Why is abortion okay (and also death penalty), but not euthanasia?

Question

Shouldn't people be entitled to take any decisions about their own lives?

I want euthanasia to be legal in my country... (By the way, death penalty isn't in my country...)

Answer 1

Hypocrisy My Friend.

No the reality of it is that if they legalize Euthanasia then people could use it as a defense in a murder trial

Answer 2

Well, abortion is okay in some countries, in others it is completely restricted, and in the rest, there is a partial ban on abortion. When we talk about abortion we are talking about an entity in its pre-natal sense, thus when life has not yet started it cannot be killed, because laws world over do not recognize babies' pre-natal rights. Even speaking ethically, a mother who is not ready to accept a baby should not be forced to bring it to life.

Death penalty is justified in many countries, there still are 51 countries that have penal provisions leading to death penalty. The sole justification is that the accused has reached a point of no-return, such that by incarceration or any other sentencing policy, he cannot be reformed. For a civilized society, such person is a burden and a threat as well. That why it is legalized in many countries.

Euthanasia is illegal because of many reasons. One of the major reason is its misuse. Although I personally feel that the patient's will to be killed should be accepted, but in any case, assisted euthanasia would lead to gross violations against mankind.

Answer 3

Because euthanasia is the killing of another (already born) person, chosen by the person doing the killing.

Death penalty is done by the state/govt -- and the govt can do many things not allowed to private individuals.

Abortion is a matter of what happens within one person's body. The analogy is valid, because it's still one person taking and action that ends up with the death of someone other than the person making the decision. But there are also differences.

Euthanasia is also different than assisted suicide. In assisted suicide, the person ends their own life, using tools provided by someone else. In euthanasia, someone else performs the act that ends your life. That is another significant difference.

Answer 4

To answer your question, abortion is okay because a woman should have the right to choose what happens with her own body. As far as the death penalty goes, I don't agree with it, it obviously doesn't deter crime because the US jails are overflowing, and numerous numerous times an innocent person has been on death row.

As far as euthanasia, there is one state in the US (Oregon) where euthanasia is legal, but I believe you have to be able to physically swallow, because they give you a pill.

Answer 5

like everyone else said this is a really great question. My thought is that is has to do with control. With abortion the governing body says ok you can kill this fetus but we will restrictthe manner in which you do it. With death penalty there is also control being eercised over a person. The powers that be want to exercise more control over people than euthanasia will allow.

also dead people dont pay taxes anymore, but unborn fetuses and inmates arent paying taxes to begin with.

Answer 6

Presumably the answer is that murder is the killing of an *innocent* life. Being that the person sentenced to death has been found guilty in a court of law of a heinous crime, carrying out the death penalty would not be murder. Personally I'm an atheist and I used to be in favor of the death penalty but now I'm opposed because of all exonerations there have been since death row inmates started challenging their convictions using DNA evidence. Our prosecutors, police, and criminal justice system frankly just aren't good enough to support the death penalty.

Answer 7

Can you imagine the scope for abuse if euthanasia were made legal? Greedy relatives would simply overdose the ailing person in the garb of euthanasia, and grab their assets after the persons demise. No amount of so called built in checks could ever make this foolproof. There is tremendous scope for abuse which makes legalising euthanasia undesirable.

Answer 8

I'm not taking a position here..but I do understand it is a protection..
There is a sense that elderly can be seen as a "burden" on their families.
It is important the next generation doesn't make a parent feel guilty for using up all their "inheritance" on old age care.

I've heard "stories" that a Doctor might tell a patient... "take one of these if you feel like you're in pain...but don't take more than 5 or it will kill you".

Answer 9

what a great question, have a star!
i don't know though, all the reasons not to make it legal seem to rest on the possibility of abuse, as in people killing off their elderly relatives...
and in the uk at least the legalities of euthanasia clash with the doctors hipocratic oath (i believe)...

Answer 10

Euthanasia should be allowed for people who are suffering. If animals can be humanely put to sleep because of their suffering, why do we have to live with it?