For as long as people have been around, we have been dying. While this very well may seem to be pointing out the obvious, so many of us forget that we, as humans, are mortal beings. Our life span is definitely finite, and it should be. Just think what would happen if nobody ever died. Even though we are mortal, we try to hang onto our lives as long as we can. Fear of death and wanting to live forever are, after all, part of human nature. Sometimes, however, medicine takes advantage of this aspect of humanity and, to a great extent, capitalizes on it. While it is certainly true that one goal of medicine has always been to prolong life, another goal has been the alleviation of pain and suffering. One point at which these two views collide, often violently, is over the hotly debated issue of euthanasia.

Euthanasia, or "mercy killing,aE? as it has been called, is certainly not an issue with just two sides, there are many side to it. Euthanasia, after all, ranges from simply allowing an individual to die naturally without life support or "pulling the plugaE? (passive euthanasia), all the way to Jack Kevorkian's suicide machine (active euthanasia). To com

Yet another issue within euthanasia is the right of the individual to choose when, where and how to die. There are a lot of people who would much rather pass away at home peacefully than to have all kinds of doctors and nurses standing around them. They would much rather die in the comfort of their own bed, away from all the lights, sounds, tubes and hoses of the hospital. While this "whereaE? aspect of death is relatively uncontroversial, the right of the individual to choose how and when to die is much more hotly debated. It is, after all, the when and how of death over which Dr. Jack Kevorkian, the so-called suicide doctor, attempts to give his "patientsaE? control. While supporters of Kevorkian and his methods claim that assisted suicide, or "active euthanasia,aE? allows people to exercise their God-given right to control their death, opponents say that Kevorkian is "playing God.aE? That is, he is trying to control things that people were never meant to control. Now Kevorkian faces Murder for the killing of a person on national television. So Should every case of Euthanasia be Murder? I believe that in some cases it isnt but most cases should be murder, like what Kevorkian has been doing. If I have a family member in serious pain and agony and they are going to die sooner or later, if they ask me to pull the plug, I am going to do it. That in my opinion is not murder.

Death is one of the most feared and dreaded events that human beings ever have to go through. This is probably the main reason that Euthanasia is so controversial. It is human nature for us to try and prolong our lives as long as possible, and, through medicine, we have prolonged them quite a bit. It is important to remember, nevertheless, that sometimes while attempting to fight death, we lose sight of the best interests of the individuals whose lives we are affecting. Are these people not the most qualified people to make this decision? It is, after all, their lives that hang in the balance.

Pallone, Nathaniel. Society 29 July-August 1992: 35.

Internet: Http://valdosta.peachnet.edu.

"Moral Dilemmas.aE? Society 29 July-August 1992: 22.

Of course, there are some arguments for the elimination of euthanasia alltogether. Euthanasia is killing; there is no question about it. Even the New Engl

Some common words found in the essay are:
Ronald Cranford, Jack Kevorkian's, Heritage Dictionary, Euthanasia Debate, Euthanasia Murder, Jack Kevorkian, Nathaniel Society, DilemmasaE Society, Kevorkian Murder, life support, assisted suicide, issue euthanasia, pain suffering, Dictionary CD-ROM, individual choose die, active euthanasia, hotly debated, mercy killingae, euthanasia mercy, allowed die, society 29 july-august, euthanasia mercy killingae, 29 july-august 1992, heritage dictionary,
Approximate Word count = 1558
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)