The case for assisted suicide seems to depend on human sympathy on the impulse toward mercy, the desire

e to ease what seems like pointless pain and suffering. Why shouldnt the terminally ill meet death on their own terms, rather than at the end of prolonged agonies? Why shouldnt the dying depart this earth with dignity, instead of enduring the inexorable stripping away of their physical and mental faculties?

What is Euthanasia?

The Oxford English Dictionary Online (2nd edition, 1989; online version Sep. 2011) provides the following definitions of euthanasia: "A gentle and easy death...[T]he means of bringing about a gentle and easy death... In recent use: The action of inducing a gentle and easy death. Used esp. with reference to a proposal that the law should sanction the putting painlessly to death of those suffering from incurable and extremely painful diseases."

"The term euthanasia...originally meant only 'good death,' but in modern society it has come to mean a death free of any anxiety and pain, often brought about through the use of medication. Most recently, it has come to mean 'mercy killing' -- deliberately putting an end to someone's life in order to spare the individual's suffering."

"Euthanasia has many definitions. The Pro-Life Alliance defines it as: 'Any action or omission intended to end the life of a patient on the grounds that his or her life is not worth living.' The Voluntary Euthanasia Society looks to the word's Greek origins - 'eu' and 'thanatos,' which together mean 'a good death' - and say a modern definition is: 'A good death brought about by a doctor providing drugs or an injection to bring a peaceful end to the dying process.' Three classes of euthanasia can be identified -- passive euthanasia, physician-assisted suicide and active euthanasia -- although not all groups would acknowledge them as valid terms."

The act of a physician or other third party ending a patient's life in response to severe pain and suffering.

Voluntary Euthanasia refers to the action taken by the physician and the patient, who both agree (with informed consent) to end the patient's life. Involuntary Euthanasia refers to a third party taking a patient's life without the informed consent of the patient. This is commonly practiced in veterinary medicine when animals are "put down" or "put to sleep." In modern medicine, it could conceivably be applied to the act of taking a terminally ill, suffering patient's life who has lost all mental capacity to make his/her own decisions.

Euthanasia By Action: Intentionally causing a person's death by performing an action such as by giving a lethal injection. Euthanasia By Omission: Intentionally causing death by not providing necessary and ordinary (usual and customary) care or food and water.

Assisted suicide: Someone provides an individual with the information, guidance, and means to take his or her own life with the intention that they will be used for this purpose. When it is a doctor who helps another person to kill themselves it is called "physician assisted suicide."

Ethical Concerns at the End of Life

Between 1994 and 2006, there were 75 legislative bills to legalize PAS in 21 states and all of them failed. Currently, PAS is legal in three states: Oregon, Washington, and Montana. The reasons patients gave when requesting PAS in Oregon:

86% reported a decreasing ability to participate in activities that made life enjoyable 100% reported loss of autonomy, and 86% reported loss of dignity

Of those patients in Oregon that request PAS, roughly 62% of them actually complete it. 90% of those patients died at home. 88% of them were on hospice. Physician assisted suicide accounts for 15.6 per 10,000 deaths in Oregon.

In Canada: Physician-assisted suicide is still illegal. In the Netherlands:

Physician assisted suicide is legal under strict circumstances. The right to choose physician assisted suicide remains highly favored.

In the U.K.: Physician-assisted suicide is illegal. The current movement there is to focus on palliative care, not euthanasia. Elsewhere in the World: Physician assisted suicide is legal in the following countries under strictly defined regulations:

Australia Columbia Japan

Deciding to Withhold or Withdraw Life Sustaining Measures

Quality vs Quantity of Life

Are

we helping people live longer at the expense of their comfort and dignity? If we dont use artificial means to support life, are we denying them the chance to live longer or recover fully? What if a miracle happens while they are on life support and they are cured? What if we take them off life support and they find a cure shortly after they die?

Who Can Make Life Support Decisions?

a competent, adult patient, may, in advance, formulate and provide a valid consent to the withholding and withdrawing of life-support systems in the event that injury or illness renders that individual incompetent to make such a decision patient may designate a surrogate to make the decision for them if they are unable. If an advanced directive isnt made and a surrogate isnt designated, the choice whether to withhold or withdraw life support falls to the next of kin, according to state law.