I was interested in researching this topic because I think the debate has a lot to do with politics. This dilemma has been hotly debated and I was open to seeing how this movement was progressing. In the beginning, I was a proponent on this issue, and believed people should not be denied their wishes when they wanted to end their pain. However, I was open to learning more about the opposite stance and what the reasons for opposition were.

It always seemed unusual to me that suicide was not illegal, but it was illegal to assist in one even with a consenting party. I wondered how this could be, and how people could deny people this right in unending pain. There never seems to be a prosecution of doctors who participate in these acts, even though they frequently go to court. I wondered why this occurred and what the laws really said regarding this. I also wondered how people distinguishe

Anti- Euthanasia Task Force. URL: http.//www.iaetf.org/answers.htm

http.//www.rights.org/~deathnet/ergo-FAQ.html

and Euthanasia. NJ: Prentice Hall. 1996. pp.1-5,11, 18.

There may be no solution to these problems, but some things can be done. Better health care education, more access to health care, and informing patients of their rights.6 Everyone has the right to pain relief. Patients should get adequate health care, and not killed. Physicians argue that if good care of the dying is being provided, then a request for suicide would be rare.4

She feels that assisted suicide should be legal, but that "physician-assisted dying should be the response of last resort," and "when all other options fail to relieve unbearable suffering, when the patient is acting on his or her own initiative, is not clinically depressed, and is capable of administering the medication personally." The people who could be elgible are "only terminally ill, competent adults with decisionmanking capacity." I also asked whether euthanasia could be avoided with adequate pain medicine. Her response was that "Physicians, medical associations and hospices all have stated that not all pain can be controlled." Their view, which is one I encountered a lot, is that the medical professionals have not been trained adequately in pain management. Regarding the issues of potential "slippery slope" abuse, she says that physician's aid in dying is more common than people realize, and legalization would just make it happen openly, instead of secretly. However, the state regulation should provide strict guidelines and penalties for violations.

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 5044
Approximate Pages = 20 (250 words per page double spaced)