Should We Have The Basic Right To End Our Lives?

This weekend I watched a quick documentary by The Economist called 24& Ready to die (linked on youtube below), which asks the question whether or not suicide should be a fundamental human right. The documentary featured a 24 year old girl in Belgium who had a lifelong history of mental disorders, self harm and simply no longer wanted to live in the world anymore. Belgium is one of only a few countries in the world that allows selective euthanasia based on many different categories including mental illness or terminal illness. For mental illness, the process takes around two years so most people applying for it aren’t experiencing run of the mill depression and the very few who are actually accepted , have tried almost everything possible. Watch the documentary yourself if it sounds interesting, especially because it isn’t very long. What I really want to ask is whether or not the choice to end our own lives should be a fundamental right for human beings.

Before I start Ill hit you with the conclusion which is that there really is no right answer here, it will mostly depend on your morals and your opinion of what is right and what is wrong. That being said ill continue with saying that I personally think that if someone no longer wants to be part of this world and goes through proper channels and is okayed by doctors to end their life, then is should be allowed. We don’t get the choice to be brought into this world, and many of us do not enjoy being here, whether it is because of mental illness, or physical illness. These people want a way out, but at the same time they don’t want to hurt the friends and family they love by committing suicide in a gruesome way and leave someone else to pick up the pieces. Euthanasia gives an opportunity for families and the unhappy person time to come to terms with the decision they are going to make and have everything put in order before it is done. To some people this could mean the world.

Of course no one wants someone they love to choose to end their lives, but ultimately their live is their own and they can do with it what they want. In fact many of the cases that are approved, end up backing out right before the procedure is going to take place because people realize they don’t want to end their life. Due to the lengthy process of doctor evaluation and the slow bureaucratic system, momentary suicidal people never end up getting to the end. Only the really dedicated and ill end up getting to the end of the waiting period and when some decide to back out, it gives them a new lease on life. Just having the option in many cases lets people try and hope that things will be better and if not they can always use the resources provided to them.

For many people, over time things do get better , but for just as many people they don’t. People with severe mental illness can learn to cope with the illness, but day to day battles are still unavoidable. If someone has to battle the thought of killing themselves and harming themselves everyday, no existence might be better than a painful one. We put injured animals out of their misery all the time, yet when it comes to human beings, completely different rules apply. In some cases, someone who is in so much pain that they would rather be dead, being alive is less humane than letting them have a peaceful death.

Like I stated in the beginning , opinions here are mostly going to be based on your experiences in life and the morals you have. However try to see both sides of the argument and understand that if you believe in basic human freedoms, having control over your life is one of them, even if it means you want to end it. I really recommend watching the documentary and responding on your opinion of what can be done in these situations. I think as time goes by, we will see more countries open up to the idea of doctor assisted euthanasia like Belgium has. Maybe not to the level of allowing those with mental disorders, end their lives, but definitely those with terminal illnesses.

-Calaber24p