For years, the question whether or not euthanasia should be allowed has been a subject of debate. But what exactly is euthanasia? According to the Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary (2006) it states that euthanasia is "the act or practice of killing hopelessly sick or injured individuals in a relatively painless way for reasons of mercy; also: the act or practice of allowing a hopelessly sick or injured patient die by taking less than the complete medical measures to prolong life – called also mercy killing" (p. 238). In other words, it's the intentional killing of someone whose life is felt no longer to be worth living.
Euthanasia, however, is not just black and white. Looking from an individual's stand point, there are three main types of euthanasia which are Voluntary, Non-voluntary, and Involuntary. Voluntary euthanasia is when a person wants to die and states it. Such as a person asking for help with dying. Non-voluntary euthanasia is when a person is incapable of stating their wishes or their statement can't be trusted. Such as when a person is senile or in a coma. Involuntary euthanasia is when a person has the desire to live and, without being asked, is killed anyway. Such as when a wife gives a lethal overdose of medication to her husband that is suffering from cancer without him knowing.
There are three major reasons why euthanasia of any type should not be legal or allowed. The first reason is if the healthcare professionals looked after these people that have the desire to die, properly and attend to not just their physical needs but also their psychological, social, and spiritual needs as well, then request to for euthanasia or its cousin, assisted suicide, would be very rare. Individuals that are for legalizing euthanasia argue that one of the main motives it should be allowed is to relieve those individuals that are suffering from intolerable pain.
