Title: BBC - Ethics - Euthanasia: Anti-euthanasia arguments
Headings: Anti-euthanasia arguments
Anti-euthanasia arguments
On this page
Overview of anti-euthanasia arguments
Ethical arguments
Practical arguments
Historical arguments
Religious arguments
Against the will of God
The value of suffering
The religious attitude to suffering
The nature of suffering
Dying is good for us
Eastern religions
A non-religious view
The nature of suffering
Sanctity of life
We are valuable for ourselves
We must respect our own value
The slippery slope
Various forms of the slippery slope argument
Devalues some lives
The disabled person's perspective
Opposition to this argument
Patient's best interests
Other people have rights too
Proper palliative care
Making things better for patient, family and friends
Spiritual care
Palliative care and euthanasia
Legalising euthanasia may reduce the availability of palliative care
When palliative care is not enough
Fears about regulation
It gives doctors too much power
Pressure on the vulnerable
The pressure of feeling a burden
Pressure from family and others
Financial pressure

Content: To kill oneself, or to get someone else to do it for us, is to deny God, and to deny God's rights over our lives and his right to choose the length of our lives and the way our lives end. The value of suffering
Religious people sometimes argue against euthanasia because they see positive value in suffering. 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. Pope John Paul II: Salvifici Doloris, 1984
The religious attitude to suffering
Most religions would say something like this: We should relieve suffering when we can, and be with those who suffer, helping them to bear their suffering, when we can't. We should never deal with the problem of suffering by eliminating those who suffer. The nature of suffering
Christianity teaches that suffering can have a place in God's plan, in that it allows the sufferer to share in Christ's agony and his redeeming sacrifice. They believe that Christ will be present to share in the suffering of the believer. Pope John Paul II wrote that "It is suffering, more than anything else, which clears the way for the grace which transforms human souls."