Earlier this month, the Canadian Supreme Court overturned a 21-year ban on euthanasia. It’s time for America to do the same.
The unanimous ruling won’t actually take effect until 2016, so lawmakers have time to rewrite current laws to conform to the new ruling.
The court said the ban infringed on the “life, liberty and security of individuals in Canada’s constitution.”
Euthanasia is officially illegal in America, but some states have opted for an alternative method — assisted suicide. Louisiana is not one of those states.
The main difference between euthanasia and assisted suicide lie in who administers the “mercy killing.”
Under euthanasia, doctors administer the medication that causes death. They’ll either give the patient drugs or simply withhold treatment.
Under assisted suicide, doctors have more of a passive role. They prescribe medication to their patients meant to end their lives.
I understand doctors not wanting to play God with their patients. Having to play an active role in taking the life of one of their patients is stressful to say the least, but assisted suicide shouldn’t exactly give doctors a clear conscience. The end result is the same, and they’re just as responsible either way.
But legalizing euthanasia would make a huge difference for the patients. While assisted suicide produces the same result, it’s daunting for patients to have to go through with it.
Imagine if someone had an illness with only months left to live. They could either go through treatment that would make their last few weeks on Earth miserable, or they could opt out of treatment and go on their own terms. They might stay alive for a shorter period of time, but at least they’ll go peacefully and comfortably.
It’s a difficult, morbid decision that can’t be taken lightly. Now imagine the stress that person would go through if they had to administer their own death.
I couldn’t do it. I would need a doctor to pull the plug. Heck, anyone could administer my death as long as it’s not me.
Outlawing euthanasia in America goes against our philosophy of personal liberty. It tramples bodily autonomy of the individual to make the general public feel comfortable.
Doctors may find it wrong to just “kill off” one of their patients, but some patients would rather die peacefully than spend their last few months on Earth in pain.
Perhaps my way of thinking is backward, but I find it more humane to give a cancer patient with no chance of survival the option to die rather than to make said patient go through months of chemo for minimal, if any, results.
If someone has a chance at a full physical and psychological recovery, then of course we should do everything in our power to help them. And if someone wants treatment, we shouldn’t deny them that right.
But if someone is going senile, he or she has the right to die with dignity before the mind completely goes. They shouldn’t have to prolong a forgetful life under constant supervision.
But instead, we allow our cancer patients to suffer and to go through painful treatments even when they won’t work. Our elderly become senile and fragile, and are reduced to being cared for like infants.
That’s not living, nor is that humane. That’s just prolonging the inevitable.
Euthanasia should be a decision made between patients and their doctors. And that’s where the people involved in the procedure should end. No spouse, friends, family or government should have anything to do with what people decide to do with their lives.
Cody Sibley is a 19-year-old mass communication freshman from Opelousas, Louisiana. You can reach him on Twitter at @CodySibley.