Terminally ill patients should have the right to determine when and how they die
...d for them to cope with the reality that the pain will never go away. On the contrary, it will just become stronger. Most terminally ill patients do not want to be dependent upon other people. Moreover, they do not want to suffer any further. They want to die painlessly and with a little dignity. Secondly, families of terminally ill patients also suffer. Doctors and nurses can only give patients minimum care, so families have to spend time caring for the special needs of their sick relatives. It is very traumatic for them to watch their loved ones suffer and not be able to help or alleviate their pain. The hardest thing of all is to be aware of the fact that they will die soon and that the last moments of their life will be in great pain. Their suffering will be for nothing. Another reason why euthanasia should be allowed is that it would save the Government a great deal of money which is now spent on medical treatments for terminally ill patients. Treatments such as chemotherapy and radiation are very expensive, and yet they are often not a cure. The patients might recover briefly, but then the pain returns, together with side effects of the treatment. Alternative diets, medicines and lifestyles are also expensive, and they must be paid for by patients or their families, often for little result. Opponents of euthanasia refute arguments such as these by describing euthanasia as legalised suicide. They claim that if euthanasia were legalised, people who choose not to live anymore need only to go to a doctor...