Euthanasia is defined as the practice of ending a life so as to release an individual from an incurable disease or intolerable suffering. There are actually two forms of euthanasia, passive and active. Passive euthanasia is an accepted medical practice where the terminally ill patient is allowed to die, when the patient refuses treatment. In practice, this means that the dying patient is not given any cure that would keep him alive. Active euthanasia, on the other hand, is the taking of one's own life, or dying for example, by lethal injection.

The issue of euthanasia is not a recent one. Euthanasia has actually been practiced for thousands of years. We can trace euthanasia all the way back to the ancient Egyptians, who practiced euthanasia in many sorts of ways.

Later on, the issue has been brought up again in the medieval times. People who were terminally ill were given a cup filled with a poison and they drank it. In this case it could actually be called an assisted suicide because nobody had given them the lethal drug.

In today's society, euthanasia is legally practiced only in a few countries for example, the Netherlands and Finland. In the

„h The case may not be reported as a natural death.

Isn't the God the only one to give and take lives?

„h The relatives must be informed unless the patient does not wish this.

„h There must be no reasonable alternatives for relieving the patient's suffering that are acceptable to the patient.

The second argument, which is interesting because it is based on the Hippocratic Oath as well as one of the arguments of the opponents, explains the Oath in a different way. They do not think that the Oath prevents the physician to perform euthanasia. They claim that if it is proven that euthanasia is moral way to end needless suffering, then the doctors should be obliged to fulfill their patients requests for early death.

Another important argument that supports euthanasia based on the principle of mercy and compassion, two ideals, which as they say, are essential in human dignity. It is considered humane to put animals to sleep when they are helpless and in great pain, so why it is not humane to do so with people?

Some common words found in the essay are:
Oath Hippocrates, Prohibited Euthanasia, Procedural Guidelines, Oath Oath, Substantive Guidelines, Finland Netherlands, Hippocratic Oath, terminally ill, Isn't God, guidelines „h euthanasia, lethal drug, procedural guidelines, issue brought, capital punishment, guidelines „h, „h physician, performing euthanasia, euthanasia claim, „h euthanasia,
Approximate Word count = 875
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)