Whose life is it? If we are born free then surely freedom to die is the equal. But for man-made institutions preventing terminally ill patients from choosing the timing of their own death, then such an elemental ethic would not even be in question. And yet it is, daily, against all moral logic. Such an injustice shows that the euthanasia debate is really about choice.
Should our right to die be in the hands of politicians or the medical profession? Should our right to choose be subject to the scrutiny of religious beliefs? Is the emotional pain of loved ones more important than the suffering of the dying? Again, whose life is it? We do not have the right to control others for our own benefit against their will, but that is precisely what is happening when we deny people the right to die with dignity - self interest in the guise of concern for the welfare of the dying.
A doctor's hippocratic oath 'never to harm a patient' rings hollow as an excuse. Isn't it more harmful to keep them alive to go on suffering? A politician's concern about corrupt practices also rings hollow. It means they feel they are incapable of legislating appropriate safeguards against the exploitation of patients. This is hardly believable. The religious fraternity's fear of taking death out of the hands of God is even more hollow. Show me your god and then you might have a case. Until then, don't stand in the way of people choosing to die with dignity.
Whose life is it??