Euthanasia, formally known as mercy killing, is the practice of intentionally killing a patient at his or her request who is suffering from unbearable pain rather than allowing the patient to die naturally. The legalization of euthanasia has already been accepted in some places around the world, and many people are beginning to favor it precisely because it allows someone struggling through pain to die at the assistance of another person, typically a doctor, which is a fair argument to support it, however in legalizing euthanasia, the lives of other people are at a potential risk. Euthanasia, therefore, should not be legalized because of the negative consequences that will follow, such as abuses by doctors and leading from voluntary to involuntary euthanasia, as well as the lack of extensive care and alternatives to a patient suffering a mental disorder.

Legalizing euthanasia has the potential of causing doctors to abuse this practice on patients and benefit from their deaths with no dire consequences. Many would willingly resort to killing their patients rather than treat them, which is alarming and would result in the death of a bunch of people, some of whom may not want to be euthanized. “Legalized euthanasia raises the potential for a profoundly dangerous situation in which doctors could find themselves far better off financially if a seriously ill or disabled person ‘chooses’ to die rather than receive long-term care,” (Torr, 60). By choosing not to help patients who are in desperate need of medical care, doctors euthanize them in an effort to gain more money since it’s far easier than caring for their patients in the long run. Doctors would frequently abuse the practice of euthanasia by manipulating their patients into consenting and making them think it is the only solution to their medical conditions just so they won’t be bothered to care for them, when in reality there may be a possible solution or treatment to the attention they seek. It’s much easier for someone to inject a patient with some sort of lethal injection or drug and end their lives to gain a substantial amount of money than to have them seek medical care, all of which must be taken into account to prevent future patients from dying to the abuses of euthanasia. If euthanasia is legalized, then our society could start seeing an increase of death rates as a potential effect that will harm everyone.

In order for euthanasia to effectively be practiced, the patient must voluntarily consent to being euthanized. Legalizing euthanasia could change that and lead to involuntary euthanasia, in which case a patient does not give their consent or isn’t asked to being euthanized in the first place and are forcibly euthanized. During a case from the Netherlands concerning an elderly women suffering dementia, a doctor tried to forcibly euthanize her involuntarily. “A doctor drugged the woman’s coffee in order to induce sleep.  She then attempted to give a lethal injection, even as the woman woke up, kicking and screaming, apparently in an attempt to resist the injection. At that point, the doctor then ordered family members present to hold her down so the ‘procedure’ could be completed,” (Tarne, “Netherlands Forcible Euthanasia Case and the Slippery Slope”). As previously mentioned, the elderly women did not voluntarily consent to being euthanized, however the doctor disregarded her request and proceeded to forcibly euthanize the women despite her resisting. As shown from that case in the Netherlands, a country where euthanasia is legal, the effect of euthanasia being further legalized elsewhere would result in dire consequences to those who involuntarily consent to being euthanized by doctors. Whether it was a voluntary choice or not, many doctors will end up proceeding with the euthanization practice either way, conveying that the patient has no choice on the matter, which is why it is imperative for euthanasia to not be legalized.

Many cases concerning a patient being euthanized don’t take into account any possible alternative solutions or extensive treatment for a patient suffering a mental illness. Instead, they are killed as a means to not deal with their mental problems anymore. In the case of a twenty-nine-year-old woman from the Netherlands suffering a long history of mental illness, doctors were unable to treat her condition, so eventually overtime she decided to be euthanized (Pressly, “The Troubled 29-Year-Old Helped to Die by Dutch Doctors”). The lack of any extensive treatment to help and encourage Aurelia, the twenty-nine-year-old Dutch woman, to continue to fight and not lose hope in overcoming her illness is a result of the negative consequences followed by legalizing euthanasia. Extensive medical care and alternative solutions are possible for people suffering mental illnesses, however many health professionals resort to euthanizing as it is the “easier” path to take. “‘I've treated patients that I knew were going to commit suicide. I knew. They told me, I felt it, and I thought, 'I can't help you.' So to have euthanasia as an alternative makes me very grateful we have a law. The ones I know will commit suicide are terminal in my opinion,’” (Pressly, “The Troubled 29-Year-Old Helped to Die by Dutch Doctors”). Health professionals see people with mental illnesses as a waste of their time and a hopeless cause, so as an alternative solution to not be bothered in dealing with their problems is to euthanize them. It is important to do whatever it takes to help someone overcome their struggles, no matter how hopeless it may seem since there is always the possibility of successfully transforming their lives for the better in the end. By not legalizing euthanasia, many people have the chance of receiving the required medical attention that they deserve to help them cope with their problems rather than killing the problem off.

Although there are many downsides and potential consequences that may arise in legalizing euthanasia, if a person is suffering tremendously and unable to die naturally, then they should be permitted to be euthanized. The person deciding to proceed with the practice of euthanization must consent to it and should be granted if the pain is unbearable. “A mentally competent adult who is dying should be able to submit a written request to their doctor that would state, ‘I've had all I can take. The pain and suffering are too much. I wish to die. Help me,’” (“Legalizing Euthanasia”). In other words, if all treatments have failed to tend a patient’s pain and suffering then they should be allowed to be euthanized. Most of the time, euthanasia could be used for a good cause and bring about the end to a person’s suffering if they so desire, but on the other hand, legalizing it would continue to negatively affect other people seeking genuine medical care and make them fearful of the possibility of being euthanized and killed without their consent each time they visit their doctor.

Euthanasia should not be legalized because of the negative consequences it will bring that will put the lives of everyone at risk. It is possible for the practice of euthanasia to be abused by doctors for their own personal benefit in killing off their patients. Furthermore, it will cause people to die, whether or not they have chosen to voluntarily be euthanized, and finally legalizing euthanasia lacks any means of extensive medical attention and treatment on people suffering mental illnesses. In preventing euthanasia from being legalized, the lives of many people that would be affected by it could be saved from the possibility of dying at the hands of the negative consequences that would follow suit and establish a sense of security. Not only does it pave the way for a safer society, it also maintains a healthy relationship between the patient and doctor.