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.
