Assisted Suicide
It is upsetting and depressing living life in the shadow of death. Many questions appear on this debatable topic, such as should we legalize euthanasia? What is euthanasia? What is assisted suicide? What is the difference between Passive and Active Euthanasia? What is Voluntary, Non-voluntary and Involuntary Euthanasia? What is Mercy Killing? What is "Death with dignity"? But if euthanasia was legalized, wouldn't patients then die peacefully rather than using plastic bags or other methods? And unfortunately the list continues. No one denies that there are many vulnerable persons who require the protection of the law. Take, for example, those in a temporary state of clinical depression, perhaps caused by a traumatic event in their lives. These persons will recover and go on to lead productive, happy lives, and it would be unconscionable to encourage or support them in a transitory wish to die. There are also many unemployed and unemployable, many disabled of all ages, and many senior citizens whose families might, for selfish or downright malicious reasons, encourage them to seek assisted suicide. All kinds of people in difficult situations could be at risk of being intimidated or forced into feeling their early death would be a convenience to society. Section 241 is doubly flawed. It is not an especially effective drawback against those who seek to prey on the vulnerable, but at the same time it forces persons enduring intolerable suffering to exist in that state against their own wishes, thus denying them their right of self-determination as citizens in a free democracy. Competent, rational human beings must have the right to determine their own health care according to their personal wishes, values and beliefs, as long as such a determination does not jeopardize the safety or well-being of any other person. We do not believe, for instance, that people have the right to kill themselves by driving recklessly and in so doing jeopardize...
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