Traditions in English Speaking Countries: Should Euthanasia be a Personal Choice?

Hello everyone!! On today’s blog we are going to discuss about a controversial topic: should euthanasia be a personal choice? I’m going to be talking from a medical perspective and referencing American and European countries, so if you are interested, then keep on reading! This is an important topic for society because with it a person can have control and decide over their lives, but is it convenient to legalize it? It represents a fine line between a life in pain and disguise or a peaceful and dignified death.

I personally think it should be legalized, starting with the fact that every single living organism should have the right to decide over his or her lives. There is a lot of controversy about cultural aspects, but in Mexico 59% of the population of that country, said they were in favor of euthanasia, while the 35% of people were against and the 6% answered they had no idea. And in Mexico City (the capital of the country), the same survey was done and 64% of people were in favor, 27% was against and 4% did not want to answer.

With that it is clear how the majority of the folk believes that euthanasia is not a bad idea, but in countries where religion plays a strong role, such as in Mexico, you might think that would mean a problem since, for example, Catholic religion does not accept euthanasia as an everyday activity… but in fact, even though religion is part of Mexican culture, people who were strong believers represented the 43% in agreeing euthanasia, while in the moderated believers group the 60% accepted it, in the fairly believers group the 65% agreed with the idea, and people who were not religious accepted making up a 75% of votes in favor of euthanasia.¹

With this survey we can see how even though in none of the groups a 100% exists, in almost all religious groups the majority thought euthanasia was a good option for people, if they desired. Something interesting is that the more religious a person is, the less acceptance euthanasia has, which means religion play a big role controlling people’s thoughts, so are we going to take federal decisions just based on an ideology which only has mythological aspects to support itself? Consider that.

In another survey, 69.3% of the Mexican population was in favor of euthanasia, where 58.3% said it was better if a doctor gave the patient a strong drug to end with his/her life, and the 56.4% said it was better to make people do it by themselves, as it is done in an assisted suicide.²

So if the cultural aspect with society is okay, then what about the medical one? Well, 54% of doctors believe it should be legal, while 86% agreed with it if the patient was in a terminal illness stage and 55% if the patients were dying with pain. In every percentage, the majority was in favor of euthanasia.³

Also, we have to have in mind that in cases of coma, for example, when people is in a level 3 or 4 in the Glasgow Coma Scale, they are likely to die or stay in a vegetative state for the rest of their lives, in the first 24 hours, making a 87%, and in cases of a level 11-15 they are not as prone as with the other levels.⁵ And in coma, there are several cases reported of physical and sexual abuse on patients in coma, being one of the most famous cases, one published recently in the New York Times, of a girl which had a decent life with a high living standard, and now after 10 years of being in coma she “magically” is pregnant. Disturbing, isn’t it? Obviously the nurse was taken into a court and now John Parrinello is taking the case.⁴ Why do we have to make people suffer that much, if in live they decided to not?

All the previous information, and without talking about the physical injuries of being in coma, such as the ones you get from the intubations, and the eschars produced as a consequence of not moving.

But we are not taking into consideration some aspects… If someone is suffering and is very likely to die, why don’t we end with his/her suffering? Our duty as doctors is to make patients feel as happy and joyful as they can by curing them, but if there is no cure and only soreness is present, what is the point? We should obey people’s will since it’s their decision about their lives. Patients should have the right to decide over their dignity and stay of living.

Also, it would imply other considerations to have in mind such as the economical aspect since for the family, maintaining an incurable disease could be sometimes not benevolent for the family and for what if at the end the person suffered and dies? Just to elongate the pain? Also, psychological health of the patient because at the end, if the patients wan to die, even the best medicine ever is not going to act on them, and the same happens with the worst medicine and most enthusiastic patient, if a person wants to live, they do it even with the most bizarre placebos.

Some people are concerned about mortality ranges, but don’t worry, they don’t get affected at all and it has been shown in the 6 European countries and other states around the world, that legalized euthanasia.⁶

In conclusion, euthanasia is a worldwide interesting controversial topic, but at the end as it plays with the lives of people, the same people should be able to take decisions on their own body, and lives, including their health, necessities and own happiness. It would affect no one, it would benefit society, and as majority is in favor, it should be accepted worldwide. Let’s start thinking out of the box! ;)

Thanks for reading!!