Should euthanasia be legal?

Encyclopedia of Opinion

Question: Should euthanasia be legal?
Position1 of 2›: Yes, euthanasia should be legal
Argument‹4 of 6›: Euthanasia is a human right

Self-determination is a human right; patients have a right to a quick and painless suicide assisted by a doctor.

The argument

Humans have an innate right to life. Such right includes a right to self-determination, autonomy, and dignity. Denying an individual an access to legal euthanasia in case of painful, terminal illness constitutes a violation of his rights to make autonomous decisions about his well-being. Neither a state, physicians or other people should be able to force a person to go on living against his will.

Context

Article 6.1 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights approved by the United Nations states, that "every human being has the inherent right to life. This right shall be protected by law. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his life". Proponents of legal euthanasia argue that the human right to life should also include a one's right to die with dignity. The refusal to grant it violates the freedom of an individual.

Premises

[P1]Every human has an innate right to life that includes self-determination, autonomy, and dignity. [P2] Denying access to euthanasia in cases of painful, terminal illness violates a person's right to make autonomous decisions about their own well-being. [P3] Neither the state, physicians, nor anyone else should be able to force a person to keep living against their will. [C] Therefore, because euthanasia is a human right, it should be legal.

Counter-arguments

Various formulations of the right to life do not imply the opposite "right to die" - such interpretation is unfounded and not recognized by the majority of international tribunals and law academics.

Rejecting the premises

[Rejecting P3] The right to life is concerned only with an unlawful and arbitral deprivation of life. It does not give a right of choosing death over life to an individual.