It seems to me that in the euthanasia or assisted suicide debate it could be really simplified. If you want to suffer a horrible, degrading, and agonizing death because you think its wrong to cut life a little shorter than it otherwise would end, then when the time comes you can go right ahead. If a doctor doesn’t want to participate out of moral, religious, or ethical objections then there should be no coercion involved. If on the other hand, you are terminally ill and don’t want to face unimaginable suffering for your final months of life, why should anyone deny you a peaceful finish?
(Via Jesus and Mo)
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There is no rational argument against euthanasia. The closest the religious people have ever got to a cogent argument is the idea that somehow doctors will "knock off" patients to save money. Not only is this a horrible insult against doctors, but it makes no sense: If Doctors were that evil, they'd knock off patients regardless of the laws. They could be doing it right now! Legalizing euthanasia doesn't make murder easier.
On another note: we have this conservative columnist here in Australia called Andrew Bolt. He's your typical ultra-right wing conservative – he denies climate change, he hates immigrants and refugees, and he strenuously denies that white people ever mistreated black people throughout Australian history. Strange thing is, he's also a non-believer.
Yet in one of this columns, he tried to argue against Euthanasia, without falling back on the whole God thing – and it was a laughable column. He had no defence other than the fact that he himself would feel squeamish about killing himself. He provided no reason why his own sense of squeamishness should deny other people the right to terminate their life on their term. If I can remember correctly, he ended on the laughable idea that it was better to die at home surrounded by your family with "love ringing in your ears".
Except that when you are wracked with a pain you can barely comprehend, listening to the words of loved ones is beyond what you are capable of. Except when you're dying of a horrific brain or neural disease, you lose the capacity to even recognize who your loved ones are. Except that when you can't even control your bladder movements, when your body is going haywire and you are gasping and moaning and drooling and in constant pain, you're not really listening to your love ones, are you now Andrew?
The only argument against Euthanasia is the religious argument that God should control life. This argument should hold no water for non-believers.