If a person with a terminal illness is sufferingunbearable pain and wishes to end his or her life, is it wrong to help? Well,that's why euthanasia, the intentional termination of life at the explicitrequest of that person, has been a hotly debated and controversial subject. Is itright or wrong? Moral or immoral? Murder or mercy?

Since I am in favor ofeuthanasia I will start with why people are opposed to it. One reason is thatthey say it's immoral, since God gave you this life and you don't have the rightto end it - only He does. Another argument is that many question whether an illperson is in a state of mind to understand or request to end his or her life. Andsome think a person's fate is fixed - that you are supposed to die at a certaintime - and that you shouldn't interfere. The biggest reason I've heard is thatsome believe one is trying to play God by assisting another's death.

So, why are people in favor of euthanasia? I believe that if a person is inextreme pain and does not wish to continue living, he or she has the right to endit with or without assistance. These people are saying that they feel they do notdeserve to suffer.

Others say it's murder to help someone killthemselves, even when they've given permission. But if you think about it, thisreally is no different from a "Do not resuscitate" order kept on fileat a hospital so a person will not be revived if his or her heart stops. So, isthat wrong also?

How do you know if someone was in a proper state of mindwhen requesting assistance? I think you would have to be sane to tell someone howand when you would like to die, and then ask for help to do it.

Manypeople worry that if we make euthanasia legal, people will go around killingothers and claim the ill wanted them to. That is why explicit written consent isnecessary.

One 1997 poll claimed that 57 percent of people are in favor ofeuthanasia with only 38 percent opposed. Another poll showed that 76 percent ofthe British, 81 percent of Australians, and 92 percent of the Dutch supportlegalization of euthanasia.

Even though I am strongly in favor oflegalizing euthanasia, I do understand that there would be a few problems ineuthanasia/ physician-assisted suicide, but they seem minor compared to the painand suffering it could prevent.