
The gift of life is extraordinary and there is so much opportunity in the world for people to take advantage of. Whether that is growing up and making friends, finding love, getting a job, or many other things, life can be absolutely amazing. However, along with the many great aspects of life, there are also some very negative events that can happen. People are often diagnosed with terminal illnesses such as cancer or a severe heart disease. Once diagnosed with a terminal illness, the patient's health slowly declines and death is imminent. A person's life is uprooted and altered after being told they are terminally ill. Rather than having an exuberant and plentiful life, it is cut short and changed forever. This situation has brought up many question about what to do if a person is terminally ill. The course of action is very difficult for both the patient as well as the family and friends of the patient. The terminal illnesses involve long time periods of pain and suffering both physically and mentally. Euthanasia and Physician-Assisted suicide is a topic that is brought up in conversation when a patient has a terminal illness. In recent years, there has been a lot of controversy over the legalization of euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide and there are many different opinions about the controversy. The emotional stress and trauma that results from a terminal illness can be very overwhelming. Each person is in charge of their own body and life and many with terminal illnesses have the desire to end their lives before it naturally occurs. Patients suffering from terminal illness's have the right to choose to end their lives in order to end the suffering, preserve their dignity, and leave the world peacefully with support of friends and family.

With a serious controversy about life and death, it is crucial to know the general information and background about what exactly the controversy is and what it means. According to the National Health Service for England, also referred to as NHS, there is a difference in the general definitions of euthanasia and assisted suicide. Euthanasia can be referred to as deliberately ending a person's life to end long term suffering. Assisted suicide is defined as deliberately assisting or encouraging another person to end their life. Both terms have the overall same message and ending but are slightly different in the way the end result occurs. In the concept of euthanasia, there are many different classifications that also can play a role in the importance of the controversy. Passive euthanasia is when a person passes away because necessary medicine or treatment is withheld and not given to the patient. A more aggressive type of euthanasia is active euthanasia. This type is where a person directly intervenes to end someone's life through large doses of medicines that the body can not handle and process the medicine without death as the result. Other classifications are voluntary, non-voluntary, and involuntary. When a person makes the informed decision to die, that is known as voluntary euthanasia. Often times when experiencing a terminal illness, the health of the patient decreases and can result in a coma. This does not allow the patient to give consent to end their life but a family member can make the decision on their behalf only if the patient expressed this before becoming unable to give consent. This process is known as non-voluntary consent because the ill person is unable to make the decision. Involuntary euthanasia is when someone is killed against their will and most of the time this is called murder. Both euthanasia and assisted suicide are illegal in most parts of the world except for a select few countries and states in the United States. If a person is found guilty of either of these actions in a place where it is illegal, the penalties can be as extreme as imprisonment for life. Because of the complexity of the euthanasia and physician assisted suicide, there are many different opinions and sides to the argument of whether or not to legalize them. 

A major result of terminal illnesses is long term suffering. Illnesses such as cancer and heart disease are excruciatingly painful especially when terminal. When someone is aware of their impending and unavoidable death, understandably they want to end the suffering before it becomes extreme and impacts their quality of life greatly. The story of Brittany Maynard spread throughout the world and brought the concept of euthanasia and assisted suicide to the news and conversations of many. Brittany Maynard was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer at age twenty-nine. Originally from California, she moved to Oregon after her diagnosis because of the Death with Dignity law there. Maynard was experiencing seizures and bad effects from the illness and knew that she did not want to suffer any longer. There was a large uproar of support of her decision as she followed through with physician-assisted suicide. In her final words, she was content with her decision and was grateful for the time she spent with her friends and family. (NBC) This example shows that ending long term suffering is very beneficial and helps the ill person to leave the earth peacefully.  The debate over the laws on euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide is a hot topic. In an article from The Guardian, Dr. Kailash Chand presented a motion for a change in the laws and why there should be a change. He states that to deny a terminally ill person the right to die is unethical and immoral. 

There are many reservations by people to legalize euthanasia and assisted suicide because it is difficult to determine who exactly is eligible for the action. Chand suggests to allow terminally ill people to follow through with the action as long as they have the mental capability to make an informed decision. Also, another way to create a structured system to determine the eligibility is to have a list of conditions that must be met. Some conditions Kailash Chand suggests are: patient must be terminally ill, an adult, mentally competent, experiencing severe pain, and the conditions must be checked and approved by two independent physicians. If the laws about euthanasia and assisted suicide had conditions that were very specific similar to those stated above, there would not be as many problems of people doing it secretly and dangerously.

There is a large problem of secrecy of euthanasia and assisted suicide throughout the world. As of recent times, euthanasia is legal in the countries of Belgium, Columbia, India, Ireland, Luxembourg, Mexico, and Netherlands. As for the United States, physician-assisted suicide is legal in Oregon, Washington, Montana, Vermont, and recently California (New Health Guide). It is very common for people that do not live in any of the places where euthanasia and assisted suicide are legal to either take a trip there or even completely move to the new place. Laws from other states or countries can not be regulated from other states or countries so it is very easy for people that want to end the suffering to make it happen one way or another. Also, for people living in states and countries where euthanasia and assisted suicide is illegal, there is a lot of under the table activity between patients, nurses, and doctors. For example, in an article from CNN, Hope Arnold was interviewed about her experience of the secrecy of assisted suicide. Her husband, J.D. Falk was diagnosed with a very painful stomach cancer. His health diminished quickly and it was very difficult for Hope Arnold to see and experience. A doctor approached her a few times giving her viles of morphine and repeated frequently, "You might need it." Hope never followed through with it but was very confused at the entire situation. In that same article, another story was told about under the radar assisted suicide. A man was diagnosed with throat cancer that was very aggressive and resulted in bloody bursts of tumors on his neck. The nurse warned the wife that his death would most likely be disturbing and she dropped several hints without clearing stating a "better" way to end his life. The wife was given syringes of medicine and after much thought she followed through and assisted his suicide (CNN). There is a large population of people that are terminally ill and a large percentage of that population either considers euthanasia or assisted suicide or actually follows through with it. It would be much safer for those considering and going through it to go through it legally instead of behind closed doors. One of the overall desires for terminally ill people is to preserve their dignity and it is difficult for many to do so with the limitations from the law. 

Once diagnosed with a terminal illness, the ill person, family, and friends, experience drastic changes in life. It is very difficult to cope with and have to accept that the death of the terminally ill is inevitable. Slowly watching someone's health deteriorate is heart-wrenching and painful. From personal experience, I recently saw my grandmother's health deteriorate rapidly and it was very challenging. It got to the point where I could barely recognize her and I was not comfortable being in the same room as her because it was so upsetting. I would love to remember her as the happy and lively grandmother she was before she got sick, but even after time has passed, it is difficult for me to get the image of her in her final days out of my head. For many people terminally ill, they want to be able to die when their loved ones can remember them as their normal selves rather than at a dilapidated state. Also, it is also common for a terminally ill person to want to die with dignity for their own sake. In the example with Brittany Maynard, she experienced seizures with her illness and at one point during her illness, she knew her husband was but was unable to say his name. She did not want to have her mental abilities decrease to the point where she would be unable to speak or think clearly. On the opposing side, some people believe that dying with dignity is more of a cop out rather than a brave and respectable act. Because people that want to end their lives before it naturally occurs to preserve dignity, some people see that as giving up the fight. However, people that are terminally ill have no chance of recovery and there is no way to avoid death. The acknowledgement of this is very difficult and can be seen as brave and accepting. Along with the terminally ill accepting fate, the support of family and friends is also very important. 

Terminal illness are difficult for the ill person but also for the family and friends. While the ill person is the one that suffers and eventually passes away, the family and friends have to watch it all happen and cope with the loss after death. In some cases of euthanasia and assisted suicide, the family is on the same page as the ill person, but for other cases, the family may disagree. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but if the terminally ill have the support of friends and family, then the whole process will not be as difficult. It is difficult for some people to see why euthanasia and assisted suicide should be legal because families do not want to lose someone close to them. However, one way to fix possible disagreements between terminally ill and family and friends is for structure for the process and detailed information about it. Since euthanasia and assisted suicide and illegal in most parts of the world, there is a large percentage of people that thing it is wrong. Instead of it being a right versus wrong situation, the lack of information limits the understanding of the topic. If more information was presented and/or more countries and states legalized euthanasia and assisted suicide, the support of the terminally ill by friends and family could increase. 

While there are many supporters of the legalization of euthanasia and assisted suicide in more parts of the world, there are also many people against the legalization. One reason is that ending someone's life before it naturally happens is wrong because some people say it goes against God and his plan for that person. While this can be true, the reasons to end one's life before it naturally happens such as preservation of dignity and ending their suffering can outweigh that opinion. Also, some people say that if euthanasia and assisted suicide were legalized, more and more people would be dying. This might lead to society becoming more tolerant of killing. In a spiral effect, this could then lead to a more frequent occurrence of involuntary killing and killing for the convenience of society (Euthanasia: World of Health). However, if legalization spread throughout the world, there would be detailed conditions and laws that would not allow for it to be easily performed to the point where it would make society more accepting of many types of killing. Overall, this is a very important issue that should be considered and discussed because it is between life and death which is not something that can be taken back.

All types of suicide cause emotional strain on many aspects of life. I have not experienced a situation in which euthanasia or assisted suicide was considered, but suicide whether as a result of mental health or drugs has been very prevalent. Many people from my home town took their own lives and it was devastating. Because of this, I can see why some may disagree with the legalization of something that allows someone to end their life. There is an important difference between suicide and euthanasia/assisted suicide. Because someone desires euthanasia or assisted suicide, there is no possibly way for them to get better and their life expectancy is for the most part six months or less. The controversy over the legalization is very important and relevant due to the increase in cases of people wanting to end their lives prematurely. 

"I'm not afraid of being dead. I'm just afraid of what you might have to go through to get there (Goodreads, n.p.)." While there are so many great things in life, there is a lot of danger and sadness as well. Death in inevitable for everyone, but its inevitability comes sooner than later for some people. This quote is a good representation of how someone may feel about the dangers and possibilities of death. Terminal illnesses quickly cut someone's life shorter and there is almost nothing to do to stop it. Euthanasia and assisted suicide create an option for a terminally ill person to leave the earth peacefully with dignity. The controversy has many different opinions, but in the end it should be up to the terminally to decide what to do with the remainder of their life as long as they are mentally capable and aware. 

 
