Is Euthanasia Right?

My grandmother died recently. For the last eight years she had suffered from various illnesses from strokes to dementia. She had suffered from arthritis for nearly twenty years, and in the last 2 years of her life she was bed bound. From this point her deterioration was much stronger, and after a few months of being totally bed bound she was unable to feed herself and for the last year of her life she was unable to talk and I don’t think she was truly aware of her surroundings. Fortunately, she was in a care home where she received excellent care, and I am sure she wasn’t in pain. However every time I visited I was acutely aware of how unfair it was too her. She was unable to move, unable to have a proper conversation or feed herself.  But would euthanasia have been the answer? To some, it may sound heartless but I truly do think that my mother and auntie should have had the option to choose euthanasia.

  I understand some of the arguments against euthanasia. For example, whilst I do agree that scientific progress must go on, I doubt that the introduction of euthanasia would slow it down, let alone stop it. I don’t think people would see euthanasia as an alternative to getting better. By the time my grandmother became bed bound she’d undergone a great number of medical treatments and helped in a few trials. But it was still obvious that there was nothing medicine could to heal here, only keep her out of pain.

Secondly, I understand the idea that we don’t have the right to decide who should live or die. But towards the end of my grandmother’s life, we have no idea if she was truly aware of her surroundings, but it seems unlikely. She was unable to do anything for herself. She may not have suffered physically, but she must have felt some emotion and mental pain. Surely if her daughters, knowing what condition she was in, felt that she would rather die peacefully than live as she was, should they not have the chance to at least consider euthanasia?

   It seems obvious to me that euthanasia should be an option to those who have no options. I don’t know if my mother and Auntie would have agreed to euthanasia had they been able to. I know they refused to allow her to go to hospital because they knew the home meant a lot to my grandmother and she would rather die there than in a strange place. But whether they would have been able to allow someone to end her life, I don’t know if they would have been able to make that choice. But I’m sure; knowing that they had that choice would have been a comfort to them.