Euthanasia

Euthanasia Legalizing Euthanasia The word euthanasia comes from a Greek phrase meaning “good death”; identified by David Cundiff in his book Euthanasia is not the answer (1). Many years ago euthanasia was something unacceptable for society, but now a days euthanasia should be legalized. In recent years there has been a growing movement toward the legalization of euthanasia in the United States. In historic election held on November 5, 1991, voters in the State of Washington decided not to legalize euthanasia for consenting, terminally ill patients by voting down Initiative 119 (Cundiff 1-2). This initiative would have allowed physicians to carry out euthanasia by administering lethal drug overdoses to those terminally ill patients who requested it. “Assisted suicide” is another term that is similar to euthanasia. Assisted suicide means to provide a person who plans to kill himself/herself with the means to do so. This may be accomplished by supplying a lethal overdose of medication, by providing a gun, or by other means (2). Initiative 119 also would have legalized physician-assisted suicide. Currently in the US, except in Michigan, assisting suicide is a crime (2). There are two different types of euthanasia: “active euthanasia” and euthanasia, suicide, patients, ill, terminally, should, right, life, assisted, pain, society, medical, cundiff, states, physicians, patient, dying, death, been, physician-assisted, legalized, die, cases, care, suffering, state, person, people, jean, end, control, about, years, voluntary, united