Should Mercy Killing Be Legalised for Terminally Il Patients?

death is the ultimate reality that nobody can escape. anyone born in this world must die, despite the level od medical knowledge and skill. when medical knowldege is certain that a persons illness isn't going to be cured, in other words, he or she is terminally ill, would it not be merciful to allow the person to die? Would not euthanasia--or mercy killing as it is termed--be acceptable to the suffering patient as well as to those who are close to him?

mercy killing causes no harm to anyone. in fact, it provides a relief to the realtives of the victims as they undergo immense agony, seeing a dear one suffering. Euthanasia is an act of professional support to the terminally ill patient and hence canot be held as a cruel act on the part of the person who commints it.

On the other hand, there is a deep rooted belief that life is a god given gift and it is presumptious on the part of a human being to end it. As for taking it away from another human being, howsoever merciful the motive, it is regarded as playing god. If the patient is terminally ill or in a coma, without having expressed any idea on the subject, who is to decide on terminating the persons life? The possibily of greedy and unscrupuluos relatives colluding with an equally unscrupuluos doctor to kill a patient, is a real danger. Morever, though it is an individual decisiom, it cannot be ignored as a major social problem as it opens up a chapter of suffering for the realtives of the patient.

Any law, therefore, on euthanasia should have safeguards to preclude any possiblity of exploiting the situation by unscrupulous