Taking a life so as to relive an individual from an unbearable pain or suffering is what is practiced today as Euthanasia. Euthanasia is practiced in all societies, including those that have laws against it. There are many cultures are religions that condemn euthanasia in any form. Is this going to stop anything? Do we have the right to die?
             Man's chief purpose it is Live, not to
             I shall not waste my days trying to
             n -- Jack London (1876-1916) (Burnell, p. 103)
             Up until 1976, the right to die was not a consideration among terminally ill patients. Euthanasia was only thought of for animals. But ever since Karen Ann Quinlan case (1976), the right to die has been a controversial issue. It has opened the eyes of patients, their families, and their doctors. They all have their own opinions and aspects of the question, but those whose decisions should be respected? (Burnell, p.104)
             This question is different for a terminally ill patient and for the person who is well. From the patient's viewpoint, they should have the freedom to choose. If they have a short time before death then the death usually comes without complications of decision-making. But if the death is prolonged and the patient is lingering, the patient may decide whether continuing treatment is still worthwhile. The patient tends to feel that there is no useful purpose to living.
             Doctors, on the other hand, are caught in the conflict with society. They are supposed to save lives, but would like to fulfill the patient's and families' wishes. Hospitals are not prepared to help patients die. The doctors have the technology available and most likely will continue the treatment without any inputs from the families. Doctors will strive to keep the patients alive until everything possible has been done.
             The other viewpoint is from the church and the other moral authorities. The church steps in the end states that death comes natur...