“Right to Die” Discussion Paper on Euthanasia“One of the most important public policy debates today surrounds the issues of euthanasia and assisted suicide. The outcome of this debate will profoundly affect family relationships, the interaction between doctors and patients, and basic concepts of ethical behavior. With so much at stake, more is needed than a duel of phrases, slogans and soundbites. » Q.) What is euthanasia? A.) Across North America, committing suicide or attempting suicide is no longer a criminal offense. . However, assisting another person to commit suicide is a criminal act. One exception is the state of Oregon, which allows terminally ill people suffering from intractable pain to obtain a lethal prescription from their doctor. This is called “physician-assisted suicide” or PAS. The word euthanasia comes from the Greek language: eu means “good” and thanatos means “death”. One meaning given to the word is “the intentional termination of life by another at the explicit request of the deceased person.” 2 In other words, the term euthanasia normally implies that the act must be initiated by the person who wishes to commit suicide. However, some people define euthanasia to include both voluntary and involuntary termination of life. Like so many moral/ethical/religious terms, “euthanasia” has many meanings. The result is massive confusion.Q.) Why is this a problem?A.) People have many different reasons for wanting to end their lives by suicide: ► Some are severely depressed over a long period of time. For them, suicide can be a “permanent solution to a temporary problem.” There is consensus that a better solution for most clinically depressed people is treatment, using counseling and/or medication. Such treatment can give the person decades of good life that would have been lost if they had committed suicide. ► She lives in excessive chronic pain. Some, due to poverty or lack of medical coverage, cannot afford painkillers. Others are denied adequate pain medication due to their doctor's lack of knowledge, inadequate training, or specific beliefs. Most doctors believe that suicide in such cases is also not a preferred solution; A better approach is to properly manage pain with medication. There seems to be a lack of collective will to achieve this. Many people, perhaps most, die in excessive, although treatable, pain. ► They are suffering from a terminal illness and do not want to diminish their assets by incurring significant medical expenses as they approach death. As a gesture of generosity, they would prefer to die earlier and pass on their assets to their beneficiaries..