Euthanasia!

Wow, what a topic. Psychology class sure is fun. I mean this is something I have never had to think of before in my life. It is a very hard topic and very touchy. I am part of a online class so our answers are not as formal. The question that was being asked is:

What is your opinion on euthanasia? Should laws be changed to allow this action in California? In all states? (Cite and discuss at least two outside sources.)

This is what I have so far. Its subject to change.

I did not know much about Euthanasia before going into this research. After reading articles and studying about it I have to say I am torn when it comes to Euthanasia. While one part of me wants to say I think that it should be legal another part of me wants to say I don’t think it should. I know that for myself I would not want to suffer from a disease that I was eventually going to die from. But at the same time I believe that suicide is a sin and goes against my beliefs and morals.
I do think that there is a moral difference between passive and active euthanasia http://euthanasia.procon.org/viewanswers.asp?questionID=147
I think allowing yourself to die by not treating the disease that eventually will kill you is a lot different then being legally injected before the suffering starts or continues. By refusing treatment you are not directly killing yourself. You did not give yourself the disease. But by having something injected in your body that ends your life is suicide which in my eyes is morally wrong. Then again why go through all the suffering when you could end it before it starts.

I know that I would not want to put my family through the heartache of seeing me suffer a battle I was not going to win. I would not want them to see me lose my hair, lose control over my body and ultimately lose my mind. I would not want my last months/years to be remembered by my suffering. I just wouldn't want that for my family. I would want to have a peaceful death and not one that is filled with heartache and suffering.

While I am very torn with the moral issue of the subject in the end I believe I think it should be legal in California and in all states. Everyone should have the right to chose to suffer or not. It’s a personal choice and not everyone has the same moral beliefs.
I do think there should be boundaries set. How those would be determined I am not sure. I don’t think that not wanting to go in a nursing home should be a factor for having a doctor end your life as in this article
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/health/diseasesconditionsandhealthtopics/deathanddying/index.html?excamp=OVHLeuthanasia&WT.srch=1&WT.mc_ev=click&WT.mc_id=HL-S-E-YH-NA-NA-euthanasia

I am still very torn on the question and probably could argue back and forth all day. Basically I can see both the pro's and con's. This was difficult yet interesting for me to get my thoughts all out.