For many years, people’s opinions on euthanasia have been influenced greatly by law or religion, but these two areas often leave people torn with their decision. This leads people to draw upon what is considered, “ethically right”, to guide their decision making. The morals and beliefs of someone who is strictly religious, is very different when compared to someone who believes firmly in the law, which is why ethics helps us to decide what is best for the majority of people.
Euthanasia is the deliberate act of ending a person’s life, in order to relive them from unbearable suffering. There are several forms of euthanasia, including assisted suicide, and voluntary, involuntary and non-voluntary euthanasia. In 2016, over 200,000 Australian people took place in an ABC Vote Compass survey, and over 75% of these people voted that they agreed with the statement, “Terminally ill patients should be able to legally end their own lives with medical
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The problem that is faced with euthanasia is trying to please the opinions of all people – which is almost impossible. Many people believe that euthanasia is murder, but then many believe it is torture if someone is denied that option. Those in favour of legalizing euthanasia argue that all people should be allowed to choose what happens to their body, and that it is inhumane to force someone to continue their lives in unbearable pain and suffering. It can also be argued that as suicide is not a punishable crime, euthanasia should also be legal (BBC, 2014). Those in favour of euthanasia remaining illegal claim that euthanasia is the same thing as murder and should be punished accordingly, and that if the law was made legal it may be abused and wrongly performed (BBC, 2014). Although the act of euthanasia is an act that is performed on a suffering person, there