Everyday, people see these signs at restaurants and other shops, but soon you might see this sign at the door of your local hospital.

Now, what's the difference between euthanasia and assisted suicide?

*One way to distinguish them is to look at the last act - the act without which death would not occur.

*Using this distinction, if a third party performs the last act that intentionally causes a patient's death, euthanasia has occurred. For example, giving a patient a lethal injection or putting a plastic bag over her head to suffocate her would be considered euthanasia.

*On the other hand, if the person who dies performs the last act, assisted suicide has taken place. Thus it would be assisted suicide if a person swallows an overdose of drugs that has been provided by a doctor for the purpose of causing death. It would also be assisted suicide if a patient pushes a switch to trigger a fatal injection after the doctor has inserted an intravenous needle into the patient's vein.

*And suicide is one of the ten most common causes of death in Great Britain

So, where are euthanasia and assisted suicide legal?

*Oregon and the Netherlands are the only two jurisdictions in the world where l

*Lost his medical license for openly practicing assisted suicide with his invention the Mercitron. What this machine did was it allowed a patient to activate a intravenous drip containing lethal drugs. Continued to defy the law, using carbon monoxide instead of drugs, which were unavailable to him once his license was revoked.

*In 1995 Australia's Northern Territory approved a euthanasia bill. It went into effect in 1996 but was overturned by the Australian Parliament in 1997. Also, in 1997, Colombia's Supreme Court ruled that penalties for mercy killing should be removed. However the ruling does not go into effect until guidelines, still to be drafted, are approved by the Colombian Congress.

*According to the Cambridge Quarterly, out of 26 patients who have a permanent dependence on life support, only available in ICU, eight are denied treatment, of people who need treatment for end-stage illness in six, and treatment for severe dementia patients in four. Also, after the hospitals have made these decisions, the patient's families have three options: acquiescence, find another hospital (likely not happening), or sue.

Some common words found in the essay are:
, Journal Medicine, Jack Kevorkian, Cambridge Quarterly, Supreme Court, assisted suicide, Northern Territory, Colombian Congress, euthanasia assisted suicide, euthanasia assisted, Australian Parliament, medical license, suicide legal, assisted suicide legal, refuse service, performs act, loved ones, everyday people,
Approximate Word count = 830
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)