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<title> Who own the right to my death? </title>
In this essay I'm going to discuss active euthanasia. I will first give some facts about it and then discuss it and try to explain why I want it to be legal. 
By Swedish law euthanasia is forbidden. If you help a person to die you can be prosecuted for murder or manslaughter. The law distinguish between good and evil intent, but where the dividing-line should be placed can be hard to construe. 
Euthanasia is divided into two forms: 1) Passive euthanasia, means that in the treatment of very ill and incurable patients one avoids medical or other technical treatments that can result in a prolongation of the patients suffering and life. This form of terminal care contains a considerable psychological support and systematically alleviation of the pain except from a good medical care. It's a hard decision to take for the doctor and the patient ( if possible), or the relatives of the patient. 2) Active euthanasia is measures that directly shortens the life of an patient, and that is forbidden. 
Holland was the first country in the world to legalize active euthanasia year 1993, but since 1986, though it was illegal, it has been possible to get active euthanasia. The regulations for active euthanasia in Holland is that the patients request must be of his own free will, his suffering hard and no other treatment possible. The doctor have to write a protocol that report the following: - The disease, prognos and earlier treatment of the patient. - Who the doctors are that has treated the patient, - the suffering and condition of the patient and what had been done to alleviate the suffering, - in which way the patient made his request of euthanasia, - who the witnesses are that were present and which alternatives that was discussed, - if the doctor have consulted a colleague, and in that case what the result of it was, - who performed the euthanasia, how it was done and who was present. Afterwards a medico-legal expert must go through the protocol and issue a death certificate of unnatural death. The material shall then be given to an prosecutor that decides if the euthanasia is legal. 
I think that all human beings have the right to their own life. The question you can ask then is if the right to life automatically has the consequence that everybody have the right to death? If the individual has the right to life, shouldn't he also have the right to die? I think that he has. A person that has the right to his life should have the right to his death. Suicide is not punishable in Sweden and therefore help to suicide shouldn't be punishable either, I think. If a person who wants to get euthanasia could commit suicide he wouldn't need to ask for it. That's one of the reasons why I think that a suffering person shouldn't be forced to a continuing suffering just because other persons are against euthanasia. 
No one knows if death is the end of a persons suffering and that if it is therefore a humanity to kill him. That's why I think it's up to the individual himself to make decisions about his own life. Relatives of an very ill patient should therefore not be able to make the decision about euthanasia. I think that a person can help another person to die if it is clear that it is the person's wish. Then, who do I think should make sure that no one gets killed because the killer thought it was the wish of the killed person, though it was not? I think that it is the government, the juridical system that should have the task to try the cases where a person's life gets deprived. 
When a person don't want to live anymore because of his pain and ask for help to die, because he cannot end his life himself, he cannot get legal help in Sweden. He is forced to go abroad to do it or to continue to live with the pain. I think that it is tragic. I mean, it is not an easy decision to make, to decide that you want to die, and that's one other reason why I think that we should take these demands seriously and start working to make euthanasia legal. 
It is good that passive euthanasia is legal, but for those who have some time left to live, for example an Alzheimer sick person who is relatively healthy physically but is not possible to get in contact with mentally, why do he have to live like an helpless baby if he have said that he, when he reaches a certain stage of the illness, don't want to live anymore? Why shall not his wish be respected? Why can't he die if he want to? Why can't he make the decision to end his life when he is really sick when he can do it when he is not? Who want to die a slow death? I think that he should be able to do that. 
I think that we should legalize euthanasia, but do it with strong rules surrounding it, like in Holland that I wrote earlier about. I definitely don't want a person killed "by accident". I think the best would be to write a contract with a person who promise to kill you when you are in the special situation where you don't want to live anymore, for example brain death. But if a contract where a person have told that he wants to die if he gets into a special situation shall become valid it must be certain that it is the persons desire. I suggest that that a good way of doing it is to do it like you write the last will, that you have persons who witness it and that it is juridical correct. If that is the case and that the circumstances that is described in the contract arises, I see no reason not to follow the wish of the individual and give the document the same legitimate as an last will. If the individual no longer is able to communicate the contract of euthanasia must be the desire of the individual. 
No, I don't think that anyone should have to suffer if he doesn't want to. It is his own decision to make that he wants to die. Why shall "we" say that we know better than he does and therefore he can't die? Who are we to say that he really don't want to die, and therefore not allow him to do it? Is it just of kindness or is it something else? No, legalize active euthanasia, but let it be strong rules surrounding it, and let the persons who would want to get euthanasia have it if they pass the criteria's for it.
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