Right to die


The right to die is a concept rooted in the belief that individuals have the autonomy to make fundamental decisions about their own lives, including the choice to commit suicide or undergo voluntary euthanasia, central to the broader notion of health freedom. This right is often associated with cases involving terminal illnesses or incurable pain, where assisted suicide provides an option for individuals to exercise control over their suffering and dignity.
The debate surrounding the right to die frequently centers on the question of whether this decision should rest solely with the individual or involve external authorities, highlighting broader tensions between personal freedom and societal or legal restrictions.
Religious views on the matter vary significantly, with some traditions such as Hinduism and Jainism permitting non-violent forms of voluntary death, while others, including Catholicism, Islam and Judaism, consider suicide a moral transgression.

Ethics

The preservation and value of life have led to many medical advancements when it comes to treating patients. New devices and the development of palliative care have allowed humans to live longer than before. Prior to these medical advancements and care, the lifespans of those who were unconscious, minimally unconscious, and in a vegetative state were short as they were unable to receive assistance with basic needs such as breathing and feeding. The advancement of medical technology raises the question about the quality of life of patients who are no longer conscious. For example, the right to self-determination questions the definition of quality and sanctity of life—if one had the right to live, then the right to die must follow suit. There are questions in ethics as to whether or not a right to die can coexist with a right to life. If it is argued that the right to life is inalienable, then it cannot be surrendered and therefore may be incompatible with a right to die. A second debate exists within bioethics over whether the right to die is universal, only applies under certain circumstances, or if it exists at all. It is also stated that 'right to live' is not synonymous to 'obligation to live.' From that perspective, the right to live can coexist with the right to die.
The right to die is supported and rejected by many. Arguments for this right include:
  • If one had a right to live, then one must have the right to die, both on their terms.
  • Death is a natural process of life thus there should not be any laws to prevent it if the patient seeks to end it.
  • What we do at the end of our lives should not be of concern to others.
  • If euthanasia is strictly controlled, we can avoid entering a slippery slope and prevent patients from seeking alternative methods which may not be legal.
Arguments against include:
  • It can lead to a slippery slope; if we allow patients this right, it can expand and have dire consequences.
  • Give rise to pressuring those to end their lives or the lives of others; ethically immoral by human and medical standards.
  • "Throwing away" patients who are deemed no longer capable to be part of society.
  • Decrease in palliative end-of-life care due to the expectation of terminal patients to exercise their right to die.
A court in the American state of Montana for example, has found that the right to die only applies to those with life-threatening medical conditions. Physician-assisted suicide advocate Ludwig Minelli, euthanasia expert Sean W. Asher, and bioethics professor Jacob M. Appel, in contrast, argue that all competent people have a right to end their own lives. Appel has suggested that the right to die is a test for the overall freedom of a given society. A professor in social work, Alexandre Baril, proposed to create an ethic of responsibility "based on a harm-reduction, non-coercive approach to suicide. suggest that assisted suicide should be an option for suicidal people." He argued that the voice of suicidal people is viewed as illegitimate and that there are 'injunctions to live and to futurity' where suicidal subjects are oppressed and silenced. Baril suggests the word suicidism to describe the " oppressive system functioning at the normative, discursive, medical, legal, social, political, economic, and epistemic levels in which suicidal people experience multiple forms of injustice and violence " He suggests creating safer spaces and listening to suicidal people without forcing the 'will to live' upon them.
The 1991 Patient Self-Determination Act passed by the US Congress at the request of the financial arm of Medicare does permit elderly Medicare/Medicaid patients to prepare an advance directive in which they elect or choose to refuse life-extending and/or life-saving treatments as a means of shortening their lives and thus suffering unto certain death. Under the Act, the treatment refused in an advance directive does not have to be proved to be "medically futile" under some existing due-process procedure developed under state laws, such as TADA in Texas.
The right to die, also known as the right to death, is an ethical and legal concept that supports the freedom of a human being to end their life or undergo voluntary euthanasia. This right is generally associated with individuals suffering from a terminal illness or lacking the will to continue living, and it may allow them to terminate their own life, refuse life-prolonging treatment, or opt for assisted suicide or euthanasia. The question of who should be able to exercise this right is often central to the debate.
Some scholars and philosophers, such as David Benatar, approach this debate in terms of antinatalism. Since human beings do not have the power to act at the time of their birth, no one should have authority over a person's decision to continue living or to die.
Supporters of the right to die often connect it to the idea that a person's body and life belong solely to themselves, and they should have the freedom to dispose of them as they see fit, understanding that the right to life does not imply a duty or obligation to live. However, a legitimate state interest in preventing irrational suicides is typically opposed. For example, Avital Pilpel and Lawrence Amsel argue:
"Contemporary advocates of rational suicide or the right to die generally demand, for reasons of rationality, that the decision to end one's life be an autonomous choice of the individual, that the choice be 'the best option in these circumstances', as well as other natural conditions, such as the stability of the decision, the absence of impulsivity, the absence of mental illness, deliberation, etc."

By country

As of 2023, some forms of voluntary euthanasia are legal in Australia, Belgium, Canada, Colombia, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Spain and Switzerland.

Australia

As euthanasia is a health issue, under the Australian constitution this falls to state and territory governments to legislate and manage.
Euthanasia was legal within the Northern Territory during parts of 1996–1997 as a result of the territory parliament passing Rights of the Terminally Ill Act 1995. As a territory and not a state, the federal government under Prime Minister John Howard amended the Northern Territory Act 1978 to ensure that territories of Australia are no longer able to legislate on euthanasia. However, this was repealed in December 2022 with the passing of Restoring Territory Rights Act. The federal government is not able to legislate restrictions on health issues for the Australian states and territories in the same manner.
Voluntary assisted dying schemes have been in effect in the following states; Victoria since 19 June 2019, Western Australia since 1 July 2021, Tasmania since 23 October 2022, Queensland since 1 January 2023, and South Australia since 31 January 2023. New South Wales was the final state to pass legislation for assisted dying in May 2022, which went into effect on 28 November 2023.

Belgium

In 2002, the Belgian parliament legalized euthanasia.

Canada

In August 2011, a British Columbia Supreme Court judge requested to speed up a right to die lawsuit so that Gloria Taylor could have a doctor assist her in dying by suicide. She had Lou Gehrig's disease. She died of an infection in 2012.
On February 6, 2015, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that denying the right to assisted suicide was unconstitutional. The court's ruling limits physician-assisted suicides to "a competent adult person who clearly consents to the termination of life and has a grievous and irremediable medical condition, including an illness, disease or disability, that causes enduring suffering that is intolerable to the individual in the circumstances of his or her condition." The ruling was suspended for 12 months to allow the Canadian parliament to draft a new, constitutional law to replace the existing one. The court decision includes a requirement that there must be stringent limits that are "scrupulously monitored." This will require the death certificate to be completed by an independent medical examiner, not the treating physician, to ensure the accuracy of reporting the cause of death. The Canadian Medical Association reported that not all doctors were willing to assist in a patient's death due to legal complications and went against what a physician stood for. Many physicians stated that they should have a voice when it comes to helping a patient end their life. However, the belief in late 2015 was that no physician would be forced to do so but the CMA was offering educational sessions to members as to the process that would be used.
On June 17, 2016, legislation passed both houses of the Parliament of Canada and received Royal Assent to allow euthanasia within Canada.

Colombia

On 20 May 1997, the Constitutional Court of Colombia decriminalised piety homicide, for terminally ill patients, stating that "the medical author cannot be held responsible for the assisted suicide of a terminally ill patient" and urged Congress to regulate euthanasia "in the shortest time possible".
On 15 December 2014, the Constitutional Court had given the Ministry of Health and Social Protection 30 days to publish guidelines for the healthcare sector to use in order to guarantee terminally ill patients, with the wish to undergo euthanasia, their right to a dignified death.