument is that it is far too idealistic to insist that people will make an uninfluenced and wholly autonomous decision. Elderly people especially are very susceptible to manipulation and persuasion. (4) Therefore, it would be extremely easy for a greedy heir to persuade their parent(s) that euthanasia is the right thing to do. This is clearly a negative thing as it is essentially manipulating people to commit suicide for society's convenience. Moreover, many old people have a form of 'martyr complex' where they do not want to be a burden on their family, friends and society in general. If euthanasia becomes legal, it becomes an acceptable option. If this option presents itself then there is no excuse for the elderly to not alleviate the burden that they pose. It is no stretch of the imagination to envision scenarios where the elderly are considered selfish for clinging onto life and draining resources. Over to you Pro :) (1) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov... (2) http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com... (3) http://www.telegraph.co.uk... (4) Kantor, Martin (2006). The Psychopathology of Everyday Life: how to deal with manipulative people.