Euthanasia
means putting end to a life with the purpose of relieve the suffering of a
person. Many people believe this to be one of the most unnatural act in existence,
but should people be forced to live, or to stay alive, when suffering horrible
pain? There has a debate going on this topic for years and the truth is that
many countries haven’t reached an agreement.
Sue Rodriguez has been a famous case: even a
movie was based on her case. She was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
in 1991 and fought hardly for her right to end her own life. ALS provokes muscle
weakness and atrophy, which slowly causes in the patient the inability to do anything
on their own, even breathing. Rodriguez presented and fought for her cause
twice in the Supreme Court of Canada, claiming: “If I cannot give consent to my own death, whose body is this? Who owns
my life?”. However, both times the Supreme Court ruled against her. In
1994, she committed suicide with the help of an anonymous doctor.
To make it clear: Euthanasia refers to someone
other than the patient ending the patient’s life, throughout painless ways.
Assisted suicide happens when a person, suffering from an incurable disease,
kills himself with the help of someone else and with the clear purpose of
putting an end to his suffering.
I think it’s not fair that we don’t have the
possibility to end our lives if we are in extreme pain, every day, with no cure
whatsoever. We are the owners of our bodies, we should decide if we want to
keep living that kind of life.
And let’s not forget that no one is forced to
end his life if he doesn’t want to, but in cases like these, we should have the right to choose.
I think about this in a similar way to organ donation.
ReplyDeleteThese are topics that we should talk with our families and let them know what we would want them to do in this specific situation.
I personally wouldn't like to live through machines and without any control over my body so I'll choose Euthanasia rather artificial life, but as I won't be able to choose I have to tell my love ones now.
Of course no one likes talking about death or accidents, but that's a reality for everyone in the world now a day.
I could not agree more with you, girls. I have told my family and closest friends that if I found myself in a situation like Sue Rodriguez's, I would prefer to die. The body may be completely destroyed, but the mind usually keeps working and it is there where we must focus our attention.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you all, I think that if we are going to live a life of suffering, we should be able to decide whether we want to live it or not, but always having all the necessary evidence to prove that medicine cannot help us in any way, just like Ms. Rodriguez.
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