An eighty year old man sits in his wheelchair at a nursing home, he is wearing an old pajama top and a diaper that is covered only by the lap blanket that he has over his legs. He is also on Oxygen and because of that he is confined to his room until the aids can help him. It has been 10 years now that he has been in the wheelchair and on Oxygen and 10 years since he has been outside to smell the fresh air and have the sun shine on his face. A Heart Attack, Alzheimer's disease, Arthritis, and Depression are just a few examples of what is wrong with him. It doesn't matter how many Vicodin he takes the pain just won't go away, how much Prozac they give him, the depression is still there in the morning. He has lost his will to live, and the only thing he ask you to do is let him die. Let him die without pain, let him die without suffering.
             What this man is asking for is called Euthanasia also known as Mercy Killing. The word Euthanasia originated from the Greek language: eu means "good" and thanatos means "death". The meaning of the word is " the intentional termination of life by another at the explicit request of the person who dies"[Netherlands State Commission on Euthanasia]. There are however different types of Euthanasia. The first type being Passive Euthanasia: Hastening the death of a person by altering some form of support and letting nature take it's course. For example:
             · Removing life support equipment ( e.g. turning off a respirator).
             · Stopping medical procedures, medications etc.
             · Stopping food or water and allowing the person to dehydrate or stave to death.
             · Not delivering CPR (cardio-pulmonary resuscitation) and allowing a person, whose heart has stopped, to die.
             To give a patient large doses of morphine to control the pain, in spite that the painkiller will suppress respiration and cause death earlier.
             Active Euthanasia involves causing t...