• Question: Why is Uthenasia illegal in this country I know that it kills the person but don't they want to die so why make it illegal?

    Asked by rachelwhitehead21 to Damien, Rachael, Simon, Suzi, Tim on 20 Jun 2011. This question was also asked by fatlouietwin.
    • Photo: Suzi Gage

      Suzi Gage answered on 20 Jun 2011:

      Hi @rachelwhitehead21 and @fatlouietwin
      This is a great question – more philosophy than science though.
      Euthanasia is illegal because the Government is worried that it could lead to people taking advantage of vulnerable people.
      You are right, people who want to die can ask for assisted dying in countries like Switzerland. The reason it is illegal in this country is because when people are elderly, they sometimes can have problems that affect their clarity of thinking, and in this case they would be vulnerable to nasty people taking advantage of them, getting them to change their will (for example) and then taking them to have assisted killing.

      In Switzerland you have to be assessed on a number of occasions to check it’s your decision, and that you’re still ‘of sound mind’ before they agree to do it, and you have to drink the drug that kills you yourself, they will not feed you. But our Government believes that this isn’t enough of a safeguard against abuse of the system.

      Do you think the Government should legalise it?

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