The Argument Of Euthanasia And Assisted Suicide

and by intention causes death, with the purpose of eliminating all suffering.” The changing of the “or” to an “and” is crucial and helpful by stressing the central significance of intention in determining the morality of actions and omissions, especially those that result in the loss of life. Thus, there can be no euthanasia in a moral sense without the intention to kill.
Arguments in favor of euthanasia
The advocates’ arguments of euthanasia are based on the general contention that individuals should be granted the right to die, and physicians, “as agents of the patient’s best interests, should assist either by directly killing the patient or by assisting the patient in suicide. Euthanasia and assisted suicide are beneficent acts of relieving
human suffering.” The basic line of supporting euthanasia can be summarized as follows.
Firstly, in a secular democratic society where individual rights are respected, everybody should have moral authority over their own lives and should be free to choose the means to end it when and how they wish.
Secondly, autonomy, the self-determination, or the ‘right to die,’ is the centerpiece in the moral defense for euthanasia. The respect for a person’s autonomous choices, then, creates the importance of respect for an individual’s dignity. Now, for the person who is terminally ill and experiences severe pain or suffering, euthanasia may represent the most compassionate and dignified option. This is one of the main pro-euthanasia arguments that are based on ‘mercy killing’. No person should be forced to endure suffering and those who relieve an individual’s suffering by euthanasia out of respect for autonomy and compassion are acting ethically.