Euthanasia
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"Euthanasia is the act of ending a person's life painlessly in order to end the suffering caused by terminal illnesses. It involves actively causing the death of someone else for the sake of mercy, often by giving a patient a lethal injection. Euthanasia is frequently confused with assisted suicide" (Britannica encyclopedia). Assisted suicide is defined in the world almanac as an act "when a person provides another person with the means to end life, for example lethal combination of pills" (Britannica encyclopedia).
Supporters of assisted suicide and euthanasia are mostly terminally ill people, their family and people who have watched loved ones die in agonizing deaths. The supporters say that the government has no interest in forcing people to live longer then they want to, and no right to make it illegal for doctors to help to end their suffering lives (Joyce Berger). Since euthanasia is illegal in the USA and legal in other countries, such as the Netherlands, people very often look to see the practice in action. Euthanasia is a controversial issue in todays society. Even in the past this issue has raised both social and ethical questions.
In ancient Greece and Rome euthanasia was permissible in some situation to help others die...