Should Euthanasia Be Legalized In Malaysia?

Imagine yourself being unable to walk, unable to see, and can barely breathe let alone speak. Your life was well lived all those years before. You are in such unbearable pain that you can’t even cry.Although your family is there for your every step of the way you begin to think, could ending your life be the answer to the pain? You are in more pain than you can bear. There is no way that you could function without assistance.You think and feel as if your life has no meaning. Well in all reality this isn’t something anyone needs to imagine. This is a real situation for many, many people. These people should be able to make their own choices and have control of their own lives.

Firstly, i bet all of you are wondering what on earth is euthanasia. Euthanasia is a term still new to many of us. Well for those of you who don't know euthanasia is defined as ‘GOOD DEATH’ in Greek. It means self imposed death in a relatively painless and

merciful way.

Now as you all know euthanasia as been legalized in several parts of the world such as Oregon, US and in the Netherlands.Euthanasia is categorized in different ways, which include voluntary, non-voluntary, or involuntary and active or passive.Euthanasia is usually used to refer to active euthanasia, and in this sense, euthanasia is usually considered to be criminal homicide, but voluntary, passive euthanasia is widely non-criminal.

Everyone has the right to choose how they want to live and die.First of all, deciding if you want to be alive or not is a personal decision. Neither the doctors nor the government has the power to decide if you should live or not.Since it is not their life and they are not in your situation, they cannot make that kind of decision for you. It might sound like suicide, but again, that is our problem, not theirs.They give us the liberty to decide our job, our family, our religion, and even our sex preference. Why should they not give us the right to decide if we want to live or not? 

That should be the first right before all the ones I have mentioned. It is not logical that we can choose in all those other decisions if we cannot first choose to live or die.It has been argued that for people on life support systems and people with long standing diseases causing much pain and distress, euthanasia is a better choice.It helps in relieving them from pain and misery. In cases like terminal cancers when the  patient is in much pain and when people associated with them also are put through a lot of pain and misery, it is much more practical and humane to grant the person his/her wish to end his/her own life in a relatively painless and merciful way.

Chantal Sebire, a former school teacher, suffered from Esthesioneuroblastoma, a rare, painful 

and disfiguring facial tumor disorder. Reportedly, her extensive facial tumors took her sight, as well as her senses of smell and taste.According to Sebire, she endured hours-long attacks of excruciating pain.Chantal Sebire request for legal euthanasia was rejected by the high court of Dyon, France. Sebire was found dead on March 20, 2008,two days after the court made its ruling.

Everyone has the right to choose how they want to live and die. Their decisions lie with them and people hold their own key to life.No one else can decide for you how you live, therefore choices are also made by one, and hence, if one wants to go for euthanasia, it should be granted. He definitely has reasons why he wants to leave the world.

Next, comes the economic factor. Many times we do not have enough money to pay for the needed medical care not knowing if the patient is going to get any better.In a way, we are just spending time and money on a situation that won’t get better. Imagine, they are in great suffer and we are paying to make it longer. So if the patient wants euthanasia, why not do it if we cannot end the huge amount of money wasted on a treatment that won’t help, but worsen it instead.For those who are terminally ill, they do not want to be an emotional and financial burden to their relatives, therefore without their existence; they would be lightening their family’s burdens.Initially it may be unfair to their families but in the long run, their decision to give up on life would help their families greatly.Their families would then not be burdened by the hefty medical bills and the emotional strain of care giving.Due to financial short comings, some patient cannot afford to pay those expensive hospital bills and thus, view mercy-killing as their last resort. Why pay for medical care when you know your condition is not going to get better anyway?

The basic reason why euthanasia should be practiced is because it stops the person from having a bad quality of life.Having a patient suffering is not giving him a better quality of life.When doctors reach this point, then they should be allowed to grant the patient whatever he wants since he or she cannot offer something better.Even if they could offer the patient any kind of treatment or options, it is the patient who should decide how he wants to live his life.We pay the doctor so he can do the best he can. Helping us in having a better quality of life is about giving the patient what’s best for him as long as he wants it.The kind of quality of life is defined by the patient, not the doctor or government.

Consequently, when the patient feels he is not getting the quality of life he wants, the least a doctor can do is grant him what he wants. If the patient’s decision is to die, so be it.Euthanasia is perceived by other people as the answer to their want of a quality life. Spending the rest of your life on a hospital bed, unable to walk, and unable to do the things you normally do, doesn’t define a good quality of life. After all, it is the patient who got to decide how he or she wants to live his life.Euthanasia or physician-assisted suicide is the best thing a doctor can offer to a dying patient since he or she cannot offer a patient something that’ll make his condition better.

How can say that your life is not worth living anymore? No one but you can decide on this matter. Life and death is a personal decision.Your family, friends, the doctors, and even the government can’t help you decide. Death is a final decision, a final destination.Euthanasia is necessary to be legalized. Think about it, euthanasia is about giving people the right to choose how they want to live and die, saves money in medical bills, and it also stops the person from having a bad quality of life.

If I were diagnosed with a terminal illness, incurable disease, or faced an accident that requires me to stay in a hospital bed for the rest of my life, or only a machine can keep me alive, I would definitely turn to euthanasia.

What’s the sense of living my life anyway? Why not end the suffering, if I have the power? Why would I prefer to be a burden to my family? If I’m not living the quality of life I want, the best thing the doctor can do me is to grant my final wish of dying with dignity.