Euthanasia

This week the aspiring medics at my school met to have a discussion on the ethics surrounding euthanasia with the aim of coming to a conclusion as to whether it should be legal or illegal.

The dictionary defines euthanasia as "the painless killing of a patient suffering from an incurable and painful disease or in a irreversible coma. The practice is illegal in most countries."

I found this website useful for finding out some background information and information on the issues surrounding euthanasia, both for and against.

Few people (including myself) could come to a decision and "sat on the fence." Similarly most people found it easier to argue against making it legal (perhaps one of the reasons why it is illegal.) However there were shared views both for and against. The most common included:

For:
- Death is a private matter and a patient should have a right to die if they feel their suffering is too great.
- Although difficult, it would be possible to regulate. For example if guidelines were clear and several appropriate consultants had to approve the procedure.

Against:
- If made legal over time it may become common procedure, not preserved for the terminally ill but "for the old or simply the inconvenient" and the power could be abused (often described as the "slippery slope".)
- Euthanasia undermines the commitment of doctors to prolong life and if made legal it would discourage the research into treatments for the terminally ill