Placeholder Image

Subtitles section Play video

  • In June 2015, Belgium ruled that a healthy 24-year-old woman suffering from depression

  • qualifies for euthanasia. In California, a woman with painful lung cancer has sued the

  • state to allow her to commit suicide. Some countries have laws criminalizing suicide;

  • others have laws allowing euthanasia. So, should people have the right to die?

  • Well, the argument against suicide was first debated by the philosopher Socrates. He said

  • that since people belong to the gods and not themselves, it was not their right to end

  • their own lives. Before this, suicide was generally seen as a last resort alternative

  • to extreme or prolonged suffering by the ancient Egyptians and Romans. But as society progressed

  • and Christianity spread, suicide began to be seen as a sin – a violation ofthou

  • shalt not kill”. Since one couldn’t repent for a sin after committing suicide, it was

  • implied that you would go to hell as a result. In the 13th century, Thomas Aquinas, a priest

  • and legal scholar, codified this belief influencing criminal and civil law .

  • While suicide is no longer illegal in most countries, including the United States, the

  • topic has seen significant resurgence in recent years in the form ofright-to-dieeuthanasia.

  • Euthanasia is also known asassisted suicide”. Some argue that people should be allowed a

  • right to die for the exact same reason they are given a right to live. Specifically, the

  • right to life is inherently the right to either continue or stop living. Without the second

  • option, it is no longer a right, but a “duty to live”.

  • Additionally, the complicated issue of whether or not assisting suicide should be illegal

  • becomes part of the problem. While suicide itself is mostly not criminalized around the

  • world, euthanasia is considered murder in many regions. However, in some situations,

  • a person who wants to commit suicide is unable to by physical limitations. Alternately, someone

  • may prefer to deal with the issue medically, and not alone.

  • On the other hand, many oppose suicide and the right to die, on both religious and secular

  • grounds. The Hippocratic Oath is a code for doctors which is generally understood to include

  • a responsibility to avoid harming patients. Assisting suicide would generally violate

  • that oath. Additionally, someone with an incorrect diagnosis may kill themselves to avoid suffering.

  • Some argue that a certain level of mental degeneration brought on by illness or age

  • would preclude a person from making the informed choice to kill themselves. There is also the

  • fear that it would create a slippery slope of insurers pressuring doctors to prescribe

  • euthanasia to cut down on costs.

  • The right to die debate is a deeply philosophical and existential issue with no easy solution.

  • Culture, religion, age, and a myriad of other differences mean that euthanasia and suicide

  • are extremely personal subjects.

  • If you are feeling suicidal, please look up your local suicide helpline, or call someone

  • you trust to talk things over.

  • Death is a controversial issue. To find out what the US government believes is an appropriate

  • method of execution, check out our two videos here. Thanks for watching TestTube News. Subscribe

  • for new videos every day.

In June 2015, Belgium ruled that a healthy 24-year-old woman suffering from depression

Subtitles and vocabulary

Click the word to look it up Click the word to find further inforamtion about it