Euthanasia

Autonomy is defined as the "the right of self government or personal freedom"1. Every person has the right to make personal and private decisions about their own lives defined in the American Constitution as "the right to privacy". Since death is the most personal of all things, the individual should have the right to dictate when they die and in what circumstances they do so.
To deny people the choice of death by active euthanasia is to force them to do something that is against their will and may well prolong their suffering, and therefore lose human dignity and decency. Death should be with dignity but modern medicine has prevented nature running its natural course. Not allowing a patient to end their life with dignity and free from pain is inhuman and leads to an increase in the callousness of society and a development of a disregard for the quality of life in the face of a choice with quantity of life.

Those against euthanasia claim that patients are often too affected by their illness to make adequate decisions about their future, but this denies them their true autonomy because every decision that is made regardless of the context is always influenced by internal and external factors.
If "society recognises the autonomy of individuals by granting them the right to pursue their views about the good life and create their own lives" then the logical consequence is to allow people to decide their own death.

Euthanasia allows patients death with dignity because continuing to live can inflict more problems, on both the patient having to cope with the pain and indignity of a prolonged death, and the family because it is distressing having to witness the gradual decline of a loved one.
With terminal illness there are two choices: let the disease run its course, or allow the inevitable to death to come sooner. The question is which one is of more benefit to the patient and acts in their best interests? Death is the lesser of two evils with regards to pain and suffering for 2 reasons:
The patient is prevented from dying painfully and slowly by ending it quickly and painfully.
The best interests of the patient are granted when the doctor allows and respects their autonomy
The problem is that there is no definitive point at which it can be said that life becomes too burdensome for an individual. To cope with this society can allow the withdrawal of treatment from individuals when it is deemed futile but this only serves to prolong the agony and may increase the suffering of the patient. The legalisation of euthanasia would allow the introduction of a quick and easy death when all other medical interventions are futile and is deemed to beneficent to the patient. Since one of the main aims of medicine is to relieve suffering, it is surely a medical duty to relieve the suffering of a patient through death.

Euthanasia allows the greatest good for the greatest number of people because:
The patient’s suffering is removed
The family can grieve properly
Medical staff can avoid grief and stress
The very high costs of terminal care for the patient are removed