Euthanasia

This morning, I happened to catch a news report about one of the most debatable topics ever encountered, euthanasia, or as it is more popularly known, "mercy killing". A doctor's act in Italy has triggered the dispute all over again. The doctor apparently took a long-suffering patient off the life support system that had been sustaining him and keeping him alive. Doctors who perform euthanasia can be sentenced to up to 15 years in prison.

The opinion on mercy killing has always been divided. While the people who advocate it, claim that it is better to offer death to people suffering from painful and incurable illnesses, the people who are against it, declare that an act of killing is unpardonable, no matter what the circumstances. I've often wondered what the right thing to do in this matter is. Is it right to let a fellow human being continue to suffer till death envelops him/her and takes the person into its fold. Or, is it better to let the person die, thereby ending a life that would have only brought him/her more pain and suffering?!? I really don't know; I've never been able to make up my mind on this one. While I think it's true that no person should be made to endure so much physical pain and suffering that even his will to live breaks, does anyone really have the right to take another person's life, be it out of compassion or what you will?!? Then, there are those people who voluntarily plead with their doctors and loved ones to end their lives and put them out of their misery. What does one do in such situations?!?

The term, "mercy killing", is most obviously a euphemism for something far more disturbing and debatable. It may not be possible to arrive at the right stand that should be taken on such issues, or even a consensus regarding the same, but, if you had to deal with such a situation, what would you do?!?