The greatest freedom of a person is to live and die by his beliefs. Thus, the most common wish of those with an incurable disease is to die with a certain degree of dignity. This is precisely what the debate surrounding euthanasia is about. The Slovenian Medical Ethics Commission insists on the euthanasia ban. Those who oppose euthanasia are in the majority Christian and refer to holiness and inviolability of life. In Europe, euthanasia is permitted in Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Switzerland. Same as in Slovenia as in around the world, there is a large number of patients who do not want to prolong their agony but simply die in peace. Despite such examples, euthanasia is still opposed by experts from different religious backgrounds, such as Anton Mlinar, who argues that "there is no need to enact euthanasia, since no society benefits from this right, but at the very least loses it" (Mlinar, 12.4. 2018). In my thesis, I will therefor first describe the process of euthanasia and its genre, the arguments for and against euthanasia, and the theory of critical discursive analysis. In the second part, I will use the method of discursive analysis to show how the Roman Catholic media in Slovenia write about euthanasia. My main goal is therefor to research how advocates and opponents of euthanasia and euthanasia itself is displayed in the media. In my work, I want to show how the discourse of the Roman Catholic media shapes the public's attitude towards euthanasia.
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