Controversy has resulted in divisions with right-to-die activists arguing that it should be legalized and other members of the society arguing that euthanasia legalization could lead to increased deaths. Right-to-die activists assert that the legalization of euthanasia can help end a patient’s suffering, allowing them to die with dignity. They believe everyone has the right to decide how they should die. The other party is the ethicists that have argued that it is unethical for a person to be assisted to die before his time of death. Ethicists argue that death should occur naturally, and it is illegal to induce death.
Proponents of euthanasia consist of physicians and civil right groups like American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Compassion and Choices. ACLU advocate for people rights and freedom that are guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States. They believe that “each of us should have the right to die in a humane and dignified manner... The exercise of this right is as central to personal autonomy and bodily integrity as rights safeguarded by this Court's decisions relating to marriage, family relationships, procreation, contraception, child rearing and the refusal or termination of life-saving medical treatment...” They believe that euthanasia is a family private decision and the state shouldn’t have a said in it. Other group such as Dignity in Dying believes everyone should have a choice over where and how we die.
The concepts of autonomy and dignity are one of euthanasia proponent main arguments. Individual autonomy is the notion that “to live one's life according to reasons and motives that are taken as one's own and not the product of manipulative or distorting external forces” (Sjöstrand). This concept strongly supports the legalization of active voluntary euthanasia because for a patient who is a rational individual, they should have the right and the capability to decide when to end their life to eliminate suffering.