Social Econ Blog

I am sick. So ridiculously sick that I would do anything to be relieved of this pain. Anything...

And naturally, this got me thinking about euthanasia and the economic implications of a voluntary "passing." A google search led me to this anti-euthanasia site

Under "economic argument," the author writes:

Legalised euthanasia is seen in some quarters as a convenient solution to a lack of resources. In May 2002, a law was passed in Belgium ‘permitting the killing of sick people using medical techniques under certain conditions.’ During the publicity campaign in the run-up to the passing of the law, a number of studies were carried out relating to the final year of people’s lives. The studies apparently proved that the final year of a person’s life was usually the most expensive for the State. It would seem that this morbid financial statistic was being used to justify a change in the law. In other words, it was being suggested to the electorate that euthanasia makes good economic sense...

In a recent poll taken amongst economic students in America , it was found that 90% of the students supported compulsory euthanasia for unspecified groups of people, to ‘streamline the economy'...

To advocate euthanasia on the basis of an economic argument is despicable and morally indefensible. You cannot put a price on a human life, even though it may be elderly and infirm.

First of all, I'd be shocked if 90% of economic students would actually support compulsory euthanasia. But I think restricting euthanasia as an option for patients shrinks their set of choices and makes them worse off. If a patient wants to go, and he or she has nothing left to contribute to society, I think it's a win-win for everyone to just allow that person choose euthanasia. In addition, I think most people don't buy the "cannot put a price on a human life" argument because right now we do pull life support if the patient has no chance of ever making a full recovery. Of course, my words won't sway extremely religious individuals. I guess in cases when a group places infinite weight on a value, economic arguments can prove to be pretty useless.