There is no good reason for people to be denied the right to die at a time and in a way of their own choosing.
Euthanasia or assisted suicide for the elderly in declining mental and/or physical health should be available to anyone of sound mind whether or not they are suffering from a terminal illness or experiencing unbearable suffering.
Euthanasia and assisted suicide should not just be legal, but should be socially acceptable, even commendable, options for ending one's life.
Suicide too, should be quite acceptable, so long as one has fulfilled whatever obligations one may have to the living, for example, to one's children.
The suicide of a young person in the grip of depression that may be treatable or may pass is plainly a very sad thing and a very different case to a carefully considered suicide of an old person (such as myself). While suicide might seem to be the best course to a young person for a time, it is very likely that conditions will change and that person will go on to enjoy life for many years.
One of the objections to suicide has been based on
religion; "God gives life and only God has the right to take away one's life".
Of course, not only is there no evidence for the existence of a God or gods, but the
whole idea of a divinity is absurd.
Yet the prohibition on suicide seems to have remained stuck in the minds of many; even of those people who have removed the god-delusion from their beliefs.
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Why should a humane death be denied to a human being when any other sort of death is unacceptable for a domestic animal or a pet? Allowing an animal to die slowly and miserably can even be a cause for a criminal conviction, and rightly so; yet we humans are often condemned to die very unpleasant deaths when it could easily be otherwise.
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The burden of looking after more and more aged people is not just expensive for society, it makes life harder for young, working people who have to pay the necessary taxes. It is simplistic to say that "you can't put a price on a life"; our society puts a price on life all the time – for example when deciding how much to spend of making a road more safe or how much to spend on health care – it is right to do so; to not do so would cripple society with unsustainable taxes and costs.
So long as elderly people can look after themselves they do not place a great burden on society, but once they have to be looked after by others and/or they develop serious health problems, costs go up steeply. They should have the right to decide for themselves whether they want to continue living – whether their quality of life justifies continuing – and whether they want to be a burden to others. Certainly they should not be pressured into ending their lives, but the decision should be available to them. They should not feel bound by custom to wait until they 'die a natural death'.
A person who has been responsible for his or her own welfare and is accustomed to contributing to society suffers a loss of dignity when he becomes dependent on others and can no longer usefully contribute. He should not be forced to accept this loss of dignity and self respect.
At the time of writing this I was seventy years old. At the time I was fortunate enough to be reasonably fit and well. I could still contribute to society.
Once I am no longer able to contribute I would prefer to not be a burden to others; I want the option to be able to end my life when it suits me. Certainly I have no desire to suffer the indignity of going into a nursing home and relying on others for my basic needs. I have been happily married for about forty years, and should my wife die before me, I'm not at all sure that I would want to continue with life. I fully intend to end my life when it suits me, whether or not doing so is legal or socially acceptable at the time.
Not only is there nothing ethically wrong with a person wanting to not burden others; it is commendable, it is simply altruism.
The world is grossly over-populated. Why force a person to live against their will when, again, they would be behaving in an altruistic way to end their life? To keep people alive when they would prefer to die is not only immoral, it is also cruel and absurd.
I am not advocating encouraging people to end their lives, but they should be given the option of doing so if they want to and there should be no stigma attached to ending your life when it suits you.