There are patients with terminal illnesses who are experiencing a low quality of life with no hope for a recovery. Why should they be forced to live out painful weeks, months or even years and not be allowed to die on their own terms? Terminal patients should have a moral and legal right to die how they want. Denying terminally ill patients the right to die with dignity is cruel and unfair.
Doctor-assisted suicide is often referred to as Euthanasia which means "a gentle and easy death" or a "Good Death." Assisted suicide is a good death for patients. It eliminates drawn out, painful deaths, lets the patients die when they want, and does not eliminate the patient's own self-respect. .
Suicide is the act of ending the life of one's self. Suicide used to be a crime in the United States but the law was eliminated because of the fact that after it was committed, no one was left to punish. Committing suicide is usually thought of as a way out of life because of depression. This is not the case for Euthanasia. Euthanasia is a means to ease the suffering of patients by granting them the right and means to die. It is legal to end your own life in the United States but illegal to help someone end theirs. Physicians should be able to supply information and/or means of committing suicide to a person, so they can easily conclude their life. .
Not all Euthanasia is active. Passive Euthanasia is hastening the death of a person by altering some form of support and letting nature take its course. This is routinely done all over the world when life support equipment is removed from a patient by the family's request. Patients are allowed to request a "Do not resuscitate" care plan that requires no extra-ordinary steps be taken if something should happen. This is a very raw means for a patient to request assistance. For a patient to have to wait for their body to fail is cruel. .
Grueling through painful days, patients feel hopeless and search for answers.