Right to die

The right to die is the belief that people have the right to end their own lives. Usually, when people talk about the right to die, they are talking about the right of people with terminal illnesses to end their lives.

The right to die is very controversial. Most arguments about the right to die focus on these questions:

• Should a person with a terminal illness be allowed to:
  • Kill themselves?
  • Have somebody else help them kill themselves?
  • Have a doctor give them medications that they can take to kill themselves?
  • Refuse medical treatment, if doing that would cause them to die?
• Should people who have illnesses which will not kill them, but cause severe pain or suffering, have the right to die?
• Who, if anyone, has the power to make these decisions?

Hinduism accepts the right to die for anyone that has terminal diseases and have no desire to live. Other religions, however, vary in the tolerance of this right, and some call suicide a sin.

Related pages

• Antinatalism
• Terminal illness
• Assisted suicide
• Euthanasia
• Cruzan v. Director, Missouri Department of Health (the first "right to die" case in the United States)