The LidoA slender island that splits the Venice lagoon and the Adriatic Sea. buzzed with excitement. Celebrities strolled self-consciously up the red carpet. It could mean only one thing: the Venice Film Festival was in town. 

Venice hummed with life. But the issue on everyone's mind was death. The Room Next Door, the new film by celebrated Spanish director Pedro Almodovar, has poured fuel on a burning question: whether people should be allowed to end their lives via euthanasiaThe deliberate and painless ending of a life. .¹

Adapted from a novel by Sigrid Nunez, the film stars Tilda Swinton and Julianne Moore as two old friends. Swinton's character Martha has terminal cancer. She asks Moore's Ingrid to be at her side as she takes a pill to end her life.

Critics have marvelled at the film's quiet beauty. But the debate it ignites is more controversial. Euthanasia is an issue that divides countries, commentators and citizens. It is currently legal in 10 countries, but illegal almost everywhere else. In the UK, a doctor can face 14 years in prison for helping someone to die.²

Almodovar thinks "there should be the possibility to have euthanasia all over the world".³ Euthanasia supporters believe that those who experience extreme pain should be able to end their suffering. They can face death with dignity, and spare family and friends the pain of witnessing a drawn-out end. 

Many claim that our death belongs to us. It should be our human right to bring it about. A majority in the UK agrees. A 2023 IpsosIpsos provides election research and forecasting services to help stakeholders navigate these events. poll found that 65% of respondents think assisted dying should be legal, with only 17% sure it should not be.

Yet not everyone is on board. Medic and peer Ilora Finlay, believes legalising euthanasia could result in up to 58,000 assisted deaths a year. "Such demand would divert an already stretched workforce," she says.

Others argue that euthanasia opens up a Pandora's box of ethical issues. Doctors in many countries currently swear a dedication, based on the Hippocratic OathAn ancient Greek ethical code for doctors still used by many medics today. In his new oath, Dr Jordan Shlain focuses on patient data and making medical language more accessible..⁴ This often asks them to respect human life and cause no harm to their patients.

Asking doctors to help people die could work against this. Hospitals are places, writes Dr Amy Profitt, "where lives are meant to be saved not ended ­prematurely". Doctors are not qualified to know whether people should die. And patients can recover suddenly.

Legal euthanasia also opens up the possibility that vulnerable people could be forced into ending their lives. It could be a slippery slope towards legal murder. People could coerce ill, older relatives to opt for death, in a bid to claim an inheritance. 

Should euthanasia be a human right?

Yes: It is ridiculous that our country can force people to stay alive against their wishes. The freedom to die is just as important to our dignity as humans as our freedom of speech and expression. Legalise it everywhere, now.

No: For something to be a human right, it has to be recognised around the world. But conversations around life and death are culturally specific. Not all societies are equipped to assess patients fairly and offer painless deaths.

Or... People should control their deaths. Yet euthanasia gives doctors too much power over life and death. The sufferer should be in the driver's seat. A better approach would be to decriminalise those who assist with suicide.

Lido - A slender island that splits the Venice lagoon and the Adriatic Sea.

Euthanasia - The deliberate and painless ending of a life.

Ipsos - Ipsos provides election research and forecasting services to help stakeholders navigate these events.

Hippocratic Oath - An ancient Greek ethical code for doctors still used by many medics today. In his new oath, Dr Jordan Shlain focuses on patient data and making medical language more accessible.