I don't think this would be over, because potential arguments is not simply "god forbade it" but more like "what kind of culture do you want?" I mean culture wars are culture wars. The weird thing is that the the conservative side of the culture wars sticks to the god-forbade-it bullshit instead of actually doing their "job" and debating culture. For example something like "de-tabooing the ending of human life sends the wrong kind of cultural message around and makes those people who don't think logically but rather associatively more likely to murder, as they will not see the ending of life in itself as bad, but only the lack of consent there" is a strong enough argument to at least say this kind of debate would not be already over. I mean it should be the conservatives job to say things like this, to actually, really debate culture in a culture war. Instead, they go for the stupid god-forbade-it stuff. Frankly I think the primary reason the world is marching towards a liberal direction is most conservatives being way too stupid to represent their own case halfway convincingly. They engage in culture wars, but they talk about just about anything but actual culture.
This can be kind of frustrating if you think actually sensible conservative arguments should be useful for brakes on rash social change. The best way to steelman them is IMHO de-meta it (is that a word?) so basicallly someone says "god forbade the ending of human life" then you can think "maybe there are really a lot of people out there who would would be murderers if not for their belief that god forbade the ending of human life. maybe for this reason it is not such a good idea to send out the message consensually ending it is okay, because they don't give a crap about consent, only about the god-forbade thing and if we weaken that they will turn into murderers?"
So the point is instead of using these conservatives as debate partners, you can use their arguments as signals of potential unforeseen social consequences.
I really wish for a better conservatism, this is really frustrating this way.
You're right that the logical structure of consequentialist arguments are not inherently bad. The argument you mention is the class of argument that I find relevant, and many other people too.
But my point is that this is why we can expect endless rationalization in this form.
It is very easy to turn your argument upside down: "Allowing the state, rather than the private individual, to decide about the time and manner of the individual's death sends the wrong kind of cultural message around and makes those people who don't think logically but rather ass...
Scott Adams, the author of the Dilbert comic and several books, my favorite being How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big, named his debating format The Rationality Engine. He calls it this way because he claims that it is "the system for turning irrational opinions into rational outcomes". He applies it to several polarizing issues, those this site tends to label "Politics" and "Mind Killer" and shy away from.
His first application, investigating the gender pay gap, seems to have worked pretty well, resulting in several unexpected conclusions. His second, Who is More Anti-Science? I found to be slightly less impressive, but still producing a rather balanced output.
Now he is applying it to the debate about Assisted Dying. Scott's goal is to have a law passed in California that is similar to the ones already in effect in Oregon and several other places.
Scott will debate Jimmy Akin, a prominent contributor to Catholic Answers.
I am quite attracted to Scott's attempts at hands-on instrumental rationality, and on a rather grand scale to boot. They are very much in the spirit of his latest book.
Currently he is accepting suggestions for questions and links for all sides of the issue. Feel free to contribute.
EDIT: I think adding cryonics to the discussion would only complicate the issue and not be helpful, but that's just a guess.