Euthanasia a Human Right ?

In our western societies we are protected by laws, and we are granted
natural individual rights and freedom. These rights give us personal
freedom and security for our lives. there is however, no right or law,
permitting us to terminate another human being´s life except for a few
exceptions; in war, selfdefence and abortion of an unwanted pregnacy
within a short time frame. To protect yourself against assaults you
are not completely free to answer an attacker with deadly force, only
the proper measure to expel an attacker is according to the law and
excess violence can lead to charges for damage or manslaughter on the
defenders side.
The capital punishment; the death penalty is not in use anymore,
except for some states in the US. Thus the possibility to legally
terminate a human life is very limited. We regard it humane however,
to end an animal´s life if it is suffering from age, a disease or an
injury which is not cureable, for human beings this is not the case.

Euthanasia or bringing about of an easy and painless death for a
person suffering from an incureable and painful disease is an act
which in the latest years has been discussed in greater extent as an
adequate way to secure pasients,in their termal phase of their lives,
a dignified end. This is a very respectable point of view, but the
issue raises a few serious questions. First of all, the pasient must
have agreed to the procedure or have expressed a strong wish for this
kind of help, when still in a state of sanity. Relatives may apply
pressure on the the diseased in order to get to inhertance. It may be
difficult to give a secure prognosis for the disease. There are too
many stories of conditions given up by doctors, where the pasients
have become well and lived for many years afterwards.

Another question is who shall perform the termination? Doctors and
health personnel are trained to save and preserve life, not to
terminate it and it would be an infringement of personal rights to
demand or order such an act excecuted by health personnel. It is also
for many people an absolute command (religious) not to take lives. As
discussed above the issue saises more than one ethical dilemma and
instead of dig into the "yes and no trenches"  the issue and the
dilemmas it raises, deserve a solution, not at least for the the
pasients concered. My view is that it is necessary to find a narrow
(law)frame or window where all criteria are met with regard to the
diseased´s own wishes and rights and with specially educated personnel
to perform the termination. More than one doctor must independantly
diagnose the condition to be terminal and there must be no cure
available to releave the pain for the pasient.

Then euthanasia could be an option to concider.

Best regards
Olav Christian Bøe