Medical advances have created ethical dilemmas, which no previous generation of doctors has ever faced. New life-sustaining techniques and practices are forcing doctors to ask questions that never needed to be asked before.

             Foremost of these is: "How far do we go to save a life"?.

             Other questions challenge ethical traditions, which have been in place for centuries. "When suffering is immeasurable and a patient's condition terminal, should doctors be permitted to end a patient's life?".

             "Should doctors take active role in hastening a patient's death?".

             Today, more than ever, the push is on to "change the rules." Dr. Kevorkian, a leading doctor in the fight in legalizing Euthanasia, while deplored by most medical professionals for his methods, is heralded as a hero on many fronts for bringing this issue into the public square. By all accounts, a time of decision is upon us. "When a fully conscious person requests death, should a doctor assist the person in dying"?.

             It is the purpose of this speech to present a concise overview of the primary arguments for the legalization of doctor-assisted suicide.

             My four primary arguments for legalizing euthanasia are as followed.

             1. The mercy argument, which states that the immense pain and indignity of prolonged suffering, cannot be ignored. We are being inhumane to force people to continue suffering this way.

             2. The patients right to self-determination. Patient empowerment has been a trend for more than twenty-five years. "It's my life, my pain. Why can't I get the treatment I want"?.

             3. The economics argument, which notes the cost of keeping people alive, is exceedingly high. Who's footing the bill for the ten thousand people being sustained in a persistent vegetative state? Aren't we wasting precious resources when an already used up life is prolonged unnecessarily?.

             4. The reality argument. "Let's face it people are already doing it".

             Lying in bed, alone in inconceivable pain.