Euthanasia and Suicide. Does Ownership of Life Lead to Right to Die? Still on the debate (PDF)

Academic Paper from the year 2019 in the subject Politics - International Politics - Topic: Public International Law and Human Rights, grade: B, University of Catania (Department of Political and Social Sciences), language: English, abstract: Humans are free by nature. They enjoy right to self-preservation given the notion that humans themselves are the owners of their lives. This ownership of life bestows the right to make decisions on individual life solely on the owner of life; that is, the right to life and the right to die. As a result, individuals make decisions on whether their lives worth continuous existence or not on the basis of their encounter with the challenges of life, society, and health. To many, pains, agonies, indignities, and poor health vitiate good life. Therefore, continuous existence in such a situation debases the quality of being humans, according to many people. As a result, euthanasia and/or suicide are at the top of the decision ladder of such people in the above category. The question of whether or not individuals have right to end their lives by themselves or through another is subjected to moral, philosophical, and societal debates with different literature, policymakers, and professionals questioning the rationale behind the decision to end one's life by oneself or through the help of another person. This paper aims at expanding the debate by asking whether ownership of life leads to the right to die.