Should euthanasia be allowed in the UK?

[Jin]

Euthanasia is a taboo subject which is always being critizised by the UN and other govermental parties for it being a morally unjust option for a terminally ill paitient to die.

Euthanasia is when often terminally ill or disabled people wish to commit suicide with the assistance of another person. This may be because they feel like they are placing an unesseccary burden on another family member, they do not wish to die to an illness or because they are in excruitiating pain.

There is only one country in europe which allows euthanasia which is Holland. Elsewhere it is looked down upon as morally and lawfully wrong, often the members assisting in the suicide of another human being have been prosecuted despite the media support on the matter.

What are your views? Should we allow euthanasia in the UK? What would you do if you were paralysed, terminally ill or in terrible pain? Would you turn to euthanasia or would you live out your problem and allow it to take a natural course?

Debate it.

[Charlie]

I think we should allow euthanasia in the UK. As it could put the people that are suffering so much and that are in so pain out of there whatever the word is, i can't think of it.

Also, i've seen a programme where someone actually travelled to Holland, so that euthanasia could be carried out. I think that this just means they are in pain much longer and allowing it over here would cut that time down. And, it'll just mean that people will just travel there to have it done, so its going to happen anyway.

I hope that made sense.

[Climax]

Why not? I mean if you want to die but you're so ill you can't because you're too weak/disabled, it says a lot about how ill you are.

[FlyingJesus]

The main argument against euthanasia is that sometimes the patient may be mentally unstable and therefore unable to make a "right" decision. I say that's all codswallop, as if in their unstable condition they wish to die, that's still how their brain is working regardless of whether it's against the normal way that person would think.
If someone expresses an legit and genuine wish to die due to their condition, that should not be made debatable just because of their mental state.
The only problem I can really see with euthanasia is abuse of the power that doctors would then have, as hospital deaths without consent could possibly occur for a while before inquiries were made, or consent could be forged.

[RedStratocas]

I am for it, but there definatly needs to be some restrictions to prevent an abuse of power.

[FlyingJesus]

I forgot to mention that it could also save a lot of money for the NHS, which is really quite important at the moment seeing as how they have no money and life-changing drugs are becoming more expensive.

[RedStratocas]

Oh, and there needs to be a formal way of doing it, with prior notice etc. Because then anyone who kills someone could simply say they were assisting suicide.

[Splinky]

I think it should, but under hospital conditions where they are put under anaethetic and then killed. Like a lawful way of doing it.

[Charlie]

One thing bad against it, is the person may not be able to tell anyone anything. And a relative or something may think that its the best opition for them and decide that euthanasia is the right thing for them when the person doesn't want it.

[Leuven]

Personally I say no to Euthanasia.

People say that if you have a terminal disease then it is best to do it because you prbably wont live a full and great life.

Not true.
I know a guy who will die in 2010 will a terminal disease (can't remember what it is :S)

And he has great fun with us all the time.

[Lukeh]

I agree with it.

If people want to die, and it would be kinder for them, then I am all for it.

To the person above, that is all well and good, but in the last two years of his life he may be in a lot of pain, and may decide he wants to end it. And so dont you think it would be better for this character to die with dignity rather than having to be seen so weak and in pain?

[FlyingJesus]

Personally I say no to Euthanasia.

People say that if you have a terminal disease then it is best to do it because you prbably wont live a full and great life.

Not true.
I know a guy who will die in 2010 will a terminal disease (can't remember what it is :S)

And he has great fun with us all the time.

He obviously doesn't want to end it now though. Other people might, and the argument isn't "should everyone who has a terminal illness be put down?" it's about having the freedom of choice.

[RedStratocas]

Personally I say no to Euthanasia.

People say that if you have a terminal disease then it is best to do it because you prbably wont live a full and great life.

Not true.
I know a guy who will die in 2010 will a terminal disease (can't remember what it is :S)

And he has great fun with us all the time.

As Jesus said above, the point isnt "He has a disease, let's kill him". It isnt a LAW that if you have a disease you have to be killed, its to give people the option. The guy you are talking about is lucky, but its irrelivant if he doesnt want to die. Euthanasia is when the person WANTS to die because of their illness, not someone who has an illness but doesnt want to die.

[HUGECOOL]

As Jesus said above XD How uncanny, lol.

Well, I only agree with this if the person is on life support, therefore, living an artificial life. They are completely dependant on machinery for their survival and the same morality that says no to 'assisted suicide' should not be any different for people who are dependant on a stomach tube or an air tube up their nose.

Sometimes, human sympathy gets the best of doctors who have terminally ill patients, and they decide humanely euthanizing their patients without the consent of them or their family. Now, while the patient is no longer living in misery, it still was not the patient's choice to die. In my opinion, this is not correct.


Personally I say no to Euthanasia.

People say that if you have a terminal disease then it is best to do it because you prbably wont live a full and great life.

Not true.
I know a guy who will die in 2010 will a terminal disease (can't remember what it is :S)

And he has great fun with us all the time.

This is different though. While the guy does have a terminal disease, he is not suffering, bed-ridden until his death, or on life support. Euthanisia is mostly for patients that have no other remedy besides waiting to die or living off of machines, which is very painful.

[FlyingJesus]

Sometimes, human sympathy gets the best of doctors who have terminally ill patients, and they decide humanely euthanizing their patients without the consent of them or their family. Now, while the patient is no longer living in misery, it still was not the patient's choice to die. In my opinion, this is not correct.

Hence why written, signed and witnessed consent would be needed, same as when someone writes a will.

[-:Undertaker:-]

I say YES To Euthanasia, Its up to the pateient.


I see energy Debate has closed :(

[Nixt]

I say yes.

If one knows that they only have a very small amount of life to live, and those days are to be painful; there should be no reason why they cannot choose to end that life in their own way. If they are uncapable of doing it themselves, they should be allowed assistance by someone they choose.
Of course, there should be very careful rules that are laid down alongside it. For example, it has to be evaluated by a proffessional beforehand. It has to be made sure that the individual actually does want to die, as in some cases they are so bad communication is nigh impossible.

[Catzsy]

I say yes.

If one knows that they only have a very small amount of life to live, and those days are to be painful; there should be no reason why they cannot choose to end that life in their own way. If they are uncapable of doing it themselves, they should be allowed assistance by someone they choose.
Of course, there should be very careful rules that are laid down alongside it. For example, it has to be evaluated by a proffessional beforehand. It has to be made sure that the individual actually does want to die, as in some cases they are so bad communication is nigh impossible.


Yes i agree it would have helped my great nan who had had enough but had to stay in hospital til she died.

[HUGECOOL]

Hence why written, signed and witnessed consent would be needed, same as when someone writes a will.Yes, I'm aware of that, but there are occasions in which the doctors take it upon themselves to see that the patient is at peace, even if it means not getting any consent form anyone.

[FlyingJesus]

If people are going to do that, they'll do it regardless of how legal consentual euthanasia is.

[Emicat.]

I think yes but within reason.

I once read about a woman who had a problem with her stomach and evertime she ate she threw up and was in tremendous pain for most of her life. She had euthanasia and I think that that was the best thing to do for her. But, if someone had say a less serious condition and wanted to die, I doubt the doctors would allow it. If we had it free, it would be the new emo fad.

Yeah that sounds ridiculos but you never know.

[Call]

Keep the opinions coming please lmao, im using these for coursework called shoudl euthanasia be legalized in the uk ?

I think it should be illegal as, it says in the 10 commandments " they shall not kill "
and " god gave life so god will take it away "

I dont get the point of the hippacratic oath its just stupid, there should be some law passed in parliment, as its legal in sweeden etc :(

[HUGECOOL]

Keep the opinions coming please lmao, im using these for coursework called shoudl euthanasia be legalized in the uk ?

I think it should be illegal as, it says in the 10 commandments " they shall not kill "
and " god gave life so god will take it away "

I dont get the point of the hippacratic oath its just stupid, there should be some law passed in parliment, as its legal in sweeden etc :(
Don't you mean, "Thou shalt not kill" and "God gave life and God taketh away".

New flash- not everyone in UK has a religion, therefore, rendering the 10 commandments futile. Had everyone in the UK been a Jesus-follower, the question of euthanasia wouldn't even be an issue.

[RedStratocas]

Keep the opinions coming please lmao, im using these for coursework called shoudl euthanasia be legalized in the uk ?

I think it should be illegal as, it says in the 10 commandments " they shall not kill "
and " god gave life so god will take it away "

I dont get the point of the hippacratic oath its just stupid, there should be some law passed in parliment, as its legal in sweeden etc :(

I find it HILLARIOUS when people use religion in political issues, and dont even know what they are talking about. 'THOU shall not kill'. 'God GIVETH then he TAKETH away'. Im not even christian, and I know that.

And what the bible says has NOTHING to with this. I hope you guys over in the UK have something like the the U.S. does with the seperation of church and state.


If we had it free, it would be the new emo fad.

Many people would hope so:P

[FlyingJesus]

Church and state are getting ever closer though, especially in America where the leader is a hardline protestant and uses his faith as reasons for his decisions.

[Dripless]

No way to allowing euthenasia.
People taking their own life in any way or having it taken for them is sooo selfish, people don't realise how lucky they are to be alive.

There are billions of planets and at the moment, we are the only one known to have life on. So your odds of being born are one in a billion.
Then you think, what are your odds of being born in the UK? The 3rd most economically developed country in the UK.

You may be dying in pain, but life is painful for all at times, die naturally


To those that say suffering is wrong and should be ended as soon as possible, I am not against a buddhist view but to be honest it is also being taken from a Utilitarians view on euthenasia, and you cannot really draw the line on what suffering is bad and what is not.
To those that say ALL suffering is wrong, consider the suffering you have to go through to train for a sports event, some athletes put themselves through incredible pressure and strain for an event, suffering can happen in different ways, whether called upon yourself or just a natural mistake/defect.

[Cyvox]

No way to allowing euthenasia.
People taking their own life in any way or having it taken for them is sooo selfish, people don't realise how lucky they are to be alive.


And what would you call lucky about being in pain so much you actually wanted to die?

[FlyingJesus]

No way to allowing euthenasia.
People taking their own life in any way or having it taken for them is sooo selfish, people don't realise how lucky they are to be alive.

If they're in so much pain that they seriously don't want to be alive, they obviously aren't all that lucky.


There are billions of planets and at the moment, we are the only one known to have life on. So your odds of being born are one in a billion.

Actually the odds of being born are 1:1 seeing as how we don't exist until we're born.


Then you think, what are your odds of being born in the UK? The 3rd most economically developed country in the UK.

You may be dying in pain, but life is painful for all at times, die naturally

Regardless of where you're born, if you don't want to live you shouldn't be forced to.

[RedStratocas]

No way to allowing euthenasia.
People taking their own life in any way or having it taken for them is sooo selfish, people don't realise how lucky they are to be alive.

No-- the whole point is that these people aren't lucky. They have a disease that doesnt allow them to enjoy life. Also, they feel that they are just being a burdon and heartbreak on their family by having them pay for the short time they'll be alive



There are billions of planets and at the moment, we are the only one known to have life on. So your odds of being born are one in a billion.
Then you think, what are your odds of being born in the UK? The 3rd most economically developed country in the UK.

HAHAHA. You need to revisit your math skills. Since there is no life on other planets that we know of, the possibility of being born on earth is 100%. IF there were life on all those other planets, you'd be right, but there arent.



You may be dying in pain, but life is painful for all at times, die naturally

But if I knew I'd be in pain for the rest of my life-- a pain that doesnt allow me to do anything, I'd want to die as well. There is a huge difference between pain once and a while, and pain for the rest of your life




To those that say suffering is wrong and should be ended as soon as possible, I am not against a buddhist view but to be honest it is also being taken from a Utilitarians view on euthenasia, and you cannot really draw the line on what suffering is bad and what is not.

That's where the person who wants to die comes into play. They can tell you if he is in enough pain or not.


To those that say ALL suffering is wrong, consider the suffering you have to go through to train for a sports event, some athletes put themselves through incredible pressure and strain for an event, suffering can happen in different ways, whether called upon yourself or just a natural mistake/defect.

No one says all suffering is wrong, you are COMPLETELY skewing everyone's words. No one said that. When you are going to suffer for the rest of your life, that I feel is wrong.

And sports have nothing to do with this. THE ATHLETES DO THAT TO THEMSELVES. If everyone could control their disease, you might have an arguement (The again, we wouldnt be having this debate) but you cant compare someone who is training hard for a sport with someone with a disease.

[Climax]

I'll tell you a little story.

So, my great nan had been healthy all her life [she was 89] and could still walk a mile to town to do her shopping, then she was struck with illness. She was throwing up her own excretement, as her digestive system had totally messed up. She wanted to die, but she was too strong, and had to go through 3 weeks of throwing up her own crap and urine until she eventually passed away. Honestly, wouldn't you just rather die? She said she wanted to, but of course it isn't allowed, so she had to live through all of that pain.