Debate Speech opposing the motion euthanasia should be legalized

On the other hand the proposition have previously argued that Euthanasia spares a terminally ill person from suffering intolerable pain and that it is cruel to deny a person's right to die. We believe it is not our choice when or how to conclude our lives as we owe our lives to God. If it was God's plan for us to suffer then we must obey his orders. We believe that there may be value in a person's suffering. Pope John Paul II said:

' Down through the centuries and generations it has been seen that in suffering there is concealed a particular power that draws a person interiorly close to Christ, a special grace.'

Suffering can have a place in God's plan and it enables the sufferer to share in Christ's agony and his redeeming sacrifice. When we suffer we will not be alone God will be with us to share in our suffering.

Members of the house we the opposition are deeply worried about the severe consequences which will arise from the legalization of euthanasia. If Euthanasia does become legal Dr K.F. Gunning believes it will not be controlled properly

'Once you accept killing as a solution for a single problem, you will find tomorrow hundreds for which killing can be seen as a solution.'

If we as a nation allow Euthanasia to be legalized which we think will be relatively harmless this may start a trend that will consequently result in something currently unthinkable becoming accepted. The proposal put forward today to legalize Euthanasia is wide open to abuse, and would ultimately lead to involuntary Euthanasia because of shortage of health resources. Doctors may pressure weak and vulnerable patients into believing they should end their own lives just to save money. In the long run we fear that if Euthanasia does become legal people will be expected to commit Euthanasia as they become an unreasonable burden on society.

To legalize euthanasia would put pressure on the elderly, poor, terminally ill to end their lives. To legalize euthanasia we would be killing off anyone who is seen as disadvantageous such as alcoholics, drug addicts and the homeless. Isn't this what Hitler carried out during the second World War? Members of the house if this is what our civilized society desires then we are ashamed to be part of it.

The proposition have argued that euthanasia would never be legalized without proper regulation and control mechanisms in place. I believe that if we do legalize the act of euthanasia it will be impossible to keep it under control. follow on from this point I do not believe doctors should be able to 'play God.'

Since doctors give patients the information on which they will base their decisions about euthanasia, any legalisation of euthanasia, no matter how strictly regulated, puts doctors in an unacceptable position of power.Doctors have been shown to take these decisions improperly, defying the guidelines of the British Medical Association, the Resuscitation Council (UK), and the Royal College of Nursing.An Age Concern dossier in 2000 showed that doctors put 'Do Not Resuscitate' orders in place on elderly patients without consulting them or their families. Do Not Resuscitate orders are more commonly used for older people and, in the United States, for black people, alcohol misusers, non-English speakers, and people infected with Human Immunodeficiency Virus. This suggests that doctors have stereotypes of who is not worth saving. Should they have the ultimate power to decide who should live and who should die - I think not.

I believe that if a person expresses a wish to die because they are in pain that there is effective pain relief to free them from this pain.

Palliative care is physical, emotional and spiritual care for a dying person when cure is not possible. It includes compassion and support for family and friends.

Competent palliative care may well be enough to prevent a person feeling any need to contemplate euthanasia. Dame Cicely Saunders founder of the modern hospice movement believes;

'You matter because you are you. You matter to the last moment of your life and we will do all we can to help you die peacefully, but also to live until you die.'

Effective palliative care gives the patient and their loved ones a chance to spend quality time together, with as much distress removed as possible. They can (if they want to) use this time to bring any unfinished business in their lives to a proper closure and to say their last goodbyes. Good palliative care is the alternative to euthanasia. If it was available to every patient, it would certainly reduce the desire for death to be brought about sooner.

Euthanasia is wrong in so many ways: morally, religiously and ethically. Do we as a civilised society wish to be part of a country which pressurizes our weak and vulnerable people into an early grave? If we do then legalizing euthanasia is the way forward but if you have any shred of decency then you will realize that euthanasia is cold, heartless, barbaric murder and no good can or ever will come of it.