Voluntary euthanasia is a very contentious issue in today's society. This is where a terminally ill patient's life is ended at their request. The law allows doctors to withdraw treatment or administer high doses of pain-relieving drugs even though they expect this will result in death. However, euthanasia is still considered a serious crime.
             Advocates of euthanasia argue that it prevents terminally-ill patients from pointlessly suffering and that it lets them die with dignity. For instance, Ken explains to the judge that he doesn't want to continue living such a degrading life where he can't even "urinate for himself" and has to be rolled over by nurses so he does not "rot away from bedsores".
             It is also argued that we have no right to prevent people doing anything that does not harm others in a free society. Therefore, we should legalise euthanasia. Ken is a good example of this. He is prevented from dying despite the fact he has made a "calm rational decision" to die as Dr Scott explains it at the end of Act One.
             The final argument is that since the law already allows the removal of treatment or the administration of high doses of painkillers, hastening the patient's termination, euthanasia should be legalised to make the law consistent.
             The most emphatic opponent of euthanasia is the Catholic Church. Its beliefs on this issue are based on the Doctrine of the Sanctity of Human Life. This doctrine states that it is utterly wrong to destroy human life. Based on this premise the main arguments for euthanasia can be debated:
             The advantages of avoiding suffering and preserving dignity are negated by the evil of taking a human's life.
             The law is obliged to ban acts that are grossly immoral, and therefore we should not allow euthanasia.
             By removing treatment or administering high doses of pain-killers the doctor does not actually do anything that
             ...