Imagine having to endure so much pain and suffering for a majority of your life that you would just want it all to end. Well, there is a way one can stop their own pain and suffering and it is called euthanasia. Euthanasia is the painless killing of a patient suffering from an incurable and painful disease. The act may only be done solely to those diagnosed with terminal illnesses such as cancer, aids, and heart disease. Many people agree with the idea of euthanasia as it can help those who are suffering be stripped of all the pain they are enduring. Whereas, others disagree with the idea of euthanasia because they believe the patient should have a chance to be treated and regain their health instead of choosing the “instant death” route and it may increase the number of assisted suicides. Euthanasia has been made legal in several places around the world such as the Netherlands, Belgium, Colombia, India, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Germany, Japan and Canada. The only U.S. states that have legalized euthanasia are Washington, Oregon, Colorado, California, Washington D.C., Vermont and Montana (“Legality of …show more content…
The difference between the two is that euthanasia is when the doctor themselves will conduct the action of killing the patient with a lethal dose of medication with or without the patient’s consent whereas physician-assisted suicide is when the doctor will open up ideas and make suggestions on how the patient wants to go about ending their own life (“Euthanasia and Physician Assisted” para 1, 2). They are both pretty similar in a sense that they will both result in death the only difference is the process or the way each practice is done. Physician-assisted suicide can also be identified as a type of euthanasia which is voluntary active euthanasia to be