I don't get it - this is 2015, not the dark ages. Why are we even debating this issue?
What makes people think that they or the State are more qualified or deserving of the right to decide whether a person is able to continue living or not? To think that it is somehow wrong on either a moral or legal level is entirely irrational. Quite the contrary, to insist that someone remains alive against their informed and express wishes, is in my view illegal and immoral.
South Africa is not a theocracy, we are a secular, constitutional democracy. That means that religious arguments are completely irrelevant and without merit. In this country, only the Constitution reigns supreme and has any weight.
The Constitution provides the legal framework for the enforcement of human rights and includes rights to life and dignity. Importantly, these are rights of the specific individual enforceable against the world at large. From my point of view, it is patently obvious that it is a material and drastic infringement on dignity to be forced to live in pain or in suffering or at all, if that person in fact wishes to die. Similarly, if people have a right to life than surely the ancillary right is that such person also has a right to choose whether to enforce such right or not (and die)?
The legal precedent is there. When abortions were legalised, the Court held that the woman's right to make reproductive decisions about her body trumped that of the child and community. Many religious communities were up in arms about this (and continue until this day).
I suppose people have the right to be offended by anything that upsets them. The point being though is that these people shouldn't ever expect their views to hold any legal or moral significance in the eyes of rational people. They are not similarly bound by tenets of religious dogma.
Euthanasia is no different to the abortion "debate". The state should never be capable of deciding whether a person, who gives their full and informed consent to die, is for whatever reason unable to do so.
The legal and moral answers are the same:
No-one, other than person wishing to die, is ever allowed to make the decision of whether assisted suicide is the right thing to do.
The recent judgement is a breath of fresh air and a change from the conservative dogma that existed pre-1994. South Africa, well done, this is one further step in the right direction towards being a modern and progressive democratic state.