Should euthanasia be legal?

Encyclopedia of Opinion

Question: Should euthanasia be legal?
Position‹2 of 2: No, euthanasia should be illegal
Argument‹3 of 5›: Legal euthanasia could be easily abused

Proponents of legalizing euthanasia cannot guarantee that the practice wouldn't be abused.

The argument

Legal euthanasia is bound to be abused in many different ways. Patients could be pressured by their families to make the decision because of a financial cost of a patient’s illness or because of financial incentive like an inheritance. The state could also use euthanasia as a political tool to get rid of society’s “undesirables” under the guise of medical help. Additionally, there is no guarantee that no physicians would abuse their power.

Premises

[P1]Patients could be pressured by families to choose euthanasia over the financial cost of their illness or for an inheritance. [P2] The state could use euthanasia as a political tool to eliminate society's undesirables under the guise of medical help. [P3] There is no guarantee that physicians would not abuse the power euthanasia gives them. [C] Therefore, because legal euthanasia could be easily abused, euthanasia should be illegal.

Counter-arguments

The potential for abuse is overstated by opponents of legal euthanasia; there are safeguards in place to prevent such events from happening, like the mental evaluation of a patient. The reality of legal euthanasia in places like the Netherlands, Belgium or state of Oregon shows that the fears of abuse are unfounded.

Rejecting the premises

[Rejecting P3] Possible abuse of legal euthanasia does not imply that the practice is ethically unjustified.